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She spun back toward me. “I promise I will find a way to return her to you.”

I looked up. I was no longer angry. Just tired.

“I know what love is now.” Her cheeks flushed pink. “And I want that for Nyah. And maybe in some small way, it will make up for the wrongs I’ve done to you both.”

Unable to speak, I simply watched as she turned and left the room. They were pretty words, and I didn’t doubt she meant them. But that all meant little if she had no means with which to follow through.

Thirty-Three

Nyah

Three days passed, feeling like forever. And when Rune finally arrived to switch with me, I was equally disappointed and excited to learn the voyage to sea had already begun, though just barely.

When I came to, perched on the railing at the bow of a ship, gripping some ropes for balance, the ache between my thighs told me everything I needed to know about how she’d spent her time. I only hoped she’d done whatever was necessary to assuage Sharlyne’s prophetic visions before she’d found Torvo.

I glanced over my shoulder, glad the big Astridonian was not nearby, since I had no idea if things would feel awkward between us. This was all so confusing.

Air rushed past my face as we rocketed over the deep sapphire waves. Shadows passed beneath the angled bow, forms that didn’t flow with the natural current of the water and sent shivers traveling down my arms and neck. The entirety of the scene was hypnotic, though, hard to tear my eyes away from, and it was so freeing not to find any signs of land surrounding us as far as the horizon line.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Rivven had quietly snuck up beside me, and though we hadn’t touched, the feel of his breath and the sound of his voice sent very different types of shivers racing down to my core.

I turned toward him and smiled. “I like the view,” I agreed, searching his face. When flames flashed in his eyes and his copper skin warmed beneath the blazing sun, I knew he understood exactly what I meant.

As I knew it would, the sea had helped heal him. Not just physically because of his magic, but spiritually, like it was an extension of him, another limb.

“I’m glad you’re back,” he whispered, and I got the sense the words came out that way because they were hard to utter. Our situation had become unbearable.

I nodded. “Me, too.” I jerked my head toward the churning waves, unsure what else to say. “We made it.”

“So far,” he agreed, standing taller. “There are other things to be warry of out here, but at least we seem to have escaped Balram’s reach for the moment.”

“That’s good enough for me.” I released my hold on the rope and leapt lightly to the sun-faded planks of the ship. “Fill me in, Captain?”

Rivven gave me a tour of the Xylon’s Revenge, the pirate ship he’d secured for the journey. I tried to ignore the fact it was named after the god of the seven hells and what that might mean about the people on it.

Most of the men scurrying about the deck were people I didn’t recognize. My fingers tingled with magic at every stolen glance they shot at me. I had the feeling I was right about my first impression of the ship’s name, and most of them were less than trustworthy. Being stuck on a ship with them in the middle of a dangerous ocean was not the smartest thing we’d ever done. Necessary though, I reminded myself. I just hoped we’d find something when we reached the Synbari Isles, other than ruins of old temples to the gods.

I had chosen to trust Rivven’s mother and sister. I’d bet everything on the word of the seers, and only now was I truly reflecting on the possibility of that being a mistake.

I noted the presence of the others: Kendara, who seemed to fit right in with the pirates; Dev and Torvo huddled together near the stern railing, talking; Galan and Sharlyne, seated on some barrels and playing a game of tattered cards with a tall, hulking man seated on the ground beside them, watching.

“That one is Kredo. My sister vouched for him,” Rivven said when he saw me staring. “And the skinny one doing the actual work is Bonch.”

My gaze roamed to find a scrawny orange-haired boy rushing about and fiddling with riggings that appeared to attach to the billowing sails. He seemed harmless enough at least. I was about to comment when I noted the man stepping up behind him to criticize his work. The memory of being sucked into the ground and groped flared to life as I growled his name.

“Fiorge.” I was surprised the venom in my voice didn’t strike him down from across the deck.

Rivven tensed beside me. “What did he do to you, little spy?”

“He taught me a lesson,” I answered after a moment, then grabbed Rivven’s wrist to prevent him from barreling across the deck and squeezing the life from the man. “It’s okay. I was under Lou’s protection, and the incident triggered the memories that unlocked the last of my magic. But I won’t pretend it wouldn’t feel good to teach him a few lessons in return.”

As though he’d heard me, Fiorge glanced over, one eye gleaming with promises. Promises I planned to return tenfold. A shadow blocked our connection, and I looked over to find an older man dressed similarly to Fiorge. But this pirate had a softer look about him, and both eyes were intact.

“Ah, the actual captain.” Rivven nodded, hand on the small of my back.

“Jym, please, my boy.” The man’s eyes roved to where our bodies made contact, and I tensed. He may have seen Rune comfortable and cozy with Torvo, and now likely wondered why Rivven and I were so close. But to my relief, he kept his assumptions to himself.

“Jym,” Rivven said.