3. Infuriating
Nothing motivated me more than someone telling me I couldn't do something. Even when I was trying to be practical, it was hard to resist the temptation to prove someone wrong and shove it in their faces. Especially when they were so smug and teasing like Corvin.
I adjusted the rope and then secured it to the stone spire, using the technique Hosvir had shown me. He'd said these ropes were woven with magic to make them more secure and responsive.
While I knew magic existed, I'd never been sure whether that was an exaggeration on his part. Here's hoping it wasn't.
I tested it. The rope held fast. But as the ship continued forward, it would slowly draw along the knot while holding tension so long as no one untied it. If it was loosened though, it'd start to slip. I gave it another firm tug.
Corvin continued to watch, that big smirking grin on his face. He slid his arms through the water as he rose and fell with the waves. "This will be fun. Do you really think that rope is going to hold?"
"It's enchanted. It won't come loose until I give the command word." The last part was a lie. But hopefully one that would keep him from messing with it. I glanced over the waters as I gripped the coarse-fibered rope tighter. Adjusting my skirt, I climbed up the stone spire and set myself against the rope. It bobbed and swayed beneath my weight.
My stomach twisted. I steadied myself, drawing in slow breaths.
I could do this.
I really could.
Then—slowly—I stretched out over the rope, rolled under it, wrapped my knees over it, crossed my ankles, and gripped it with my hands.
My heart raced faster as I hung there. Hand over hand, I crawled along out over the water.
The waves rolled and splashed against the little island. A faint mist of salt spray caressed my face.
Corvin gave an amused grunt, his eyes half hooded. "Having fun yet, darling?"
"Why don't you show me how long you can hold your breath and go under?" I cast him a dark glare.
A laugh answered me. He flicked his long yellow-and-green striped tail and swept beneath me. "You don't really want me to leave. What'll you do when your strength gives out? I've got to be here to catch you when you fall."
Salt's bane, he was aggravating. "I'm not falling."
"Yet."
I continued to monkey-crawl along the rope. The itching fibers grated along my callused hands, uncomfortable but manageable. My skirt rode up, revealing the pale-blue leggings underneath. Thank goodness for those leggings though because they kept my legs from getting scratched as bad as my hands. My bare feet pressed along the taut rope and helped me push along.
Hand over hand. Pulling and tugging myself forward.
The creaking and shifting of the rope beneath my grasp unnerved me.
How much time before the ship pulled ahead and drew the rope's length out from the knot?
It had felt so much easier before I was out here over the ocean with who knew what lurking beneath me.
Sweat formed on my brow. I hooked my elbow over the rope and dashed my free hand over my face to wipe the sweat away. The rope bobbed. I wasn't nearly as high as I wanted. But it would increase in height as I neared the ship.
Corvin swam along beneath with a lazy backstroke, keeping pace with me. "Why is such a beautiful woman out here all alone anyway? Is there anyone out here protecting you?"
I set my jaw. "I take care of myself."
That was how it had been even before Mama and I left to find Erryn, my sister. Now it was even more true.
I dragged myself along the underside of the rope. Already my arms and legs burned. At least I was strong enough now.
I glanced out toward the ship. That dark reptilian shape sliced under the ship again, gliding like a shadow. It hadn't come closer to me. Or maybe it was more that it didn't want to come closer to Corvin.
As if he guessed my thoughts, he flung a handful of water up in the air. The droplets rained down on me. One rolled into my eye, making it sting. "You realize how precarious your situation is, don't you, darling?"
Rolling my eyes, I continued, gritting my teeth. "Do you realize how annoying you are?"
More laughter followed, along with another splash. His hand made a loud slap against the water the second time.
I clutched the rope tighter, shaking my head to clear my eyes. "You're behaving like such a child!"
"Really?" He swam a little ahead of me. "You know, I'm curious about this magical rope of yours. Dwarf made, I'm assuming. That's what they generally use. They don't have a weight limit, do they?"
Grumbling, I kept crawling. This was taking so much longer than I'd expected.
Another splash sent droplets of water raining down on me. I cringed, then yelped as the rope suddenly dipped, tipping me down headfirst.
I twisted my head to see Corvin hanging on the rope in front of me, suspended by only one arm.
My eyes widened. "What are you doing?"
With a casual wink, he lowered and then lifted himself, flexing his muscles with the movement. His long, sleek eel tail remained partially submerged in the water. "Now this is remarkable. It doesn't feel like the rope is strained even a little bit."
"Get off," I growled through gritted teeth, clenching my hands and knees tighter around the rope as I hung upside down.
"The rope can easily hold us both, darling." He continued to hold himself in the air, his tail sweeping back and forth in slow strokes. Then, with a tilt of his head, he ran the claws of his free hand along the fibers of the rope. "I don't think it'd be easy to cut either."
The rope creaked a little more, though not threatening to break. But the ship was pulling ahead. I had to move faster. "No. You can't cut it. It won't work," I lied.
"Pity for me. Bonus for you." He released his hand. That same smirking smile still on his face, he plunged back down under the waters.
I quickened my pace. My hands and ankles burned against the rope, but still, I twisted around just enough to check on where he was. Corvin had become nothing more than a dark form beneath the waters. He circled down with the easy grace of an apex predator before vanishing into the shadows. Tagger paddled toward the stone island where my rope was tethered.
Another hand's length forward.
If I could keep up this pace, I'd be back aboard the ship and safe in less than ten minutes. I could last that long, right?
"I think you're moving slower now. Are you getting tired, darling?" Corvin's voice sounded a little farther ahead now.
There he was again. The smug bastard.
A tremor in the rope snapped my attention back to the island.
Tagger stood on the top of the spire, sniffing the knot. He placed one paw on it.
Was he going to climb out on the rope with me? My muscles tightened. "No, it's not safe!" Six feet was a long way to fall for such a little otter, and that one bad paw of his might make his balance quite poor.
"Oh, so you do care?" Corvin sang out. "I knew it."
"Oh, shut up!" I adjusted my grip as I forced myself forward. "I don't care." That didn't mean I wanted to see the little creature hurt. Life had enough brutality as it was.
Tagger chirped, sitting up on the edge of the pillar.
I shook my head at him as I continued along. "Both of you, just leave me alone, all right?"
Another tremor passed through the rope, and I started to sink.
What?
I wrenched my gaze back in time to see Tagger fiddling with the knot and sliding more rope through.
"No!" My eyes widened. "No, no, no! Bad otter. Bad Tagger!"
Tagger continued to work at the rope, causing it to lower closer and closer to the water.
I clung there, upside down, hair swinging in the breeze. My mauve skirt hung about my hips. Lovely. My face was almost in line with Corvin's now.
Corvin grinned and leaned forward.
I wrinkled my nose. "I said stay away from me."
"So you did. But here you are." He grinned, rising up from the water so that we were eye to eye. Waggling his eyebrows, he brushed the tip of his forefinger's claw against my nose. "What if I were to kiss you right now?"
I glared at him, then seized the spoon from the clip at my side and struck him on the forehead. "I said no."
He laughed at this but slid back. "It's a good thing you're so entertaining. Otherwise—" His hand darted up and brushed against the ends of my auburn hair.
I smacked his hand with the spoon again. "Do you understand what no means?"
"I've heard it means you want to extend the game." He swam out a little farther and then circled back, his eyes sparkling.
I was barely three feet above the water now. It was going to be a much steeper climb once I reached the ship. "I want you to leave me alone," I said as sternly as I could. "Tell your otter to stop."
He flashed me an even bigger smile, then leaned back and whistled. "Don't drop her in the water, Tagger. Let's see what she can manage on her own." He cut his gaze back to me. "I have to admit, darling, I really want to see if you can manage the rest of the way. You're stronger than you look."
"And you're patronizing and infuriating." More sweat and salt water rolled down my neck and arms.
"Only when I'm right. Which I always am."
I grumbled as I continued along. A gorgeous man finally wanted to talk to me, but he was a fae intent on tormenting me. Sounded about right, actually. How dare he. How dare he be so attractive and so horrible at the same time!
He splashed his tail up out of the water, sending a spray of salty water over me.
"Oh!" I gritted my teeth.
"Does that help you cool off in this heat?" he asked with teasing sweetness.
I looked at him and froze. He was half out of the water, gripping the rope with one hand as he blocked my path. "This is now a toll line. Pay the toll, and I'll let you pass."
I pulled the spoon free again. "Move, or I'll whack your fingers."
"Has anyone ever told you that spoons aren't actually weapons, darling?" He laughed as he leaned forward. His fingers grazed my cheek, the claws light and tingling across my skin. "Then again, that does look like a special spoon. I never knew anyone to carry around a wooden spoon with marks like that. What do they say?"
I huffed at him, the spoon still raised in one hand. My left arm ached and burned as I held myself up. "If I tell you, will you get off this rope?"
"I swear it." He batted his eyelashes at me. "What does it say?"
"Salt before pepper makes it better." It was a lie. But he wouldn't know that if he couldn't read runes.
He chuckled darkly. "Oh, darling, I can't even read ordinary common script. But I can read faces. So now I'm doubly interested. What does it really say?" His hand cupped my cheek, peering at me as I stared at him upside down.
"Never give up on your dreams." I set my jaw. That wasn't something I'd intended to admit, and even hanging upside down, I couldn't hide the bitterness in my voice. I felt vulnerable, and I hated it as much as I hated the advice on the spoon and cherished the kind souls who'd given it to me.
"Such rage." The teasing faded from his voice as he leaned closer to me, his emerald-green eyes half shaded. "Why?"
"Because dreams are pointless, unless what you really want are opportunities for disappointment."
His eyes widened briefly as he cocked his head. "Well…that went dark. You really think that, darling?"
The note of sincerity in his voice startled me. I hung there and stared at him, forcing my gaze to remain hard. "You think it's not true?"
His expression wavered, a look of contemplative sadness reaching his eyes. "Hadn't thought about it for a long time."
"Probably for the best."
"Then why are you so determined to get back on the ship? What has your fires burning so strong?" he asked, softer now.
"My mother and I are trying to find my sister." I had said this so many times over the past years. Heard the story told even more times than I had spoken it. Watched the life fade from my mother as we gave up everything to find Erryn. "She went missing years ago."
"And you think she's out in this sea?" His eyebrows arched. He continued to hang off the rope, but he didn't pull away or draw closer.
"No. We're trying to get to the oracle who lives beyond the North Sea in the Shining Pass."
"That oracle is a fraud." He scoffed, suggesting visiting her was the most ridiculous thing he could imagine.
I bit my tongue, wanting to agree. "Yeah, well, we're going to stop at an island near the boundary first. Apparently, there are a pair of grounded staircases with portals at the end that Mama thinks could be used to shorten the trip. Maybe she'll find something else to help. But what we do is our own business, all right? I didn't ask you for your advice. So unless you can tell me where my sister is or how to find her, I'd appreciate it if you'd just shut up and get out of the way."
"Hmmm." He narrowed his eyes at me as his voice hummed low. "Intriguing." Then he released his hold and dropped into the sea. His body knifed under the water with careless ease.
I breathed with relief and then resumed my climb, my muscles shaking and stiff. My body protested with each inch I gained, but at least I was over halfway there.
Corvin's dark form disappeared into the deeper shadows of the water, followed by Tagger.
A pang of unease struck me.
Something else was watching me.
Urging myself forward, I continued my climb. Less than fifteen feet away now. The rope angled up more, and it eased forward as the ship pulled ahead. But even if I fell in, I was so close—wait.
Movement caught my eye.
Oh, salt's bane!
The shadow of the reptilian creature near the ship circled before the bow and started toward me.
Damn it!
My heart clenched. Whether a water dragon or a sea croc or something else, I had to get to the ship. I gritted my teeth and pulled myself forward faster.
The shadowy creature drew closer, its sinuous movements hypnotic but deadly. As it turned its triangular head to the side, the glint of a red eye gleamed up through the waters. Then, graceful as a deadly swan, it ducked its head and charged down.
Damn the beast!
I dragged myself along faster.
It was going to breach.
The barnacled side of the ship loomed before me, so close and yet much too far for me to make it in time. The water lapped at the glistening wood.
Come on, faster. Faster!
I ground my teeth together. The water had made the rope slicker.
The dark shape of the sea monster below shot up. Its heavy jaws parted.