Safire’s brow furrowed and her lips pursed as she stepped toward the scarp plant—earning her a shove from Rain.
Safire threw the girl a dirty look as Eris glanced back, quickly counting the pirates behind them. She winced when she found Kor glaring at her, bringing up the rear of the group.Four behind and four ahead.The odds were definitely against her.
But the odds had been against Eris plenty of times before.
They walked for most of the day. When it began to rain lightly, the damp smell of the earth and junipers brought a rush of bittersweet memories. That was when Eris started to recognize the landscape around her. Soon, their pace quickened and Eris realized it was because they’d hit a path. A familiar path. One she’d walked thousands of times as a child.
Suddenly, she knew exactly where they were.
“No,” Eris whispered, halting abruptly.
This time when Kor shoved, Eris ground her heels in, refusing to budge.
“Move,” Kor growled.
“I’d rather die.”
Safire stopped and looked back, studying her.
Kor motioned for two of the other pirates to haul Eris onward. But the moment their grip closed around her arms, Eris dropped to her knees.
They would have to drag her if they wanted her to go any farther.
Suddenly, she felt the press of steel at her back. “I don’t have time for this.”
Eris wished she knew where her spindle was. But it could be hidden on any of these pirates. And even if she had it, the stardust steel locked around her wrists prevented her from going across.
She was completely powerless.
Eris squeezed her eyes shut. “Kill me, then. Right here. What you’re going to do is worse than death anyway.”
Kor stepped in front of her, staring down at Eris out of those fierce dark eyes. Eris looked beyond him, to the path between the misty trees. A path that led up through gray shale cliffs and along the sea.
A path that led home.
No,she thought, hardening her heart against it.Never again will it be my home.
The whole party came to a halt. Those up ahead circled back to see what the problem was.
“Kor?” said the burly Lila, looking to the gray sky, her hair shiny with rain. It had gotten considerably colder and grayer due to the storm coming in. “We have a day’s walk ahead of us, and this weather is only going to worsen. I think we should make camp.”
Kor sheathed his dagger, then ground the heels of his palms into his eyes. He looked weary suddenly. And Eris wondered if he felt responsible for the massacre they’d left behind.
“Deal with Eris, will you? Rain. Lila. I want your eyes on her all night.”
“And this one?” Lila nodded to Safire.
Kor dropped his hands. His eyes narrowed on the commandant. “Tie them up together. They’ll be easier to watch.”
They tied them to a balsam tree with rope from the boat, with Safire on one side and Eris on the other. Together, Lila and Rain wound it around their stomachs and across their chests, constricting their arms, before tying it in a complicated knot.
The two girls stood over their captives, admiring their handiwork. Rain wiped her brow, then uncorked the water jug and took a long swig before passing it to Lila, who drank, too.
Knowing Safire had vomited up all her liquids and was likely to be more dehydrated than any of them, Eris said, “You going to offer us some of that?”
Lila looked to Rain, who nodded for her to go ahead. So Lila crouched down, holding the jug to Eris’s lips and carefully tipped it back. After Eris took several gulps, Lila rose and brought the jug to Safire.
But the commandant turned her face away. “I’m not thirsty.”
