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It was much more difficult to fool Allegra than to fool her father.
"Yes, sweetie." Syssi kissed the top of her head. "Mama, Dada, and Allegra are going to Nana's cabin, and your aunts and uncles will be there too."
She knew that hadn't been what her daughter had tried to convey in her one-word question, but she had to keep Kian in the dark about it for a little longer. If he guessed her plan, he would give her another lecture about why she shouldn't touch the amulet, saying all the things she knew to be true and couldn't dispute. The visions would upset her, she wouldn't be able to sleep for weeks or even months, and it would affect Allegra.
It already had.
There was very little that escaped their daughter's notice. She might not understand much of it, but she sensed and internalized her mother's emotions.
"Nana." Allegra pointed at the door on the other side of the corridor.
The Clan Mother's cabin was the most luxurious on the ship, but Syssi couldn't tell the difference between theirs and the goddess's, and it didn't really matter to her. What mattered was that she had her family with her, the one by birth and the one by marriage, and she felt incredibly blessed and guilty.
She was experiencing many of the classic symptoms of survivor's guilt even though she hadn't lived through what had happened to those villagers.
The poor women on the lower deck had lost everyone they loved in terrible and gruesome ways, and then they had been violated by the monsters who had done it.
Thinking of them and their immeasurable suffering made Syssi's skin prickle with heat, and the tips of her fingers tingle. It was an odd and disturbing reaction, given that she was immortal now, and her blood pressure wasn't supposed to spike when she was upset or angry.
Perhaps it was the rage she was trying to stifle for the sake of her husband and daughter.
The monsters were dead, torn to pieces by the Guardians, and that gave her a small measure of satisfaction, but vengeance wasn't enough. It couldn't bring back all the innocent people they had barbarically and sadistically slaughtered, the children, the mothers and fathers, grandmothers and grandfathers that they had maimed and violated before killing.
There was no erasing the images Jacki's words had etched on her psyche, and they were going to haunt her for the rest of her immortal life.
That was why touching the amulet and taking the risk of summoning a terrible vision no longer terrified her as much as it should.
Syssi was already traumatized just by what her mind was reconstructing on repeat from Jacki's account, and her sleep was disturbed because the images haunted her in her dreams, so if she could gain more information by exposing herself to the amulet's power, things shouldn't get markedly worse.
As Kian rang the doorbell, Syssi hugged Allegra tighter, plastered a bright smile on her face, and summoned courage she didn't feel.
All the females in the cabin she was about to enter were so much more resilient than she was. Annani and her daughters were strong and brave, Jacki had nerves of steel and seemed almost unaffected by what she'd seen in the vision, and Syssi refused to be the only weakling who couldn't face suffering and horror without falling apart.
The door opened, and Oridu bowed deeply. "Good morning, Mistress Syssi, Mistress Allegra, and Master Kian. The Clan Mother awaits you at the breakfast table."
Frankie
Frankie opened the balcony doors, stepped outside, and inhaled the fresh ocean air. "It's such a beautiful day." She leaned her hands on the railing, lifted her face to the warm sunlight, and closed her eyes to shield them from the glare.
Dagor's footsteps sounded behind her, and a moment later he leaned over her back, placed his hands on the railing next to hers, and enveloped her body with his.
"You are beautiful." He nuzzled her neck.
She laughed. "You're such a flatterer."
"It's true." He peppered her neck with tiny kisses that were tickling and sweet at the same time.
"I love your lips on me." She giggled when he touched a ticklish spot under her ear. "I love your hands on me, too."
"Oh, yeah?" He moved his hands from the railing to her waist and started a slow trek over her ribcage. "Like this?"
The effect was instantaneous, and she considered getting back in bed and continuing what they had been doing through most of the night.
They had hardly slept, in part because Amanda and Dalhu's wedding had ended so late and in part because of the strenuous activities they had engaged in after returning to her cabin, but thanks to the effect of Dagor's venom, she'd woken up quite early and was feeling great.
She pushed her bottom against his groin and gave it a little wiggle. "Do you think I can get away with not using the wheelchair today?"
Groaning, he pressed against her from behind. "I don't know. If you were healing on your own, would you be ready to walk around less than twenty-four hours after getting shot?"
