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“So you agree that this wasn’t a unified move on the part of the Hyperborean Empire,” I infer.
“I doubt it,” he says. “And this may have been quite effective in delivering a message to the Empire.”
“That being?”
“That they don’t stand a chance against us.”
I scoff. “If anything, I would have thought this was a sign of weakness to our enemies.”
“Not at all,” Orion says. “Because if a single Skoll warrior could do this to a Hyperborean magister and scores of guards, then imagine what we’ll do when we’re all together?Especiallywhen we’re Elixir-bonded.”
“That is, if we can convince Kye to take part in the ceremony,” I say.
“I think we’re running out of options,” Orion murmurs. “Did you see how he bent so easily to Xanthos’ influence? If he doesn’t do this, we’ll have to remove him from the crew.”
“Fiona will never stand for it,” I say right away. “Iwould never stand for it.”
“Then he needs to make up his mind soon,” Orion says. “Otherwise…he might get us all killed.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
NEREUS
I come to with the sound of hushed voices in my ears.
At first, I think I’m still dreaming. I haven’t heard these two speak in my quarters in a long, long time, especially not while I’m waking up in my bathing pool. We used to have a lot of nights like this…me still in the haze of sleep, my tentacles unfurled while Fiona and Kye spoke in bed.
I open my eyes if only to make sure I’m not dreaming.
Fiona sits at the edge of the pool, Kye just on the other side of her. Their hands are clasped together, but otherwise they don’t touch–and when Kye sees that I’ve woken up, his eyes dart to me and he yanks his hand away. Fiona doesn’t seem to care; she turns around and reaches that same hand out to graze her knuckles across my cheek, her fingers still warm from Kye’s.
“You’re awake,” she says, letting out a shuddering breath.
“And you’re both here,” I say. “What…what happened?”
“I had to do some fancy flying to get us off of Borealis,” Kye says, crossing his arms. “It was my fault.”
“Not your fault,” Fiona cuts in. “The artificial gravity wasn’t up to snuff in terms of flying in hyperspace. And he needed us in the cockpit so we could escape, and there just…well, it’s stupid, but there aren’t enough fucking seatbelts in there.”
“Dying from not wearing a seatbelt after narrowly escaping a crazed magister would have been a very silly way to die, wouldn’t it?” I say.
They just glare at me.
“Alright…not the time for jokes, I see,” I murmur. “And normallyI’mthe one lacking a sense of humor.”
“Sorry, Ner,” Fiona says. “We were justreallyworried. You bumped your head pretty hard.”
“And I thought I lost you both for a hot second there and I…”
Kye trails off when he realizes we’re both looking at him, Fi’s hand resting on my chest. I prop myself up on the edge of the pool to watch them carefully, wondering if now is the moment that he’ll finally admit he still has feelings for her, that we can all climb back into bed together like we used to.
But he just rakes his hand through his hair, shaking his head. “Jesus,” he says. “It’s been a fucking scary day.”
“This is all my fault, again,” Fiona says. “Kye, I’m so sorry. I wish I could stop putting you all through this.”
For a minute, he looks like he wants to agree with her—but his jaw tenses instead. “Nah, this was a joint decision,” he says. “And I was the one who almost got us killed when Xanthos managed to get inside my head.”
“Is that what happened?” I ask. I reach for him, and he responds instantly to my touch, taking a seat beside Fiona. We’ve been here so many times before…it’s hard to resist pulling them both into my arms. “I saw how glazed over you were. I didn’t realize a magister’s psychic influence could reach that far.”
