Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 93948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
I know they’re just flirting to keep the attention away from their relationship fallout with Bastian, but I can’t help the image that springs into my head in response to their words. Of them in my arms, their gray eyes alight with wicked mischief. I can’t help wondering how they’d taste.
“Stop trying to distract me from the fact that you’re just as bothered by his presence aboard as I am.” I clear my throat. “He’s still angry with me, yes. Angry enough that if I stick around, we’ll end up fighting. He needs to eat.”
“As good an excuse as any. As to the other?” They shrug. “We’re ancient history.”
“Nox.” I don’t have to glance around to ensure we’re not being overheard. There’s no one close enough, and all of them are intent on their goal of getting us as far away from our enemy as possible. “Pretend with others. Don’t pretend with me.”
They sigh, their shoulders slumping. “You don’t get to demand that kind of intimacy from me, Siobhan. I believe in your cause and I believe in you, but some scars don’t heal—they fester. I would love to say that I’m a gracious and lovely person who doesn’t hold a broken heart against my ex fourteen years later, but it’s not the truth. I love a grudge as much as I love my ship. And he’s the one who taught me that.”
Because Bastian hurt Nox so intensely. I only know the basics of what happened: that Nox wanted Bastian to come with them when they left Lyari, that he chose his family over them. Bastian avoided saying more than that about Nox, and Nox’s only condition to joining the rebellion was that I never talk about Bastian.
And now I need to get them both to agree to work together.
“Morrigan isn’t going to give up,” I say finally. “Especially now that she knows I’m alive.” I still haven’t processed that, but I have no intention of thinking about it too closely anytime soon. I may have been using a vast network of people to undermine the hold the Cŵn Annwn have on Threshold, but we intentionally kept to the shadows.
I’m terrified of what it means to step into the light.
“I’m aware.” Nox finally looks at me, eyes narrowed. “Just like I was aware that Morrigan had a sister—but I was under the impression that her sister died in the same fire that killed her parents about two years before I left the city.”
If I close my eyes, I can still see the flames licking up the curtains. “Our parents died in that fire. I chose to use it to escape Lyari.”
Nox’s hands tighten on the helm. “You lied to me.”
“No, I didn’t. I just didn’t disclose all the information.” When they open their mouth, I hold up my hand. “Come on, Nox. I’m the leader of the damned rebellion. You knew when you signed on that you weren’t getting my life story and every detail about me.”
“That’s true.” They sigh. “It’s also true that it would have been nice to know that you were a noble.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Even as I say it, I know it for a lie. It would matter even if I wasn’t sister to Morrigan. It especially matters because I am.
The look Nox gives me says as much without them uttering a single word. But this is Nox, so of course they have more to say. “Morrigan wasn’t likely to let us abscond with Bastian without a prolonged and violent chase. Now that she knows you’re on my ship? She’s going to come at us with everything she has.”
I want to argue with them, but everything they’ve said is true. “You’re right.”
“I usually am.”
Eyal walks up, giving us both a wary look. “You need to get some sleep, Captain. You’re weaving on your feet.”
“I’ll hold until we’re clear.”
Eyal shakes his head. “I spoke with Poet. The teams we sent did a good job of sabotaging the rudders of the support ships. Even if their respective crews have someone with a helpful flavor of magic, it will take a few hours to fix. If they don’t, it will be a lot longer.” He motions behind us. “The Bone Heart will also take some time to repair after Bowen and you tore holes in the deck and hull. I can keep us on course while you rest. We’re running our air-users in shifts so there’s always someone fresh in case we need to pick up the pace.”
Nox smiles faintly. “You seem to have thought of everything. What do you need me for again?”
“You know we’re lost without you.” Eyal nods at the helm. “Sleep. I will send someone to wake you if there’s so much as a peep of wrongness.”
I recognize a losing battle when I see one. It takes Nox a few seconds longer to admit defeat. They release the helm and step back. “I suppose a few hours won’t hurt.” They nod at me. “Come on. We need to know what Bastian told them—and if he picked up any useful information during his time aboard the Bone Heart.”