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Chapter 14

Fara

A bang echoed through the ship and the room where Fara had been spending her hours listed to one side. She grabbed the stupid Unseelie’s stupid desk and it was apparently attached to the floor because it held and kept her from falling. Teague had left the door unlocked because he said they had to learn to trust one another. What a joke.

Shouts broke through the sounds of sea and crew. The smell of burning wood pricked at Fara’s nose. Someone screamed, then there was a splash and another loud bang. Fara ducked like that would somehow help. She rolled her eyes at herself as she ran out of Teague’s quarters and up the steps to the deck.

A pirate wearing a black head wrap threw a spear into the sky.

What in the…

A storm of dragons burst from the low, moonlit clouds. The spear slid between Ragewing and Lija. All the knights and their dragons were in on the attack and though it was terrifying to see, Fara was touched by their commitment to her. Sparks and flames poured from their mouths. Fire engulfed the ship’s bow. Smoke billowed from the mainsail. Pirates had created lines to pass buckets of water to douse the fire. But the dragons swooped low, and the lines broke into chaos with the crew running this way and that, some jumping from the ship and into the sea only to be caught up by dragons and pierced by those horrible teeth. Shrieks pierced the air and Fara knew this was her moment.

She pushed past two pirates attempting to load a massive crossbow. The tilt and sway resulting from Ragewing ripping his talons into the railing made that chore impossible. Lija soared overhead, her four wings out in a low glide, and Fara waved at Tahlia as she tried to climb the lesser mast—whatever it was called. There were metal posts in the pole and it wasn’t too difficult to clamber up.

But then a set of hands was on her, yanking her back to the deck.

She kicked out at whomever it was and swore. “You donkey-dicked asswipe! Let me go! I’ll kick your gods-damned teeth in if you have any, you filthy pirate!”

Arms, strong and warm, clamped down on her and a voice found her ear. “Retract your claws, my pretty cat. We must get you to safety.”

Fucking Teague. “Leave me alone! I want to go with them. They won’t hurt me, unlike you and your pirates.”

He merely threw her over his shoulder and carried her down to his quarters. Kicking the door open, he said, “I should have explained my whole plan to you already. You wouldn’t be running away if I had. My apologies.” Easing her to the floor, he chuckled. “I just need to send your dragon rider friends on their way with a little magic and I’ll be right back.”

She tried to lunge and beat him to the door, but he was as fast as a stag in the wood. There was no catching that damned Unseelie.

The door’s lock clicked and the sound of Teague’s boots knocked along the wood, an echo to the mayhem going on above.

Fara kicked the door viciously. “If you hurt even one of them, your life will become a nightmare that you never could have imagined! I’ll find a way to make you hurt, you arrogant lunatic!”

She would never stop fighting this fool and somehow she’d get out of here. Tahlia would never give up, so Fara wouldn’t either. She’d die first.