Page 33

He set me down on the sand, his eyes snagging on the bandages of my left arm. “From a dead priest, of course. Speaking of priests…”

“Mistress.” The unexpected voice knocked the breath out of me for a moment. Alexios was only a few feet behind me.

Goran squeezed my elbow, his fingers plucking at the edge of the bandage, distracting me. “What’s this?”

“Later?” I asked. His brows drew together, but he nodded and turned me to face my ex-best friend, who stood in a matching robe in front of a pile of driftwood.

“Priest.”

He looked awful. Half-drowned, half-starved, and all of him miserable. I couldn’t find it in me to say anything mean or dismissive, though he deserved it. I took a breath to say just his name, but he’d fallen to his knees on the sand, silent, almost as if he were praying.

But his head wasn’t bowed, and the torment in his eyes had me blinking. “Did he kill someone for a robe, too?” I asked Goran. When neither one spoke, I swallowed hard. “Oh.”

In all the years I’d known him, Alexios hadn’t killed a single person. He didn’t eat meat, not even fish. To have killed someone now…

I wanted to ask him if he was all right, but my tongue felt too large for my mouth. He was still staring, those dark eyes glinting in the moonlight, like he was unable to look away.

So I did, though it felt like cowardice. “What is that?” I wondered aloud as my gaze fell on the driftwood. I’d thought it was a natural pile, but the lengths were too regular, and there was a mound of vines next to the wood.

Alexios broke his silence. “Have you eaten, mistress?”

“Fish,” I said numbly. They already had half a good-sized raft constructed. I might not need four nights. Rielle might make it. “How long have you two been here?”

Alexios was already moving to a mat made of wide leaves, where a pile of what turned out to be some kind of berry sat in a large clamshell. Goran answered, “Only two nights. We happened upon some Beta guards after we came ashore. We’ve seen the Omegas and the children, and we know you asked the selkies and Dustin to come with boats. We’ve gathered intelligence and food. The raft was just in case.”

“It’s perfect. We’ll need it,” I said, sinking to a seat in front of the pile of vines. They’d already begun twisting and drying them into a very sturdy rope, and we all worked on the pile while I caught them up on Kellin’s visit, and on the state of the things inside the fence.

Alexios moved closer and cleared his throat once I’d told them when and where we needed the raft. They asked questions for an hour, until a slightly better plan than Kellin’s and mine was in place.

Goran and Alexios would take out the guards on this side of the island the evening we planned to leave. Alexios had already gathered enough poison to send them all to the lowest of all the hells ten times over, though I wasn’t sure he intended to kill them. I didn’t ask.

I didn’t look directly at him.

Goran’s eyes narrowed when I finished speaking. “Now please tell us about the mark on your neck and that bandage on your arm? We’ve heard about everything but what happened to you.”

“I guess I can’t put it off forever,” I muttered, pulling at the tie at the top of Goran’s shirt again and glaring at the moon. Goran had my face cupped in his hands in the next instant, moving so he could see Edan’s mark more clearly. His jaw clenched as he nodded again, then gently unwrapped the bandage from my arm.

Alexios’s breath came out in a long hiss. Goran cursed viciously, though his grip on my arm as he held it up to the faint moonlight was tender. The tattoo wasn’t there, even if the shape of it still was. Except every flower and leaf had been replaced by a too-smooth patch of skin, thanks to Skadi. I explained, but when I told them about the cold healing me, they both looked more concerned, not less.

Alexios’s voice was calm as ever as he asked, “How did this come to pass?”

“The one who watches got pissy.” In as few words as possible, I told them about all of it, not glossing over the way Edan—no, Serak—had made me feel.

“I will destroy him,” Goran growled, and a series of tiny earthquakes went off in my core. I ducked my head down, not wanting him to see it. It made me feel vulnerable. Weak.

“Not if I get to him first,” Alexios snarled, his voice not nearly as low, but every bit as intense. I let my eyes move to him again and swallowed hard. He was crawling over to me on his hands and knees like a stalking jaguar, and when he reached me, I froze.

His dark irises gleamed bright gold for a moment, and the moon above flickered. Was She here, looking at me through his eyes?

“I shouldn’t have asked Her to leave me alone,” I whispered, just in case. I needed Her to know. “I think I made a mistake. This god’s not going to make any bargains. I wouldn’t trust him if he tried.”

Without a sound, Alexios wrenched himself away and slipped into the jungle. Goran didn’t speak, but held me for a long moment, his own breath sawing in and out like he was having trouble controlling his anger.

“I know,” I whispered. There was nothing else to say. He’d worked for hours on those tattoos. Designing them, drawing them on my skin with ink. Using a needle on me, and apologizing for the pain with kisses and hours of lovemaking.

He sighed heavily. After a moment, he began to touch me gently, stroking my arms and curling around my waist, tracing all the lines he knew best. My skin lit up with pleasure everywhere he touched.

Then my core cramped, filling the air around us with mint and rain.