“I hope so,” Avalon whispered. She didn’t realize at first that she’d said the words aloud.
A balmy breeze slipped through the circular window behind them.Perhaps if I sleep with the mask on, it’ll help you remember more,Avalon said with a yawn.
Perhaps,Sable whispered. Though I’m quite enjoying our bickering.
Avalon couldn’t stop the smile that spread across her face.As am I,she said.And there will be plenty of time for more bickering, but right now I need to catch some shuteye.
Several minutes passed before Sable said,That breeze is glorious.But Avalon was already fast asleep, and it wasn’t long before Sable drifted off, too.
~
Avalon and Sable woke back up with a jolt.
There was a distant groan that sounded an awful lot like thunder, yet different somehow. The ocean rumbled like the belly of a ravenous beast, and the floor of the ship gave a great, rolling shudder.
For a moment, Avalon held very still. Listening and watching for a sign that something was wrong. When at least a minute had passed, and nothing of interest happened, she still couldn’t erase the feeling that something terrible was about to go down.
Avalon had just decided it would be best to wake Hadrian when the shipbounced. Literallybounced, as if something struck it from underneath. The barrels of fish surrounding them shook, some of them falling onto their sides, the piles of oily fish sliding to the floor with a series of wet slaps.
The captain startled awake, reaching for his dagger.
Avalon caught his wrist before his fingers could close around the hilt. “What was that?”
But the captain had no time to reply as something struck the ship directly behind them—and pushed. Their side of the ship began tipping up, and up, and up. The barrels slid toward the other side of the cargo hold, and Avalon and Hadrian clung to each other, planting their feet.
Hadrian grabbed onto a window frame. “Hold on to me,” he said, his voice strained.
“Hadrian,” Avalon choked out, teetering back and forth. “What’s happening?”
“I don’t think we want to know.” He scanned the interior of the cargo hold, his eyes landing upon the narrow stairwell that led to the deck. “But we need to get out of here.”
He pulled her to her feet, but before they could move so much as an inch, the ship leveled back out, slamming into the water hard enough to rattle their bones. Avalon toppled to the deck, the mask wrenching free of her face as the back of her head connected with the floor. She scrambled after it, crawling through puddles of water, and sobbed in relief once it was safe in her hand again. Hadrian heaved her back to her feet as soon as he was able. Without a word, he took the mask right out of her hands and shoved it into his bag.
As soon as they were on their feet, their fingers knotted, they sprinted for the stairwell. The ship lifted again, and they went sliding toward the opposite wall, the soles of their boots slipping on a layer of water and oily grime. The barrels slid alongside them, several rolling, and they just barely dodged them as the ship continued to jostle them forward.
The ship bounced again, the momentum ripping Avalon’s hand out of Hadrian’s grasp. Propelled forward by the ship that was continuously tipping up, and up, and up, she soared forward, unable to stop herself. She slammed into the wall of barrels that had piled up at the opposite side of the ship. Hadrian called her name from somewhere near the stairwell, and just as she was about to turn, something red caught her eye.
Grasping the lip of the barrel, she peered through the circular windows through which water was steadily rushing, soaking her pants. Something was in the water. Something round and bright red in color. There was a black slit in the middle, almost like a—
Like a pupil.
The eye blinked, and Avalon stifled a scream.
The creature was massive, its beaklike jaw opening to expose a mouth lined with rows of razor-sharp teeth. Several sucker-bearing arms slithered over the windows, darkening the interior of the cargo hold until Avalon couldn’t see a thing. Sheer horror vibrated through her very being, and her legs shook as she backed away from the windows.
She whimpered. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Hadrian grabbed her by the elbow and pulled her toward the stairwell. As they crawled up the steps, toward the deck, Avalon wondered if the reason why her father hadn’t managed to seize Aquatica was because of the ancient sea monsters that dwelled in these waters. Perhaps her father wasn’t waiting until he had a large enough fleet, as he’d claimed had been the case for years.
Perhaps he was simply afraid.
31
As the Wolf of Winter followed the Dragon and the Wraith through the gates to the House of Ice, all he could think about was that he should’ve been the one to empty the bag. Maybe then Killian wouldn’t be leading the way into the snowy fields, the promise of murder contorting his features.
The three of them had briefly argued in the corridor about the consequences of lying to the king, and although Killian claimed he was on their side, and that he could’ve simply turned them in when they were in the throne room instead of wasting his precious time, Kit was wary. As much as he wished he could go back and save Killian and Sable from falling into the king’s clutches, Killian had grown up to serve the king. His memory had been wiped; as far as anyone knew, the Dragon didn’t even know hehada sister. So how could they trust him?
“All right, I think we’ve gone far enough,” Kit announced, and the trio came to a standstill. He pinned the Dragon with a cold stare. “How are we supposed to trust you? You’ve spent almost your entire life in that bloody viper’s nest they call the House of Fire.”
