AllFreeNovel
Share Us
21DAWN
I had never readThe Care and Feeding of Omegas, so I was unsure whether there was a chapter on how to come down from a frenzy before it got out of control.
If there wasn't, I would give them a tip for the next edition: being thrown into icy, choppy water did the trick in a heartbeat.
When I surfaced, gasping, gagging, and barely treading water, the last thing on my mind was a frenzy. I had never felt less aroused.
I lifted my arm and tried to cry out for help, but the ship was still on the move. They weren't going to stop for me. I doubted they could.
Even if it were possible, I doubted Aldric would allow it.
My body bobbed on the waves. Where was I supposed to go? Was I going to drown here, in the middle of the sea? What an ending. It didn't seem right, losing my life this way. There was so much I still needed to do. And Jett needed me. So did Jaide—she needed to know what was coming, what Aldric had planned.
Right now, all that mattered was surviving. Now, I only had to figure out how I would do it.
Below deck, I had no way of knowing where we were. Now, I saw the ship had traced a line that veered close to an island. I didn't know which one. I only knew I would drown out here if I didn't at least try to reach it. I was already getting tired, my muscles weakening, and the idea of letting myself slide under the surface was starting to look like a better idea all the time.
In other words, I needed to get moving, fast.
The current helped, pulling me closer to shore, so my weak strokes weren't so useless. The island grew closer, looming larger, and now I could see shanties lining one entire side while along the other, a series of docks sat in a straight line. Boats of all different sizes bobbed on the water like I did. I decided to direct myself toward the shanties, since there was an actual beach I could wash up on.
It felt like it took forever, but eventually, I started drifting closer and closer to the beach. It was like a beacon, and my every effort was focused on reaching it. I had to do it. If not for myself, then for Jett. He needed me. Besides Jaide, I was the only person who gave a damn about him.
I cried out in relief when my toes hit the sand. Eventually, I could stand, even as the water came up to my chest... waist... thighs. Finally, I collapsed in the surf, rolling onto my back on the rocky shore and gasping for air.
I did it!
Aldric tried to drown me, but I had the last laugh.
Only now, I didn't have the first idea what to do next. As I laid there trying to catch my breath and get my strength back, I went through a bunch of ideas. What if I could get somebody to give me their boat or just sail me somewhere? First, I needed to figure out where I was, and how to get to where the ships were going. We couldn't be far from the mainland.
Only I didn't have anything to barter with.
I closed my eyes, the water lapping at my feet and hands. It would be so easy to fall asleep here, but I couldn't do that anymore than I could have let myself drown
A shadow fell over me. I opened one eye, peering up before scrambling to my feet when I realized what I was facing.
“Where is your master?” A huge, hulking beast whose skin was more like scales and around whose neck hung bones and seashells peered at me through perfectly round, glassy eyes.
The voice might have belonged to a female but from what I saw before me, I couldn't tell for certain.
“My master?” My hands moved over my important bits in an unconscious move.
I wasn't naked, exactly, but I sure as hell felt like it under the weight of that glassy-eyed stare.
“Would you care to earn a bit of gold? One as pretty as yourself would fetch quite a price.” It advanced on me, whatever it was, but I backed away before it could touch me with one of those scaly claws.
A Siren? I guessed so, though this one was nothing like the ones from the Demon Isle.
“No, thank you.” I hurried up the beach, doing my best to avoid broken seashells for the sake of my bare feet.
The line of shanties facing the water were old, dilapidated, and their roofs were patched and sagging, with the walls bleached from sunshine and salt spray. In front of some of the doors and windows hung arrangements of bones like the ones the creature wore back at the water's edge. I wondered what they stood for. All I knew was that I didn't get a good feeling. Instinct told me to keep away.
“What have we here?” Once again, it was like somebody came out of nowhere.
This time, they seemed to be approaching me from behind. It looked like he might have stumbled out from one of those creepy shanties, and he only had eyes for me.
At least, he looked a little more human. Not quite as scary, even if his red-rimmed eyes and long, tangled hair made me want to keep my distance.
