Page 31 of Pirate Witch

I glance at the door. “I don’t want to leave them. Val…”

“Valorean will be fine,” Elsie insists. “He’s a strong bond mage, and you’re not going far. We’ll get you if anything changes.”

Beside her, Cooper stiffens, face going slack with shock. “Valorean? Valorean Castleman?”

All three of us frown at him. “No, Valorean Deadwood,” I reply, confused.

He sinks back into his chair. “My mistake. It’s an unusual name, I just thought… Nevermind.”

Reva huffs in impatience and turns back to me. “We’ll set up the ritual. Elsie’s right, you need to sleep.”

Sleep is unlikely after what I just went through, but I nod, anyway. “Fine.”

ChapterEleven

NILSA

After a few long hours spent tossing and turning and generally annoying Opal, I give up on sleep and sit on the floor. I try desperately to meditate while my familiar snores beside me, praying for some inner peace, or whatever it is meditation is supposed to do to calm my nerves.

It doesn’t help. Sitting still is no better than lying in bed. My thoughts race either way, and I abandon my spot on the floor after only a few minutes.

I refill Opal’s reserves of magic, then start organising everything for the ritual again, ordering and reordering my clothes, my weapons. Everything.

The nervous energy just won’t dissipate.

When Klaus finds me, I’ve given up and turned to pacing the moonlit patio outside. My siren wraps his arms around me, stopping me in my tracks and twirling me until my face is tucked into his chest. His skin is smooth and unblemished, despite the broken sternum and fractured ribs he sustained in the battle, and I say a silent prayer of thanks to the Goddess for Elsie as I stroke the soft lines of his tattoos.

“I sensed your frustration when I searched for you using the bond,” he explains, dropping his head to press a light kiss to my lips. “You can’t sleep?”

“No,” I admit, leaning into him. “Too much energy left from the fight.”

It’s a lame excuse, and we both know it, but he doesn’t call me out on my bullshit. Instead, he draws back with a soft, sympathetic smile.

“Spar with me?”

I take the offered lifeline without hesitation. “On the beach?” I say.

It’s close enough to the cellar that Val shouldn’t suffer any ill effects from my absence, but far enough away to give me some space.

He gives me a mock, courtly bow. “Lead the way.”

We don’t make small talk as we leave the palace. Klaus seems to sense I’m too wound up for it, and settles for taking my hand in his instead. The instant my feet hit sand, I kick off my shoes, abandoning them by the base of the steps to pick up later and head for a clear space.

Mirna’s beaches are famously lush, and the small, secluded cove beneath Sade’s home is no exception.

The white sand reflects the moonlight, making the ocean and palm trees dark and inky by comparison. Klaus’s normally sunny good looks have taken on a silvery hue under the Goddess’s light.

“Hand-to-hand only,” I mutter, discarding my knives. “I’m too distracted for weapons.”

Klaus gives me a nod, stabbing his trident into the sand beside my knives before taking up a defensive stance.

My hand darts out, going for the soft space below his ribs. Klaus blocks, trapping my arm against his side and spinning us. A cheap shot at his knee forces him to free my trapped limb, but he blocks the second shot I aim at his shoulder before we break apart, panting.

“You’re going easy on me,” I complain. “You should be wiping the floor with me right now with your speed.”

Witches are pretty much human when we don’t use our magic to enhance our abilities. Sirens—by comparison—are stronger and faster. Even without his siren song, he has the advantage.

“We’re sparring,” he replies. “You could easily jump into the spirit plane and take me out from behind, but you aren’t. I could easily outmatch you with my strength, but I won’t for the same reason.”