Page 73 of Death’s Kiss (The Order of the Tide Raiders #1)
“Let Boreas maim the prick a bit, at least!” Herse exclaims, throwing up her hands and Greer nods her head of flaming locks in emphatic agreement.
“ No, ” Kleio reaffirms loudly. “I broke up with Vash. So there is no reason for you to kill or dismember him. There’s your fucking transparency—your turn, Captain .”
My mouth drops wide in indignation as my eyes leave the narrowing, rounded passage to glance up at my second. “What do you mean, my turn? I told you guys everything already.”
How could they think otherwise? I was almost telling the whole truth .
Kleio shakes her head in disagreement. "No, you told us everything up until that night on the nets. I’ve heard absolutely nothing else since then.”
“What’s your point?” I ask, my eyes glued to the course I’m making up as we go. It seems we may have finally lost Captain Leporem.
“There’s obviously been some sort of development,” my second states matter-of-fact.
With a noncommittal shrug, I frown. “No. Not really.”
Kleio and Herse share a laugh that has my frown deepening and the former pushes, “Okay so then what was that little confrontation between you two on the docks? I heard him say something about another option—did our suggestion work?”
My arms strain against their efforts to maintain the wheel as we enter a particularly choppy patch.
A memory of Captain Agni’s towering form above me, his hand wrapped lightly around my throat as my back digs into tree bark, resurfaces.
Heat floods my face without my affinity there to stop it and I am eternally grateful for my helmsman visor.
Swallowing, I strive to keep my tone casual. “Mmmm, no, I wouldn’t say that. The jackass just wants to get in my head.” An embarrassing flush continues to lap up my neck and over my face and I keep my eyes pointedly on the waters.
“We have new company—Cardinal West starboard!” Herse's barking voice almost makes me flinch. Looking over a shoulder, I find the silver fluttering flag of Captain Bedivere’s moonlighter in the broken path mirroring our own.
“Nephthys—UPDATE!” I shout in demand. My hands remain firmly on the wheel while I shoot the twins a quick glance. Prisca blows out a breath and turns her wide eyes toward her twin.
Nephthys looks so stressed out, I think she just might bite someone. “I—the map. It—it doesn’t make sense, Captain. I—I’m sorry,” she stumbles over her apology, panic tripping her words.
Craning my neck all the way back to the stern, I give Nephthys a swift, disbelieving look .
“ARE YOU A STAR CHARTER OR NOT?” I bellow the words because I’m not able to physically shake her right now. “Fuck the bleeding map and use your gods blessed affinity. FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!”
The twins both blink, stunned for a brief moment.
“Oh shit, ” Prisca laments, a hand coming to slide down the side of her face aggressively.
“We actually are idiots,” Nephthys groans loudly while rubbing her temples as she remains kneeling on the stern-sidled bench. "Okay, okay, give me a second.”
As a star charter, Nephthys has been blessed with a natural ability for navigating. Unfortunately, with the rise of both landmass and tide raider technology, such a skill as hers is considered Vek and therefore not well trained nor prioritized.
I turn back in time to share a gaping look of complete incredulousness with Kleio. Her cupid’s brow twitches with amusement at my display of completely disbelieving fury. As if she can’t help it, my second snorts a laugh that cracks my grin, and I shake my head in renewed disbelief.
“Take the next right,” Nephthys suddenly snaps in a voice that doesn’t belong to this world.
The luminous kórallian passages fly by in the peripherals of my vision and the next opening emerges too fast for Kleio to point out.
I grunt from the effort it takes to wrestle the throttle and whip the wheel into submission.
The small speeder shrieks in protest as we skirt into the gap and abruptly slow several knots.
“K—keep g—going for the next half-mile, then take the next left exit. That should pull us close to the first gate—I think,” Nephthys instructs, excitement returning to her still trembling voice.
I nod tightly in agreement.
Sure enough, half a mile and one steady left-hand turn later, Kleio announces excitedly from the moonlighter’s bow, “Checkpoint ahead!”
I squint through the visor at the carved-out mooring located on the far end of the narrow passageway. A dark grin begins climbing its way across my lips with the realization we’re the only ones here .
“Prepare to moor!” I call out while skidding up to the lip of the kórall hewn dockside.
Nimra throws Kleio some rope to begin docking and I stand fully from my seat at the helm. My breathing comes out quicker and heavier than I realized while sliding up the visor. Giving them all a swift once-over, I state firmly, “This is where I have to leave you all until Port Capillary.”
It feels like a punch to the gut but this is the way of The Vault. I have two gates to lift before meeting them back at the port. Then we’ll venture onwards to access the heart together and with any luck, I’ll find my way to vault within.
Breathing deeply to steady myself, I rescan their faces. Seven pairs of eyes watch me with varying levels of dread and concern. “You all have your affinities, please remember to use them,” I say calmly, my eyes flick over to Nephthys briefly and a flush blooms beneath her copper skin.
“Also, no more bickering from this point on," I demand next while pointing a finger between my second and third in clear emphasis. The former of which gives me a look so completely disbelieving in my own hypocrisy that it coerces a laugh from my lips.
Stepping up to the side of the speeder parallel to the makeshift dock, my pulse begins pounding heavily in my ears. I then remember to remove the helmsman visor and gloves and toss them both into Kleio’s waiting arms. My mouth purses while studying their tythe-tokens once more.
“I request lastly that you all keep each other safe and I do not care what that takes. I do not care about whatever lines you have to cross. I do not care who you have to maim or murder. Your main priority is keeping one another alive until meeting up with me at the port. You do that by whatever means necessary, is that understood?” My tone is cold and unyielding.
Seven voices answer as one, "Yes, Captain.”
I nod and glance again at the dockside. I’m anxious to get going now that we're here .
Not wanting to take up any more precious time, I jump gracefully from the bow down to the fossil-hewn edge and begin scanning my surroundings. A grand cavern crouches before and extends over me. The shrill sound of scraping rock makes me spin around to face my crew.
I discover the ear-splitting noise is due to the pale glowing walls rising up on either side of the moonlighters mooring to lock them in. Then the water beneath our craft begins to descend. Kleio’s eyes lock with mine as they start slipping out of view and into the next level of The Vault.
Worry and fear knot up my insides.
“You have to promise us you’ll do the same!” Kleio yells over the sound of scraping stones, her voice tinged with barely concealed panic. “You have to swear that you’ll do whatever it takes to meet us there. Whatever means necessary!”
My mouth forms a small smile while keeping hold of her gaze as they descend ever lower before I incline my chin sharply in agreement. "I'll do whatever it takes to return to you all. I swear it, by whatever means necessary.”
A heartbeat later and they’re gone.
Only to be released from the kórallian clutches and into the maze’s next level upon my completion of this checkpoint and the lifting of their gate or upon my death. Assuming it’s the former, they’ll have to reach the second gate by themselves while I work to lift it internally.