Neither did anyone else.
As if supporting my claim, a tidal wave struckDarkness’ Hourglass, rebounding off the distant mainland. Unfazed, the pirates leaned into the lurch, their bodies fluent in a language of motion and balance only spoken by rough seas.
“I’m waiting,malá ryba.”Kriska said.
Sliding my gaze from Kriska to Kye, I lifted my chin, leaning into my side of the room. Kye’s nostrils flared, and I suddenly realized why the promise I'd asked for had been so difficult for him to make.
He couldn't help but take their attention away from me—just as I couldn't help meeting their demands to protect him.
Kye’s gaze drove into my skull, scorching my skin as I wrapped my fingertips around the rim of the glass.
The tiny cabin blazed with the sudden scent of metal on fire. I didn’t care. Let him be angry. The pirates would ransom him back to Calder. His father would want him back—a healthy second heir.
I didn’t care if he never forgave me.
I lifted the glass to my mouth and stifled the urge to retch at the scent. Holding my breath, I gulped down the thick water, my tongue scouring the edges of my teeth to rid myself of the taste of oil. Then wiped my chin against my shoulder, handing the glass to Kriska, though my eyes darted to Kye.
His gaze burned cold with fury.
I wondered if I could call it back up. If whatever powder they’d added would stick to the lining of my stomach or would follow the water back out my throat.
They'd unchained me the last time I’d drank it. All I had to do was drink it again and wait for them to leave.
Then I’d call the water out, pretend to fall asleep, and wait to be unchained.
What I’d do next, I wasn’t sure. Last time, I’d woken up to find the door locked, but it wasn't usually. The pirates kept it open, leaning in to sneer at us on their way through the berth. Maybe they hadn’t locked it right away. It seemed to fit, thinking the pirates had left the door ajar so they could taunt Kye while I laid unconscious.
It was small. But it was something to hold onto.
Kriska clicked his tongue in satisfaction. He strode out of the little cabin with Aleksei on his heels, tossing orders in Kravan to the pirate crew. Demyan eyed me, a cruel glint in his eye.He glanced sidelong at Burian, who hadn't yet moved from the doorway.
“Make sure her chains are tight,” he muttered in his thick accent. “Then watch therybauntil she's out.”
My hope of escape evaporated.
72
Burian inclined his head, eyes landing with vengeful intent on me as Demyan stalked from the room. The pirate waited until all noise grew distant. Kye’s brows furrowed at him, though true to his word, he said nothing as Burian pushed off the wall and closed the door, crouching at my feet. His hands closed around my chains as he tugged, checking the tightness.
The welts my nails had carved into his cheek and brow had disappeared, though the red veins in his eye remained as angry as the day I’d scratched him.
He laid his hands over my shoulders, pressing his chest hard against me as he leaned in, slowly forcing me into the wall. My gaze flickered silently to Kye over the pirate’s shoulder.
His back a rigid line, Kye’s jaw hardened, eyes locked on mine.
Burian tilted his head into my neck and inhaled. He chuckled as he pulled away, murmuring a word I didn’t recognize, and met my gaze.
Chin tucked to my chest, I simply glared at him through my lashes. “They’re tight,” I said, reminding him his task was completed.
The pirate fisted my hair in one hand, pulling my head to the side. I gritted my teeth as he exposed my neck and licked the hollow of my collar bone. My belly clenched at the feeling of his tongue, moist and thick over my skin. Locked in the cage of my ribs, my heart began to hammer.
“Uz si ochutnal, maly princ?” Burian murmured into my skin, ignoring my words. He slid his fingers down my lap, and my wrists burned as my arms suddenly tensed.
Inhumanly still, Kye watched, trained on the pirate as if imagining the most painful way to kill him.
“She's sweet as glacier water,” the pirate continued. His fingers trailed up my bare thigh, brushing against the sensitive skin between my legs.
My breath hitched, spine locked hard against the wall, breath fossilized in my lungs. My pulse crashed in my ears. Across from me, Kye read the look in my eyes. The blood drained from his face, and I watched the thoughts flicker in his head. Though his expression remained tight and controlled, the scent of his anger roiled, so thick in my lungs I might have been breathing smoke.
