Page 147 of Traitor Witch

The bargain forces our cooperation. Every muscle in my body goes stiff as a board, and no amount of effort makes a difference. Sweat drips down Val's face as he struggles against the order. Even theDeadwood's sails are stiff, unmoving in the breeze.

But we're stuck. Forced to watch as the soldier removes his sword from Kier with a sickening whoosh, flicking the fae's blood off the blade.

"Isaidthe vampire." The Queen raises a single eyebrow. "Perhaps that wasn't quite clear." She turns to Derrick. "Take him and make sure he's sufficiently defanged. You'll be in charge of making sure he stays alive to be returned to them when they bring the next load of cargo."

I still can't move as the soldiers behind me wrestle my hands behind my back, then drag my frozen form from theDeadwood.

Shit.

This is going to hurt.

My breathing turns shallow as I fight back the panic. I've done this before. I can survive the Pits.

My greatest fear is who I'll be when I come out.

It took years for me to conquer the bloodlust last time. Only Kier's unrelenting patience got me through it. Now the stakes are higher.

Goddess, what would I do to Nilsa in that state?

My gut clenches.

She won't stand a chance against me if the bloodlust takes hold.

If she's even still alive.

Val will rush to try to save me, I'm not stupid. But if he thinks he's going to leave our mate undefended on Idos, I'll kill him myself. The captain takes care of his crew, but he damned well better take care of our mate first.

At the last second they turn me just enough for my gaze to catch Val's, then Kier's.

Find Nilsa,I scream at them in my mind.Find Nilsa and keep her the fuck away from me.

Chapter Forty

NILSA

Inside the barrel is cramped. My whole body is contorted around Opal, who's taking the whole situation better than I am. The damned cat is happily snoozing away in the cramped confines, tiny claws digging into me in her sleep. The claustrophobic interior is made a thousand times worse by the way I spend every second battling the urge to kick my way out and find the pirates I know are so close.

Goddess, I didn't know it was possible to feel so conflicted over men. I've been so obsessed with trying to hide my disappointment ever since Glenna told me I didn't have a harem that I might have fucked up my chances with them.

I don't love them. But I want to find out if I can. The possibility of them was denied to me for so long, and now temptation is mixing with guilt over how we left things and messing with my head. My own selfish desire to fix things with the harem I never let myself hope for is at war with my duty to my goddess.

Duty has to win.

There can be no future for us unless the Eagle is killed.

Making my way through theDeadwoodwas damn near impossible. I hid my broom in my old rooms and snuck down into the cargo hold, using the spirit plane to keep my scent hidden. Modifying the barrel was harder than I thought it would be, but a couple of amulets later the container was perfectly camouflaged. Not even an immortal could sense me inside.

In theory, it sounded great, but fitting my five foot seven frame into the thing was awful. And the magic worked both ways. All my senses were just as useless.

So I clutched my knife with grim determination the entire time. Half of my mind consumed by the grim certainty that I'd be discovered, the other half praying to the Goddess for her intervention.

When I boarded theDeadwood,it was midmorning and the ship was just in sight of the harbour. And it takes over an hour before I feel my barrel being moved. So I force myself to wait for hours more before I attempt to sneak out of the barrel. I tense and relax my muscles in carefully memorised patterns to prevent them from cramping.

It's not until I feel the pulse of moonlight answer my prayers that I finally pop open the lid and carefully peek out.

I'm in a dark room with walls made of grim stone. Opal slips out of the gap, moving silently through the space, keeping to the shadows.

"No one's here,"she reports after several tense moments."It looks like this is just a storehouse, there are loads of barrels and crates and a lift that seems to go down... it smells like the sea. That must be how they got all the barrels in here. The only other way out I can see is through a trapdoor in the ceiling."