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I could feel his concern through the pelt I wore, which was more than a little disconcerting. Was it still a part of his body, somehow? I forced the thought away as he replied, “Three in each, at most. If the children are very small, maybe five. Can they swim?”

I grimaced. “Not all of them. I’m not sure I have time to teach them, either.”

Adiah interrupted. “Some of us can. Me and two of the Omegas, though not well. The ones who can’t could hang onto the sides of the boats, maybe. We all know how to hold our breath.”

I glanced at Kellin. He shook his head. “They’d drown at the first real wave.” His whisper was only just audible over the storm. “Who would we take first?”

Adiah and I answered at the same time, “The children.”

I nodded and elaborated. “These Omegas are valuable. The children, especially the boys, would be tortured or killed.” Tally would be executed for letting them escape.

“We have to go all at once. The guards’ll take it out on whoever’s left,” Adiah said flatly. “Torture us.”

Fuck it all, she was right. “I’ll figure something out,” I said, already thinking. “If I could get away to the jungle and build a raft…”

Kellin hummed. “That would take at least three nights. We need to work with the tides as well, to sneak out past sunset with time to escape his notice before dawn.” He thought for a moment. “The tide will go out close to three hours past sunset, five nights from now. Make sure they’re ready.”

“Um, there’s a fence,” Adiah muttered. “How will we get through?”

I moved down a few feet to where I’d found the missing bar. “There’s a gap in the bars below the waterline here. Not big enough for anything but a fish, but—” Before I could finish, Kellin dove beneath the water.

Adiah and I waited, rain dousing us again, until he popped back up. “A damned small gap, but the bars on both sides have signs of rust. With time, I could make the hole wide enough.”

“We don’t have time.” I could feel his exhaustion through the pelt, though he seemed to improve by the minute. He needed to stay in this form for as long as possible.

“Could you use my knife?” Adiah asked. “Well, it’s more or less a sharp stone. But it’s strong.”

I almost laughed when he began to refuse. “Kellin, you should try her knife.” He agreed reluctantly, and she handed it to me. “It’s got the same kind of blade as my dagger, only I made this one.”

“You?” He grasped the blade and hissed. “By the seas, you weren’t lying. But will it cut iron?”

I’d managed to cut through wire and nails with my old one. “No harm in trying.” I removed the pelt from my neck and pushed it through the bars. “I have to go back and make plans. You work on the bars. And tell Dustin and Lachlan to be ready for children who won’t have eaten more than a few pieces of fish and a cup of cofi tea. They’ll have energy for one night, no more. They have to get them away from Pict, no matter what.”

“Dustin and Lachlan are moored on a spit of rock at the end of the island chain with a few supplies. But there’s a bigger island I named Menthera when I was mapping this part of the Northern Seas. It has fresh water, and Dustin ordered a dozen of Goran’s warriors to set up a camp there with food and shelter for whoever comes with your code word.” He turned his head to Adiah. “Warqueen,” he said in Starlakian, then Mirrenese.

She repeated him and excused herself to go to the children’s longhouse. “I’ll need to tell Tally.”

When she’d waded away, Kellin murmured my name. “Rada, my love, my mate. What else can I do to protect you?”

I stared at him for a moment. “I’m your true mate, aren’t I? You’re already bonded to me. When I gave you my blood, it made a bond.” He nodded silently. “Can you… Can you feel me, my emotions?” I could sense his churning emotions through the pelt. He hadn’t wanted me to know that, but only because––

“I would never pressure you, my queen.”

I wanted to stab him. I wanted to kiss him.

I settled for sighing. “A prince through and through. Well, my prince…I guess we might as well make it official. Want to sneak a quick bite?” I couldn’t see his expression, but I laughed as he cursed.

“You’re trying to kill me. You want me to claim you now? Mark you, when I can’t hold you?” I pressed myself against the bars, and he reached through again, his hands cupping my face as he kissed me softly. “I will soon. And when I do, I’ll leave my mark where the world can see.” His fingers slid over my chin and dropped down to my neck. When I hissed, he went still. “My queen, what is this?” His fingertips moved over the scarred claiming mark Edan had left on my throat. “Who did this to you?”

Long ago, I’d been afraid of the kind of killing rage I could hear in his voice now. Yet from him, it made me feel safe and more than a little turned on. “You can guess.”

A long moment passed before Kellin could speak. “He’s claimed you?”

“As much as any dog pissing on a tree, and it means even less,” I stated as calmly as I could. “He burned me, and he plans to make me his breeder.”

“That’s not possible. You’re an Omega. He can’t force you⁠—”

“He’s done something,” I admitted, glad for the darkness, so my blush didn’t show. “He’s using the body of the man I kissed when I was seventeen. A spy named Serak.”