Part I
Of the Sea
Chapter 1
The things I dofor gold.
Wings fluttered overhead in the dimly lit cavern. I stopped short, peering into the shadows as the bats’ high-pitched chatter echoed off the walls. Clusters of glowing fungi protruded from the jagged stone, their eerie light tinted a purplish hue, and a faint, musty odor hung in the air.
“We’re going the wrong way,” I muttered, sipping water from my leather flask while keeping a wary eye on the shapeless creatures clinging to the rocky ceiling.
The first time I’d disturbed a colony of bats, it ended with me barreling out of a cave, screaming bloody murder until I tripped and landed in a filthy swamp. I stank for days, hiking through a bug-infested jungle until I reached a village and had a proper bath. The jeweled headpiece I’d unearthed hadn’t been worth the trouble, or the smell.
I shook my head, wincing at the memory.I may have learned to hold my ground in the years since, but the lesson still made my skin crawl.
A tickle skated up my arm, and I stifled a yelp, certain one of the vile critters had roosted on my shoulder. I opened my palm to reveal the bright beam of an enchanted moonstone and came face-to-face with my partner, Gavin, his fingers ghostingover the sleeve of my tunic.
“You’ll pay for that,” I vowed through clenched teeth.
His green gaze glinted like emeralds in the light, and his mouth hitched into a suggestive grin, laying ruin to my threat.
“Don’t tempt me with a good time, Mare. You know I’ll collect.”
Gavin slung his arm over my shoulder and tucked me against his side, expertly dodging the elbow I tried to jab into his ribs. The infuriating man knew my every move, and he took pleasure in it.
I was used to working alone. It was easier that way, with no one to rely on but myself. But this treasure hunt was different. It was too dangerous to tackle solo. When I joined this crew, I got Gavin. And much as it pained me to admit, his unshakeable presence was the only thing that had ever made me feel safe.
After all, traipsing through ruins, underground caverns, and jungles crawling with scavenging beasts was a recipe for peril. If it wasn’t quicksand, it was giant snakes, or a tomb filled with traps.
So far, the snakes hadn't shown up, but I was sure they'd arrive right on time, when you least expected it.
They always did.
Our hunting party had split up hours ago, each half searching for one of the two runes needed to open the treasure chamber. We’d found ours, but thanks to a dodgy map Gavin's latest admirer had drawn—on his back,no less—we were now lost.
Bitterness coated my tongue. We were partners, not lovers. How Gavin spent his nights was none of my business. But did the sorceress have to paint the directions on his skin? Hadn’t she ever heard of a scroll?
My eyes squeezed shut against the visual, and I imagined instead the aggravating woman being mauled by bats. Better yet, falling into a putrid swamp.
I stifled a groan. Gavin might have poor taste in women and zero chance of findingthe one, but I shouldn’t judge. In our line of work, love was riskier than crossing a piranha-infested channel in a leaky boat. And you never mix business with pleasure. Especially when getting stabbed in the back over a cache of jewels wasn’t a possibility; it was a promise.
“Turn around. Let me see the map again,” I said, ducking out from under his shoulder. It figured the others would take the transcribed copy, while I got stuck with trouble dipped in ink.
Gavin braced his forearms against the cavern wall, his raven black hair curling at his nape, the ends brushing just above his collar. I lifted the fabric of his linen shirt, slightly damp and warm from his skin, to reveal thin strokes of paint across his sculpted back. Faded marks and old scars crisscrossed the lines, a map of their own making.
I hesitated. A single second stretching into two. Then my finger moved, a slow drag down one of the freshly drawn paths. Gavin’s muscles bunched, his shoulders jerking beneath my touch.
“Are my hands cold?”
He grunted, dropping his head so the rumble of his voice got lost between his chest and the stone. Something twisted in my gut from the deep, muffled tone, and I forced myself to focus on the map.
I cleared my throat, annoyance washing away my restlessness as I squinted at the blurred lines.
“Ugh!This is why we don’t let flirty sorceressestry their hand at cartography. The paint is smudged. Seriously, Gavin, did you agree to this before or after she charmed you out of your clothes?”
“I told you. Nothing happened between me and… Esmeralda? No. That’s not it. Maybe it was Elspeth? Elana?” He scratched his head. “Pretty sure her name started with an E.”
I pinched his shoulder blade until he hissed through his teeth. “You’re lucky you didn’t say the wrong name during your—” I shuddered, channeling the bat-mauling image. “amorous encounter, or whatever you want to call it.”
