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Siobhan

If I could have gone to anyone else, I would have. As I told them, Nox has stacked the deck too thoroughly in their favor. They have Bowen, who is one of the strongest telekinetics I’ve ever encountered. They have a crew filled with elemental users, which means the Audacity will emerge from any sea battle victorious. They have a witch whom I haven’t met personally but have already heard stories of despite her short time in Threshold.

Now that I’ve come with Lizzie and Maeve, they even have a powerful and deadly vampire—and the selkie who holds her leash.

I study Nox’s sharp face. They’re giving me little to read, but too often my life depends on reading people who don’t want to be perceived. Nox is a challenge, but I have the advantage of knowing the pinch point to this argument. “I understand you and Bastian have a complicated history…”

They slice an elegant hand through the air. “No, we’re not going to put a spin on this, Siobhan. When you courted me, talking of a rebellion and all the good things we can do for the people who need them most, I agreed on one condition. What was that condition?”

As much as I hate to admit it, they’re right. A single condition and I’ve just broken it. “That I don’t speak to you of Bastian.” It went without saying that bringing Nox and Bastian into the same location was strictly forbidden.

A promise easy enough to make years ago, when Nox was just a clever quartermaster with ambition and Bastian was in my bed. I still don’t know what went so wrong that both refuse to speak of the other, but weighing it against the lives of thousands…“If I had another choice, I would have made it.”

“You do have another choice.” They shake their head, the slightly longer top of their white-blond hair standing oddly on end. They look good, but Nox always looks good. Even whatever trouble they had here isn’t enough to detract from that. Their lean features and pointed chin are a trap, the wicked gleam in their gray eyes the only indication of just how much trouble they’re liable to cause.

“No one else has a chance of reaching them in time.” I have to clench my fists to keep my claws inside. I never lose control of my form, but the stress of this clusterfuck of a situation is getting to me.

Bastian, what were you thinking ?

I don’t have answers. Bastian and I argued bitterly a few weeks ago. He was tired of all the secrecy and wanted to take the rebellion public, sure that the majority of Threshold would follow us if they knew what we were fighting for. I called him a naive fool and refused to even consider it. Too many people would die. We’re not ready .

When will we be ready, Siobhan? When will you stop letting your fear control you?

His voice is so clear in my head, I nearly flinch. I didn’t have an answer then—still don’t now—so I used words as weapons to strike right into the very heart of him. And he…left. The last time I saw him, he was standing aboard a trading ship headed for Three Sisters, intent on bringing the leaders there around to our cause. Three Sisters holds no love for the C?n Annwn and their meddling, and Bastian is a charming fucker even without his magic. If he could get Three Sisters on board, it would go a long way toward forcing my hand.

I still don’t know what went wrong to result in him using his glamour—and getting caught. In all the years I’ve known him, he’s been so bloody careful to keep his magic contained. He wouldn’t have used it without cause.

Unless he was acting out of character because he was still angry at me.

“Nox, please.” I don’t make a habit of begging. I tell people what I want, and they make it happen. I’ve worked hard to ensure my network is as expansive as possible so there’s always someone in my corner wherever I go. So I’ll never be desperate like I was at nineteen, when my entire world was turned upside down and I lost everything.

Nox curses long and hard. “You don’t have to beg—I already said I’d do it—but you’ve set forth an impossible task. We don’t know which ship has him or what route they’ll take to deliver him to the Council in Lyari. I can hardly set up a single ship blockade and check every C?n Annwn vessel that tries to pass.”

At least I have an answer for this . “We don’t need a blockade. We just need information.” I nod at the magical map next to their desk. All C?n Annwn ships have one, a direct way of communication between captains and the Council. It’s how they get their orders and update the status of their hunts.

Nox curses again. “It will break my cover.”

“Yes.” I can’t pretend otherwise. “And if Bastian is taken before the Council, your name will be among those tortured out of him. Either way, they’ll know you’re a traitor. It’s your choice how you deal with that.”

“You are such a bitch sometimes.” They laugh as they say it.

A growl slips free of my lips, the rumble in my chest almost vicious. “Help me, Nox. Don’t make me beg.” Again.

“I won’t.” They sigh and flop down into the chair behind the massive desk bolted to the floor. “As charming as it would be to see you on your knees, it would be undignified for both of us.”

I ignore the bolt of heat that goes through me at their words. Nox flirts as easily as they breathe, and while rumor has it that a night in their bed is enough pleasure to last a lifetime, there’s never been intent when they flirt at me .

Even if Bastian and I weren’t exclusive, Nox would be off-limits. Their history with Bastian is thorny and painful, and allowing my attraction to Nox to bloom would hurt Bastian deeply. So I never have.

They slide their chair to the map. “Might as well get this over with.” They spread their graceful fingers and press them to the edge of the map. “Nox of the Audacity here, ready to give my report.”

A disembodied voice sounds almost immediately. “Report.”

They glance at me, gray eyes considering. “We took care of the beastie.”

“Classification?”

“Unknown. It was similar to a kraken, but more fish than squid.”

“Noted. Please hold for your next target.”

“No rest for the wicked.” Nox rolls their eyes. “I actually have a question about the Crimson Hag . We’ve heard reports of her sinking in Drash’s bay. What happened there?”

The voice ignores that. A few seconds later, they come back. “Travel to the sandbar in the west.”

I frown, Nox mirroring the expression. “Excuse me?”

“Travel to the sandbar in the west. I will patch through coordinates, but I expect you’re familiar with the location, as you’ve been sailing these seas for well over a decade.” The voice is so prim it makes me want to sneeze.

“Lovely of you to notice my wealth of history and experience. What, pray tell, shall I do at the sandbar when I reach it? Find and fight some sand sharks?”

The voice goes colder. “We have no current reports of sand sharks in that area or any other.”

“I’m aware,” Nox snaps. “Now, stop playing with me and tell me what my full orders are.”

“You will be acting as support and escort to the Bone Heart while they transport a highly dangerous prisoner to Lyari.” The faint sizzling sensation of the connection fades, signaling the conversation is over.

The Bone Heart . That’s going to be a problem. It’s the one ship I’ve gone out of my way to avoid ever since Morrigan took over as captain. She’s the only person who knows who I truly am…though she currently believes I’m dead.

There are seven members on the current Council that rules Threshold, each more corrupt than the next. Usually they’re voted in by a ridiculously complex system that’s rigged to ensure only a certain type of person is allowed to occupy one of their precious seats. Council members spend the rest of their lives as metaphorical dragons, hoarding their power and doing their best to never do more than absolutely necessary in terms of their actual jobs.

Morrigan is the exception. She has been a member of the Council for years now, and she’s the youngest to hold the position. Rather than stay in Lyari and play politics, she became captain of the Bone Heart and has spent the intervening time carving out a fearsome reputation.

She’s also my sister.

“No one does anything halfway in this mess.” Nox curses. “Guess I don’t have a choice after all.”

I should have anticipated this turn of events. The Audacity has one of the best track records of all the C?n Annwn. It started because the last captain, Hedd, was a violent jackass who never met an enemy he didn’t want to beat to death with his bare fists. Nox taking over has only cemented that reputation. Their success rate is nearly one hundred percent.

Of course the Council would want them playing escort to the ship carrying Bastian to Lyari.

“There’s always a choice.” I force my spine straight and any emotion from my face. “I can’t make you.”

“Don’t pull that mystic bullshit on me right now. I’m not in the mood for it.” They meet my gaze. There’s so much in their gray eyes, old pain and resilience and determination. “I’ll do this for you, Siobhan, because you’re right: there isn’t another choice. I’ll get him back.”

There’s a ringing in my ears, and it sounds like someone screaming my sister’s name while flames roar. Deep down, I knew I’d have to see her again someday, but someday was never now . A small, foolish part of me had hoped that someday would never come. My throat is so dry, I have to swallow twice before I can get words out. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me.” They take a step back and motion for me to leave. “Figure out what you’re going to do once you have him back to protect my crew and every other person who’s pledged themselves to fulfilling your vision of a better world.”

I walk out the door and back into the sunlight without answering. Because I don’t have an answer. Not yet. The confrontation between the C?n Annwn and the rebellion has been coming from the moment I recruited my first person. Ten years ago, when I was filled with fury at an unjust system, I was sure that there would come a day when we would prevail, when Threshold would become the realm its people need, a place safe for everyone and not just those with crimson sails.

I’m not sure when things changed. There was no finite point where fear began to outweigh anger, no single loss that tipped me over into the shadow I am today.

I have people on most of the C?n Annwn ships at this point, reporting on their movements and bringing others into the fold. Most of the crew members aren’t local to Threshold. As the hub realm between all realms, we get more than our fair share of people and creatures who take a wrong turn, step into the wrong spot, and tumble from their realm and into ours.

The rebellion does their best to see these people home instead of into the hands of the C?n Annwn.

If the C?n Annwn finds them? Well, they are given a choice: join the crew or die. It’s the most efficient way they have of bolstering their numbers to continue to “protect” Threshold from monsters. Some of those refugees take to the murderous intent of the C?n Annwn naturally and embrace everything that’s toxic and awful about them. Most don’t. They’re trapped and doing what it takes to survive.

I don’t realize Lizzie is waiting for me until the vampire shifts from her position leaning against the railing. She’s a fit woman with moon-pale skin, long dark hair, and eyes that flash crimson when she’s irritated. She also doesn’t believe in this cause. She’s only here for her woman, Maeve. Up until recently, Maeve was just like hundreds of other locals who form a network of information that spans the realm. People who believe in a better world without the C?n Annwn’s boots on their necks.

There’s nowhere else to go for now, so I cross to the vampire and take up a position against the railing. “I’m surprised you’re not belowdecks with Maeve.”

“She’s resting. Apparently my presence is not restful.” Her lips shift into something that’s almost a smile as she says it. They’re two people who couldn’t be more different—the soft and shiny Maeve, the violent and vicious Lizzie—but even I can’t deny that the connection between them is real. She motions to the door to Nox’s cabin. “Things didn’t go well.”

“?‘Well’ is a matter of opinion.” I shrug. In our handful of days together, I’ve learned to respect Lizzie’s frankness, even if I find it irritating.

“Told you.” Lizzie looks away, her brows drawing together at the sight of the seemingly endless sea, not a spec of land in sight. “As I said before, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Maeve safe, even if we have to murder our way through the entirety of the C?n Annwn. I would appreciate an actual plan, though.” She shudders delicately. “One that doesn’t involve going into the water.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” I survey the clear blue sky, not a cloud in sight. The Audacity has a handful of both water- and air-users, which means there’s no risk of the ship ever being becalmed. The sails fill even as I watch, the gentle breeze coaxed into a strong wind by the two air-users on the upper deck.

The ship jerks beneath our feet and Lizzie goes a little green. “I’m going to check on Maeve.”

I roll my shoulders and settle down against the railing to watch the crew. I’ve been on my own for a long time—and not only because everyone back in Lyari thinks I’m dead. When you’re the mind behind an entire movement, anyone you spend time with will become a target alongside you. The only exception was Bastian, and look how that turned out. Our fight has to be the reason he was reckless enough to draw the attention of the C?n Annwn.

The first hard thing is done. Nox has agreed to help retrieve Bastian. There’s still half a dozen difficult tasks remaining, but they can wait the few days it will take us to reach the sandbar that stretches from Ganabie to Exver, creating an impassable barrier to all but the shallowest hulls.

Later, I’ll sit Nox down and come up with a plan.

For now, I’ll let them stew and let the vampire and selkie rest.