Page 144 of The Ever King

Tait gripped my shoulder and forced me to turn around. “They could kill you, and I—” His jaw pulsed. “Erik, you were my brother once. You are all I have.”

I hesitated for half a breath before patting his face. “I’m not greeting the Otherworld until she is back. Help me get her back.”

He shook my shoulder twice. “To the end.”

I gave him a nod.

“I know you killed him,” he whispered as we approached the gangplank. “You had my loyalty already, but after you killed Harald, it was sealed in blood that day.”

I kept silent, not admitting anything, but I didn’t deny it either.

Behind closed doors, Harald beat and brutalized Tait to the gates of the Otherworld often. He’d forced distance between us as boys, but the bond of brotherhood still had a glimmer of light left. I’d never told anyone that I’d slipped into Harald’s war tent when the battle drew closer to its end, poisoned him, then slit his throat to make it look like an assassination.

I always suspected Tait knew by the way he’d studied me across the camp when they took Harald’s body to the sea.

We stormed onto the deck, already much of the crew was in place, humming their eerie shanties and setting to work beneath a high moon.

Celine stood near the steps of the quarterdeck and handed me my tricorn.

I swallowed back the unease and slowly placed it on my head. “He left?”

She nodded. “Gavyn will be hunting the seas. House of Bones stands with the true Ever King.”

I climbed the steps to the helm. Aleksi leaned over the rail. Shadows coated his eyes when he looked at me. He would be needed to speak, and to speak quickly. But there was always the chance the earth bender’s rage would overpower even his nephew’s voice when we stepped foot on land.

I gripped the handles of the helm, offered a last look at the moonlit glitter of the royal city, then waved a palm. Wind snapped the crimson sails. The ship lurched. Eyes narrowed, I took in the bustle of the crew. “Make ready to dive, you wretches.”

Shouts and commands spilled across the deck. I kept my sights on the stars in the sky. The gleam of Nightfire and his lover.I’d cross the skies, Songbird.

The bow tilted forward, carving through the black surface. Songs of the crew were haunting as the water boiled around us, taking us below the waves mouthful by mouthful.

A man he’s not, we work we rot,

No sleep until it’s through.

A sailor’s grave is all we crave.

We are the Ever King’s crew.

* * *

Aleksi was pale when the ship surfaced through the Chasm. His knuckles had gone white from clenching the rail.

Tait clapped him on the shoulder. “All right, earth fae? I thought you were supposed to be a warrior.”

Aleksi shoved him off. “It’s disorienting.”

“Better than coming through without a ship, though.”

“I’ll take a ship over being crushed.” He came to my side. “Keep a distance. Rave don’t come too near the Chasm line. The ship will be safe here.”

I peeled my grip off the handles.

“Tidecaller.” I crossed the deck to her side. “Man the helm. The ship is yours until I return.”

“I should come with you,” she whispered so only I could hear.

“You must remain here. Guard the ship.” I removed my tricorn and handed it to her. “I need you to be here so you will know if Gavyn finds her.”