Page 7

Nox

Déjà vu is one of those concepts that humans came up with to explain the unexplainable. At one point, we had a human on our crew who liked to go on and on about the theories behind the phenomenon. I never put much thought into it, but now, crouched on the railing in a fitted black suit that covers me from neck to wrist to ankles, Lizzie beside me looking green?

It feels just like the night we rescued Maeve.

It doesn’t matter that we’re not doing the exact same rescue plan. It’s the vampire and I, intent on mass murder and rescue. I wink at her. “Ready, darling?”

“I will not hesitate to slit your throat and bathe in your blood.” There’s no bite to her words. She reluctantly takes my hand and steps up onto the railing as the Audacity closes the gap between us and the Bone Heart . We’re close enough to see their crew gathered to watch, but too far for a normal person to jump.

Luckily, I am not a normal person. “Keep flirting with me, and Maeve is going to yell at you.”

“Shut up,” she hisses. She glances down to the inky waves lapping at the hull. “I really hate this.”

“I know.” I pat her shoulder with my free hand. “You’re a very brave vampire, and I’m exceedingly proud of you.”

“I will bite you.”

“No, you won’t.” I pull her into my arms. “I won’t let any sea monsters eat you. I’ll even keep you from getting wet. Probably.”

“You motherfu— Godsdamn it. ”

I step off the railing, taking her with me. It’s harder to corral air than it is to manipulate water, but I’ve had decades of practice in making myself one not to be fucked with. It helps that Lizzie has gone still and stiff beside me. I gather the air between us, so we only drop about five feet or so before rising back to deck level.

“I will kill you. I swear to the gods I’ll do it.” Lizzie is speaking softly enough that she might as well be talking to herself.

It’s just as well. I don’t have any concentration left for words. I float us across the gap in about thirty seconds and drop us onto the deck of the Bone Heart . Lizzie is as agile as a cat. I’m ashamed to say my knees buckle a little, but I manage to keep my feet. Barely.

“You’re late.”

I straighten and turn to face Morrigan, the captain of the Bone Heart . She’s a woman in her thirties with golden skin, hair just as crimson as the sails above us, and deep inky eyes that remind me of a skull. She’s petite to the point of being delicate.

“Morrigan.” I grit my teeth and bow. I fucking hate bowing, but if we have even the smallest chance of pulling this off, we have to get her guard down. And ideally encourage her to give us a tour of the ship right to where they’re holding Bastian.

She approaches with deceptively long strides. One moment she’s halfway across the deck. The next, she’s before me. Her unsettling gaze lands on Lizzie. “A vampire is an unconventional choice.”

I swear I can feel Lizzie tense, but she’s a bloodline vampire, and for all her hissing and dramatics with me, she’s not to be fucked with. When she speaks, her voice is cool and even. “One could argue that a Council member being a captain is an equally unconventional choice.”

Morrigan laughs softly. “So they could.”

I hold myself straight and still. Lying is always a fine line, especially when lying to someone as dangerous as this woman. “We’re here to report in and see what you need from us.”

She studies me for several long beats. “We have a prisoner who threatens the very balance of Threshold. We have reason to believe he’s among a small group of people whisking intruders around Threshold instead of presenting them to the C?n Annwn for their choice. His allies nearly sank the Crimson Hag .”

I very carefully don’t look at Lizzie. “They sound dangerous.”

“They’re pests, but we have no way of knowing how deep the rot goes.”

It’s eerily similar to what Siobhan and I talked about only a week ago, albeit on the other side of the equation. Morrigan wants to stamp out the resistance and bring the C?n Annwn into full control of Threshold once and for all. The rebellion wants the corruption within the C?n Annwn to be purged and the islands to be given back to their people to rule as they see fit, rather than grouped together under one ruling body that doesn’t represent anyone outside of Lyari.

We are not the same.

Morrigan laces her hands behind her back. “We set sail at dawn and take the direct south path to Lyari.”

I raise my brows. “A risky route.” There’s nothing but sea between the sandbar and Lyari. The nearest islands are several days to the east and weeks to the west. There’s no safe harbor in the event of a storm, and this time of year in this portion of Threshold, storms are plentiful.

“A direct route.” She nods at the Audacity , gently bobbing a hundred yards away. “We’ll take the point position in the morning, and I expect you on the starboard flank.”

“Will do,” I say slowly. Damn it, she’s about to send us back. “We’d like to see the prisoner. There’s a chance we may recognize him and be able to give you more information.”

Morrigan smirks. “I hardly need common trash like you to tell me what I already know. The prisoner is Bastian Dacre, second son of the Dacre noble family.”

The insult rolls right off me. The only people who care about bloodlines are nobles, and I couldn’t give a shit what most of the nobles think. Except for Bastian. I raise my brows. “A noble helping…intruders?” Damn it, I almost called them refugees.

“I’m shocked as well.” Morrigan doesn’t move. “I’ve already spoken with the rest of the Council, and while they’re reluctant to prosecute the Dacre family in Lyari, they’re eager to remove this nuisance.” She flicks her hand at me. “Now stop wasting my time and return to your ship. We’ll sail at first light.”

Damn. I guess there’s no chance of getting to Bastian and fighting our way free from there. Oh well. It was worth a shot. I glance at Lizzie. “Now’s as good a time as any.”

To the vampire’s credit, she doesn’t hesitate. She tenses, and the people on either side of Morrigan go down. Morrigan herself doesn’t, because why would anything be easy?

Morrigan’s eyes flash as if reflecting light. “You dare ?”

“Sorry about this, except not really.” I gather my magic with a flick of my wrist and send a massive fireball into the main sail. I don’t expect it to take—the sail will have been treated with magic to ensure it doesn’t burn down at sea—but it should be bright enough to signal to Evelyn and the other teams that it’s time.

Morrigan leaps for me, fingers morphing into long, vicious-looking claws, but Lizzie gets there first, intercepting the captain. “Go!” she yells as she ducks a swipe and kicks Morrigan in the stomach, sending her staggering back. “I’ll take care of her.”

Lizzie is one of the most dangerous people I’ve ever met, and I still hesitate. Morrigan is on another realm entirely.

“Go, Nox!” Lizzie takes a hit that opens a long line on her arm. She doesn’t hesitate to pull the blood from her own body and coat her hands with it, forming claws similar to Morrigan’s. With her longer reach and similar speed…she might stand a chance.

I can’t afford to hesitate. The faster I get to Bastian, the faster this whole fight ends.

The crew is taking an interest now, rushing forward. Damn it. I sprint at them, and there’s no time for finesse. I yank the air from their lungs as I approach. There’s a way to do it without causing damage to the person I’m knocking out, but I’m not being careful right now. The force of the pull crumples their lungs in their chests, physical damage on top of suffocation.

They die.

At least some of them. Elemental magic is tricky, because it can get through some shields but not others. It truly depends on the person casting the shield. I can’t get through Evelyn’s shields, for example. Most of the C?n Annwn crews don’t have the magic, control, or interest in that level of protection. Sadly, Morrigan’s crew seems to have a disproportionately high number of people capable of repelling me.

A short gnome with purple skin and a truly impressive beard leaps at me, wielding a sword. My brain unhelpfully provides his name and role in the crew: Bull, the quartermaster.

Only to be stopped short a few feet away as if an individual hand reached out and grabbed him. We stare at each other in confusion—he certainly isn’t responsible, and I didn’t have a chance to even attempt an elemental shield—before he is flung backward and into the sea.

It takes my adrenaline-laced brain a second to understand what just happened. “Thanks, Bowen.” I sprint the rest of the way to the hatch and muscle it open as pure chaos erupts around me. Despite my orders for the crew to remain out of sight, they’ve opened fire. Water and fire streak across the night sky to strike the enemies around me. Defending me. Protecting me.

I drop down through the hatch and into relative quiet. This warship is larger than the Audacity , but I’m familiar with the layout. There are only so many options when it comes to building ships, even magical ones. No one wastes pocket dimensions on the brig.

I suffocate the person running at me before I even register what I’m doing. The fight is barely audible overhead, but it is audible. A reminder that I have to hurry, that for every moment the battle continues, the greater the chances of someone on my crew being hurt. Of them dying.

Focusing on that isn’t going to do anything but distract me when I can least afford it. I have to move. “Come on, Nox. Focus. ” I step over the dead body at my feet and make my way down the narrow hall into a darkness that seems to have a strange weight against my skin. I almost make a small flame to see by, but that feels dangerous in a way I don’t entirely understand. What the fuck does Morrigan do down here?

There are no answers. Just more uncanny darkness. I sigh and keep moving, following the increasingly rank smell of an unwashed body and chamber pot that hasn’t been emptied anytime recently. Which just goes to show that Morrigan is too smart to be underestimated. I don’t know if Bastian would break under traditional torture, but the man I knew fourteen years ago loved to be clean. From the scent currently trying to trigger my gag reflex, he and clean haven’t been on speaking terms since he was taken.

I refuse to feel pity for him. Refuse. Even when I reach the first cell and reluctantly summon a small flame. It barely pushes back the darkness. The small hairs on the back of my neck rise as I begin to understand. He’s huddled in the corner of the cell, hands tied behind his back, blindfolded and gagged. The magical darkness dampens sound and ensures that even if he got the blindfold off somehow, it wouldn’t make any difference. It’s fucking nefarious.

Bastian looks awful . His expensive clothing is filthy, dirt and things I refuse to contemplate cover his skin, and his dark hair is so greasy that it shines against my small light.

“Oh, Bastian,” I whisper.

He flinches. He catches the response immediately and straightens, but it’s too late. I want to tell myself that he’s expecting an enemy, not flinching because of my voice, but even I don’t believe that stretch of logic.

“I’m getting you out of here.” I hurry back to the guard I killed and search their body—something I should have done before walking past them—and come up with a key that must be to the cell.

When I return, Bastian is on his feet, tracking my footsteps even though he can’t see me, can’t speak. I ignore the shaking in my hands and unlock the door.

He’s even worse off than I first realized. Bastian’s body naturally favors a slighter build than someone like Bowen, but he’s absolutely gaunt under his clothes. “Close your eyes.” I barely wait a second before pulling off his blindfold and carefully untying the gag.

The key won’t fit the bindings on his hands, but that’s a problem to worry about later. The ship rocks violently enough to send Bastian tumbling into me. “Fuck. We’re running out of time if Bowen is in the fight.” I barely keep Bastian on his feet. There’s no way he can get up the ladder and across a deck of battling crew members. If we try, we’ll have done all this only for him to die violently.

Damn it, I need to think .

“Nox?” His beautiful voice is so raspy, it’s almost unrecognizable. “Is this a trick?”

I ignore his question and avoid his deep brown eyes. Maybe it would have been better for Siobhan to do this part. Surely he’d be happy to see her .

The thought is so absurd in the face of what we’re dealing with, I huff out a laugh. “Okay, change of plans.” Siobhan told me the details of how they attempted to sink the Crimson Hag . We’ll just do that in reverse and hope for the best. “This will do for a secondary signal to retreat.”

“What—”

I suck every bit of moisture from the wood wall in front of me. It should lead out to the starboard side of the hull, which puts the bulk of the Bone Heart between us and my ship, but once we’re in the water, no one will be able to catch us. “Behind me.”

Bastian doesn’t exactly obey, but I don’t give him a chance to argue. I grab a fistful of his filthy shirt and jerk him behind my body.

The sea is always eager to comply with my magical demands. It’s chaotic and violent, and the less finesse required, the more likely it is that things will go perfectly. “Take a breath and hold it.” I wait for him to clutch my shoulders before I tug on the water sloshing against the Bone Heart ’s hull. The boards in front of us creak ominously. “Once more should do.”

“Nox…” He coughs. “This is a terrible idea.”

“Just hang on.” I yank on the water again, harder this time. The weakened boards buckle and creak. Water sprouts in the new gaps, more and more of it as the creaking gets louder. “Almost there.” One last pull and the boards burst, the sea rushing in, eager to fill the new space in great, greedy gulps. It smashes against us, and I manage to get an air bubble around our heads just as the water closes in and slams us against the ceiling.

Bastian wraps his arms around my waist, as if he really thinks I’ll let him be swept away in this mess. It pisses me off. He’s been underestimating me from the moment we met, and I’m literally saving his ass right now, and he’s still sure I’m going to botch the job.

“You’re lucky I don’t kill you myself, you absolute wanker.” I wrap an arm around his waist and use my magic to propel us through the new hole in the ship. The moment we reach the sea, I’m tempted to breathe a sigh of relief. I know better, though. There’s still so much that could go wrong.

In the seconds it takes us to shoot the hundred yards to the Audacity , I have half a dozen contingency plans in place in case our retreat is hampered. The other teams were scheduled to strike earlier enough that they should have returned by now. Bowen should be able to bring Lizzie back aboard.

Too many “shoulds.”

Our momentum is enough to drive us past the surface and all the way onto the deck, where we land in an undignified heap. I shove Bastian’s prone body off me and lurch to my feet. “Orchid! Get him belowdecks!” I don’t pause to ensure my order is obeyed. “Poet! Report!”

Poet appears at my side as if by magic. She grabs my elbow and steadies me when our ship rocks violently to the side. “Both teams are back. We’re just missing Lizzie.”

“Is she—” Dead.

Poet saves me from asking the thing I very much do not want to ask. “Still fighting.”

Thank the gods. That vampire is a nightmare to work with sometimes, but I like the little asshole. I don’t want her to die.

A quick glance around finds Bowen, his massive form braced against the railing as he moves his hands, fighting to dismantle the Bone Heart . I rush up to him. “We’ve done enough. Get Lizzie and we’re leaving.”

“Impossible to pull Lizzie without pulling Morrigan, too,” he grits out. “They’re moving too fast.”

I see what he means immediately. The women are a blur of violence, their strikes coming so quickly I can barely follow them. Blood coats the deck around them, but neither shows any sign of slowing down. Bowen has mostly cleared the deck, but that doesn’t help us get the vampire back.

“I’ll go,” Maeve says.

I grab the back of her shirt and haul her away from the railing. “Absolutely not. You go over there, Lizzie is going to get distracted and Morrigan will rip out her heart.” I can’t pause to feel guilty for the way Maeve’s face goes gray in response to my words.

“Bring them both.” Siobhan nudges Maeve back even farther and takes her place next to me. “I’ll separate them, and then you can toss Morrigan as far as you can throw her.”

There’s no time to ask her if she can do this, if she’s really considered what it will mean for Morrigan to see her, to know Siobhan is potentially the leader behind all this. There’s no going back after this. There hasn’t been a way to go back since we set ourselves on this course.

I nod at Bowen. “Do it.”

“Okay.” His shoulders bunch, and the chunk of deck under the fighting women’s feet rips away, taking them with it. In the space of two heartbeats, it reaches us and lands on our deck. Through it all, Morrigan and Lizzie never once miss a beat.

Later, I’ll be impressed. Right now, I’m too worried that I don’t have the energy needed to keep fighting. I’m already weaving on my feet from the transport to and from the Bone Heart , to say nothing of breaking a massive hole in the hull.

But I’m the captain, and the captain has to take their hits to protect the crew. I lift my hands, dragging my magic to the fore to attack. Siobhan beats me to it. She launches herself forward, a shot of movement toward the fighting women.

She hooks Lizzie around the waist—taking a swipe along her arm in the process—and tosses the vampire backward. Another time, I’d enjoy Lizzie’s surprised squawk of protest. Right now, I’m too focused on the danger Siobhan just put herself in.

Morrigan looks up and her eyes go wide at the sight of the other woman. “Siobhan.” There’s a thread of…familiarity there. Not just in her knowing the name, but as if they have history.

Siobhan unsheathes her claws. “Sister.”