Total pages in book: 103
Estimated words: 97071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97071 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 485(@200wpm)___ 388(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Things happen quickly after that.
Dia appears and helps me heft Bowen’s unconscious form to the side of the ship and then into a smaller boat. She grabs my hands before I can follow. “Take care of him.” I open my mouth to ask her to come with us, but she shakes her head before I can. “I have my own path to follow, Evelyn. We’ll see each other again.”
I’m not so sure.
Not a single member of the rest of the crew tries to help us. They go out of their way to avoid my gaze as I give the ship one last sweeping look. Their apathy is more or less what I expected, but it’s still really fucking shitty considering Bowen just saved all their lives.
We came on board with only the clothes on our backs, and that’s how we leave. Considering Bowen had a crisis when he was left behind by the Crimson Hag, I’m not looking forward to how he reacts when he wakes up and realizes that we are yet again stranded, this time on a different island.
We sail the distance in record time, propelled long by some strange combination of water and air magic, courtesy of Nox. They stop us about ten yards off the beach. “This is as far as I go.”
I examine the distance. “That’s not going to work. If you toss us out here, he’s going to drown before I can drag him to shore.” I glare at them. “This is a really shitty thing to do after how he saved everyone. You would’ve lost more people if he hadn’t released that blast of magic.” I’m still not ready to examine the sheer delicacy and power required to do what Bowen did. I’m pretty sure if I think about it too hard, I might actually pee my pants in fear. The man is a fucking monster, and he’s been in my bed for the best part of the week. I don’t want to examine the truth that the same power that brought me so much pleasure is also responsible for so much death.
Nox props their elbows on their knees. “I’m in a particularly precarious position. I don’t expect you to understand, but as long as Hedd is captain, things will be done a certain way. Yes, Bowen saved a lot of the crew’s lives. But I just saved both of yours.”
I want to argue … but the truth is they’re right. Hedd was going to kill me right there. I might have held him off for a few moments, but I was going to lose that fight. Then he would’ve finished Bowen off, and there’s not a goddamn thing I could’ve done. Still. “You’re clearly the better captain and the better person. Why aren’t you in charge?”
“You were on the ship long enough to know the answer to that. I don’t have the votes. There are plenty of the crew who are happy with how he runs things. Until that changes, the only thing I can do is counteract his more extreme impulses.” They sigh. “Get moving, Evelyn. I’m not so ungrateful as to let him drown. Trust me.”
After the fight with the mermaids, the very last thing I want to do is slip into the inky water surrounding our boat. Anything could be below the surface and I would have no idea until it was far too late. Not to mention I’m not entirely certain I trust Nox enough not to let us drown. It would be a convenient way to take care of a problem.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a choice.
I take a deep breath that does nothing to fortify me and slip over the boat’s edge into the water. It’s colder than I expected, significantly more so than two islands ago. I’m still trying to figure out how I’m supposed to get Bowen in the water with me when Nox rolls him over the side.
I curse and make a grab for him. I can’t touch the bottom of the shallows, and it’s everything I can do to shove his bigger body over me so he doesn’t drown. For a moment, I think this is it. What a pathetic way to go out after everything I’ve survived. Bunny will be so disappointed when I meet her in the afterlife.
But then the water around me changes and seems to grow almost solid. It lifts me up to the surface, making Bowen’s weight less significant. I sputter and cough and look up into Nox’s amused face. “Told you I wouldn’t let you drown. There’s a safe house about thirty minutes’ walk north up the coast. It’s hidden in a crevasse that looks like an X. You can find food and clothes there. Stay safe, little witch.”
The water around us shifts again and then we’re being ferried away from the boat and the elemental sitting in it. Within seconds we’re spit out onto the rocky beach. It’s one of the more surreal moments of my life. I’ve known people who can harness the elements, of course, but Nox is on another level. They might be helping us right now, but I can’t stop the shiver of fear at the thought of ever being on the opposite side of a fight. With their control, they could stall the air in my lungs or pull a move like Lizzie and rip the blood right out of my body. Or, rather, the water in my blood. Semantics won’t matter when I’m dead.