Page 31 of By the Flames of Her Fury

I felt lost without my illusions. They weren’t only a tool for helping or distracting others; they were often what kept me calm, what grounded me when the real visions of life became too difficult to bear. I could conjure moments from my childhood on the beaches of Iluze before my parents got sick, could recall the happiest moments of my life and relive them over and over, could give myself dreams of comfort when sleep eluded me.

Now, there was nothing.

“How are you holding up, Ev?” Tessa asked, coming up beside me. We faced the horizon, and the wind battered her dark braids over her shoulder.

“I’m fine, Tessa.”

She sighed. “Always a man of few words.”

“Better to choose my words carefully than say everything that comes to mind.”

“Hmm. I’ve decided not to take that as an insult.”

I patted the top of her tricorn hat. “I knew you wouldn’t.”

“Really, though. What’s your plan when we get to the Triad Realm?”

I mulled through my thoughts, unused to others coming to me for direction. Nox was the one who gave the orders, and Kieran was the planner. Tessa and Arowyn threw themselves at problems headfirst and figured it out on the way down.

I was the one they came to when the headfirst approach didn’t work. When they needed someone to get lost in the research, to sift through every worst-case-scenario for a solution. Not the one to commandeer a ship and sail to an unknown realm, yet here I was.

“The first thing,” I said slowly, “is getting past the Spine. We can worry about everything else after. I’ve already memorized the maps of the area with Captain Rossa⁠—”

“Of course, you have.”

“—and he thinks the crew can get us through.”

Captain Geoffrey Rossa was a bearded, gray-haired sea captain whom Nox had called from retirement to sail us to the Triad Realm. He was evidently the only one who hadn’t laughed in Nox’s face when told what the journey entailed.

Tessa peered over at the helm, where the captain and Kieran stood. “Forgive me if I haven’t put all of my confidence in dear old Geoffrey.”

“Rossa is a highly decorated captain. He’s been sailing cargo ships for five decades.”

“Give or take a hundred years.”

I gave her a bland look, but my lip twitched. “Tessa.”

She held her hands up. “I’m just saying. I also think he’s part gargoyle."

That made me choke. “What?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the man move! Look at him.” She hiked a thumb over her shoulder. “He’s always standing there with that pipe in his mouth.”

I craned my neck to peer at Captain Rossa, and sure enough, he was gazing into the horizon, one hand on his hip and one on the pipe jutting from his mouth. His dark gray beard bobbed in the wind. The second my eyes landed on him, though, he pivoted and stared straight at me.

“Look away!” Tessa hissed. “I bet his eyes can turn you to stone.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Well, someone has to have fun on this ship.” She nudged my side with her elbow.

I returned her nudge. “I’m glad you came, Tessa.”

“Hold on, let me write that down. I need something to remember the day Everett Swift was glad to be with me.”

“Don’t push your luck,” I warned. “How’s your arm doing without the Alchemist’s magic?”

She raised her bronze arm and twisted it back and forth. “It’s good. They did a great job with binding it to me. I haven’t felt a difference, really. But I hate not being able to shift. It’s like I’m missing a piece of myself.” She shivered. “It’s going to be strange living like this for the next few weeks.”