Page 8

Siobhan

I launch myself at my sister, the tormentor from my childhood who made my life a living agony. Sixteen years since I’ve seen her in person, nearly half my life, and somehow she’s still larger than life, for all that I tower over her. I kick her in the chest, sending her sliding back across the deck.

She stops herself with her claws sunk deep into the deck and looks up through her hair at me. Her eyes go wide. “Impossible.”

Now is the time to attack, to do my best to rip her throat out before she can do any more damage. To remove the threat of her, once and for all. But my feet feel like they’ve grown roots, sinking deep into the ship and deeper yet to the very bottom of the sea. “Leave,” I say hoarsely. “Leave and I’ll let you live.”

Morrigan quickly gets over her shock at seeing me alive and grins. I know that expression. It haunts me still. “I think not.” She launches herself at me. She’s even faster than when we were teenagers, her movements lacking the faint friction of a body still growing.

She hits me with the force of a tidal wave. I stagger back a step, using every ounce of my speed to stay ahead of her strikes. One wrong move will disembowel me, and then this will all be for nothing. Morrigan will kill every member of the crew. She’ll kill Bastian. She’ll kill Nox.

That knowledge has me pushing back, forcing her away from the people on deck with my larger size. She’s fast, but I think I could be faster. It’s been so long since I’ve fought for my life against someone who was just as strong, fast, and deadly as I am.

Morrigan opens up a gash on my thigh. “Still leaving your left side open, I see.” She’s panting, which is a small victory…or it would be if I wasn’t bleeding already.

I feint to the right and deliver a vicious punch to her side. “Still…too confident.”

“We’ll see who’s too confident.” Her claws flash, growing longer yet, and her eyes shine eerily in the light of the lanterns on deck. “Time to finish what I started with that fucking fire.”

Overhead, the sails fill and the deck jerks beneath our feet. I’m expecting it, so I roll with the movement. Morrigan isn’t. She stumbles. A tiny drop in her guard—one that won’t last long—but it’s enough. I punch her in the face and kick her in the chest, putting every ounce of my strength behind the strike. A burst of gale-force wind sends her hurtling back to flip over the railing and into the sea.

“Go, go, go!” Nox roars. “Gable, get Callen and boost us from the water.”

“Too fast and the ship will break apart!” someone yells.

“No, it won’t. Go!” And then Nox is at my side. “I don’t expect the ships to give chase right away, but I’m not taking any chances. I need you to help Orchid get Bastian to my cabin and clean him up as best you can. There’s food there, too. He looks like he needs it.”

There’s no time to question them, to ask if they really want us in their cabin. But of course it makes sense. We need to know what Bastian told Morrigan. “Okay.”

Nox is already turning away, hollering orders to other members of the crew. They’re glorious like this, fresh from battle and without a single ounce of hesitation.

I move on unsteady feet to where Bastian is on his knees, watching Nox with glazed eyes. To the best of my knowledge, they haven’t seen each other since that mess back when we were barely more than kids. It was after the fire that drove me from Lyari, and though Bastian has told me the broad strokes, it’s clear from both of their reactions that time hasn’t healed this particular wound.

As I move closer, he finally focuses on me. “Siobhan.”

“Bastian.” I scoop him into my arms, ignoring his attempted protest, and hurry to Nox’s cabin.

Orchid, the healer for the Audacity , meets me at the door. He’s as tall as I am and reed-thin, his cloak and veil obscuring his features—except for his silver eyes. “Let’s get him in and I’ll look him over.”

Closing the door muffles the worst of the racket from the crew rushing about to follow Nox’s commands. I bypass the desk and try very hard not to look too closely at the bed. My destination is the door that leads into a narrow but relatively roomy bathroom. I set Bastian on the toilet.

Orchid nudges me out of the way. “Injuries?”

“Siobhan,” he says.

“Let Orchid get you patched up and then we’ll get everyone the information they need to know.”

He searches my face, completely ignoring Orchid. “You don’t have to treat me like one of your rebels. Not me .”

In fact, that’s exactly what I have to do. I want to pretend that the only reason I fought so hard to get him back was because of what it would mean for him to stand trial in Lyari. That it had nothing to do with how my heart refused to beat when I thought about him in danger.

“Please answer Orchid’s questions,” I finally say. “You’re injured and we can’t do anything until that’s resolved.”

“Fine.” He drops his gaze. “The bindings on my wrists may have caused permanent damage. I’m malnourished, but not starved. Some small scrapes and bruises, but nothing more serious than that.”

My heart leaps into my throat and lodges itself there. The C?n Annwn had him for a couple of weeks, and that’s more than long enough to cause irreparable harm. All because I refused to consider changing our operation. I glance at Orchid. “How can I help?”

He nudges Bastian to rotate away from us so we can see the bindings on his wrists. The skin of his hands is tinged with blue. Orchid makes a worried sound. “I’ll need to get something to cut these off.”

“I’ve got it,” I say roughly. I shift two of my fingers. The bindings were done by an earth-user, fusing the metal around his wrists. I’ve undone bindings like this before, and gods know I’ll do it again. My claws can cut through damn near anything. The metal parts easily, freeing him.

“That’s a start.” Orchid nods at me. “I would appreciate if you’d stand over by the door so I have room.”

Orchid’s people reside in Drash, and as a culture, they’re incredibly closemouthed about their magic. They don’t overtly shun the C?n Annwn’s rule, but they hardly welcome it, either. It’s passing odd that Orchid chose to sail on one of their ships, even if it is Nox’s ship.

I don’t want to take my eyes off Bastian, but there’s no way Orchid would hurt someone under Nox’s protection. It still takes several seconds before I can make myself turn away and face the door. Orchid might not have explicitly asked me to do so, but I hear his sigh of relief all the same.

“This won’t feel good,” he says quietly to Bastian. “But it will heal your internal damage and allow me to check for any unknown injuries. May I put my hands on you?”

“Yes,” Bastian rasps.

I clench my fists and hold my place, fighting not to turn around when Bastian makes a faint pained noise and something pops in his body and then pops again. It’s not a fast process.

Healing magic is a tricky thing, regardless of what being or culture is doing it. Most healers only encourage the body to do what it does best. Some methods, like a vampire’s blood, override the body’s normal processes and force it to heal.

The universe craves balance, no matter what realm a being inhabits. Most healing pulls on the body’s reserves—both healer and patient. Things like vampire blood work well in the short term but lose efficiency over time, a neat little quirk to encourage vampires to create more of themselves, since their birth rates are notoriously low. All immortals have that problem, to avoid overrunning every realm in existence with their progeny.

I’m doing a poor job of trying to distract myself from what’s going on behind me. I can smell blood and something sour—his wrists are infected. Bastian breathes heavily as Orchid works on him. It feels like a small eternity before Orchid exhales slowly. “That’s the worst of it. Have a small meal and drink water consistently—in small sips—to help your body continue to heal itself.”

“Thank you.”

Orchid shifts, and that’s my cue to turn back around. He nods to me. “I appreciate the privacy. I’ll check on him in the morning, but I need to look over the rest of the crew. There were a few minor injuries that need my attention.”

“Of course.” I move out of the way to let him pass.

It’s only when he’s gone that I realize how much his presence and the immediate threat bolstered my courage to face Bastian. Now, with him sitting there staring at me with his pretty, dark eyes, the small cowardly part of myself that I never let see the light is whimpering for a retreat.

“You came for me.” He searches my expression. “Or was it the rebellion that came for me?”

The urge to protect my heart is nearly overwhelming. It hasn’t been very long since we threw hard and vicious words at each other, since he called me a coward for not wanting to push the rebellion into direct confrontation with the C?n Annwn.

He’s right. I am a coward. We can’t take back what we did tonight. Morrigan knows I’m alive, and she’s smart enough to wonder what else I might have been up to for the last sixteen years. “You’re getting your way. They know about us now.”

“That’s all you have to say to me?”

No. The things I want to say to him are climbing over themselves in the back of my throat, choking me. “Bastian—”

“Never mind. It’s worse than you think.” He moves stiffly, trying to pull his shirt over his head. “After I clean up, we need to talk to Nox about next steps.”

“I can—”

“I’ve got it,” Bastian snaps. “I’d like some privacy, please.”

There’s nothing to say, and even if I tried, I would no doubt make it worse. It was never difficult with Bastian. He’s charming and beautiful and, from the moment we met, it was so easy to be around him. I took that for granted. Apparently I’m still taking that for granted.

I slip out of the bathroom and close the door softly behind me. Things were so much simpler when I was just a shadow among thousands upon thousands of them. One piece helping coordinate the others moving to a greater purpose.

I can’t stay in Nox’s bedroom, waiting to see which one of them will walk through the door first. Not to mention…Bastian is more likely to eat the provided food if I’m not around to stand over him. I slip out onto the deck and move to the helm, where Nox is perched, their coat streaming dramatically out behind them.

I glance around. The sandbar and other ships are nowhere in sight. It’s difficult to gauge exactly where we are, but I think we’re heading northeast.

Nox doesn’t take their gaze from the horizon. “Orchid says he’ll make a full recovery.”

“That seems to be the case.”

“Is he still angry with you?”

I blink. “Excuse me?”

“That’s why you’re out here with me instead of in there giving him a bath, right?” They shoot me a wicked grin. “Unless you actually prefer my company, in which case…I can be convinced.”

I know they’re just flirting to keep the attention away from their relationship fallout with Bastian, but I can’t help the image that springs into my head in response to their words. Of them in my arms, their gray eyes alight with wicked mischief. I can’t help wondering how they’d taste.

“Stop trying to distract me from the fact that you’re just as bothered by his presence aboard as I am.” I clear my throat. “He’s still angry with me, yes. Angry enough that if I stick around, we’ll end up fighting. He needs to eat.”

“As good an excuse as any. As to the other?” They shrug. “We’re ancient history.”

“Nox.” I don’t have to glance around to ensure we’re not being overheard. There’s no one close enough, and all of them are intent on their goal of getting us as far away from our enemy as possible. “Pretend with others. Don’t pretend with me.”

They sigh, their shoulders slumping. “You don’t get to demand that kind of intimacy from me, Siobhan. I believe in your cause and I believe in you , but some scars don’t heal—they fester. I would love to say that I’m a gracious and lovely person who doesn’t hold a broken heart against my ex fourteen years later, but it’s not the truth. I love a grudge as much as I love my ship. And he’s the one who taught me that.”

Because Bastian hurt Nox so intensely. I only know the basics of what happened: that Nox wanted Bastian to come with them when they left Lyari, that he chose his family over them. Bastian avoided saying more than that about Nox, and Nox’s only condition to joining the rebellion was that I never talk about Bastian.

And now I need to get them both to agree to work together.

“Morrigan isn’t going to give up,” I say finally. “Especially now that she knows I’m alive.” I still haven’t processed that , but I have no intention of thinking about it too closely anytime soon. I may have been using a vast network of people to undermine the hold the C?n Annwn have on Threshold, but we intentionally kept to the shadows.

I’m terrified of what it means to step into the light.

“I’m aware.” Nox finally looks at me, eyes narrowed. “Just like I was aware that Morrigan had a sister—but I was under the impression that her sister died in the same fire that killed her parents about two years before I left the city.”

If I close my eyes, I can still see the flames licking up the curtains. “Our parents died in that fire. I chose to use it to escape Lyari.”

Nox’s hands tighten on the helm. “You lied to me.”

“No, I didn’t. I just didn’t disclose all the information.” When they open their mouth, I hold up my hand. “Come on, Nox. I’m the leader of the damned rebellion. You knew when you signed on that you weren’t getting my life story and every detail about me.”

“That’s true.” They sigh. “It’s also true that it would have been nice to know that you were a noble.”

“It doesn’t matter.” Even as I say it, I know it for a lie. It would matter even if I wasn’t sister to Morrigan. It especially matters because I am.

The look Nox gives me says as much without them uttering a single word. But this is Nox , so of course they have more to say. “Morrigan wasn’t likely to let us abscond with Bastian without a prolonged and violent chase. Now that she knows you’re on my ship? She’s going to come at us with everything she has.”

I want to argue with them, but everything they’ve said is true. “You’re right.”

“I usually am.”

Eyal walks up, giving us both a wary look. “You need to get some sleep, Captain. You’re weaving on your feet.”

“I’ll hold until we’re clear.”

Eyal shakes his head. “I spoke with Poet. The teams we sent did a good job of sabotaging the rudders of the support ships. Even if their respective crews have someone with a helpful flavor of magic, it will take a few hours to fix. If they don’t, it will be a lot longer.” He motions behind us. “The Bone Heart will also take some time to repair after Bowen and you tore holes in the deck and hull. I can keep us on course while you rest. We’re running our air-users in shifts so there’s always someone fresh in case we need to pick up the pace.”

Nox smiles faintly. “You seem to have thought of everything. What do you need me for again?”

“You know we’re lost without you.” Eyal nods at the helm. “Sleep. I will send someone to wake you if there’s so much as a peep of wrongness.”

I recognize a losing battle when I see one. It takes Nox a few seconds longer to admit defeat. They release the helm and step back. “I suppose a few hours won’t hurt.” They nod at me. “Come on. We need to know what Bastian told them—and if he picked up any useful information during his time aboard the Bone Heart .”

It’s only as I fall into step next to them that I fully register the fact that we’re about to walk back into the room where Bastian waits.

There’s no avoiding the coming conversation.