Chapter 47 Serena
SERENA
Iwake with a dry mouth and the worst headache of my life.
That last concussion must have really done me in.
Something itchy pokes at the backs of my bare arms. I glance down at myself. I’m still in my nightgown, sprawled out on a bed of hay…
Where the hell am I? And why am I covered in blue powder?
I jolt forward, realizing my hands are bound. For a moment, I’m sucked back into that cold, dark cell in Vod, blood ore cuffs encircling my wrists. Panic seizes me as I yank against the matted rope.
Rope, I remind myself. Not metal.
The faintest pinpricks of magic in my veins confirm it. I’m alright. I made it out of that place. I made it out alive.
Blackblood. Relief sweeps through me at the sound of Furi’s silky voice. What is going on?
I’m asking myself the same thing, girl. I squint across the dank space.
Are you harmed?
I don’t think so.
Are your limbs intact?
All four. Yours?
I am over two thousand years old, and I am very fast. Certainly, you can answer that question yourself.
Why do you sound all muffled? And why does it smell like shit in here?
Movement stirs in the corner of my eye. I’m in a barred pigpen. With actual pigs.
“Serena.”
I whirl, finding Zadyn’s eyes in the darkness and scurrying toward him. He’s in a pen beside mine, with a bunch of…chickens?
I reach for his hands through the bars. “Zadyn, thank god. Where are we?”
“I think we’re still on the ship.”
“What happened?”
“The last thing I remember is getting us on board. They must have knocked us out. Are you alright?”
My back, where the arrow struck me, feels like it’s healing, but at a slower rate than normal.
“I’m fine. Where are the others?”
“Over here, savior.”
Across from me is another pen filled with fugly little goats. Inside is Kai, lazing on a bale of hay like he’s at a Sunday picnic in the park.
“We’re all here,” Mar responds from down the way.
“You’re all okay?”
“We’re all fine,” Eaton answers.
“Except my head is pounding,” Mar mutters. “I think we’ve been drugged. My magic feels dulled.”
“Same.”
It will wear off, and there will be hell to pay, Furi threatens.
You are in a very murderous mood lately, if I do say so myself.
I’m growing tired of people trying to end you. It’s slightly stressful.
Huh. You don’t say.
“What in hell happened to you two last night?” I can barely make out Dover’s pale blue eyes shifting between me and Zadyn—the only light coming from the two hanging lanterns framing the pitch black stairwell. “One second you were right behind us, and then—”
“Mal showed up,” I answer. “Again.”
“Yes, after you ran back into a burning building. Which we will be having words about once we get out of here.” Zadyn’s stern threat sets off a flutter in my belly.
Shrugging it off, I ask, “Do you think Kylian is behind this?”
Zadyn shakes his head. “If it was Kylian, he’d have us all in blood ore chains by now.”
Tell me who I must flay, Furi demands.
I’ll let you know when we get to the bottom of it, Buffalo Bill.
I do not understand your reference, she mutters, her tone making it clear that nor does she want to.
The sound of stomping boots draws our gazes upward, dust coming loose from the boards overhead. Heavy footfalls trample down the creaking stairs as three looming shadows appear, stopping outside our pens.
A tall, brawny fae with tattoos and a multitude of gold piercings steps into view looking like Khal Drogo.
“Bring them,” he commands his lackeys.
Something about them feels so familiar. Their rugged builds, the dark kohl lining their light eyes, their worn leather vests, the smell of spices and salt water. Strapped across each of their broad chests is a bandolier filled with knives—as if their fists alone aren’t weapon enough.
They burst into Kai’s cell first, hauling him to his feet with a blade pressed to his throat.
“Careful, this hair takes hours to perfect.”
“Shut your mouth,” barks the male now deliberately holding him by said hair. He shoves Kai into the chest of the hulking one giving the orders.
A snarling grin twists up his pierced lip. “We meet again, princeling.”
“I’m sorry, do I—” Recognition takes over Kai’s face as he squints up at the giant. “Oh, it’s you! How are you, old friend?”
Meaty hands grip the collar of Kai’s jacket, forcing him onto his tiptoes. “Save it for the Pirate King.”
Pirtate King.
Pirates!
That’s why they look so familiar! Zadyn and I lock eyes, piecing it together.
This is the same group we brawled with at that tavern in Iaspus. The ones Kai cheated at cards. On multiple occasions, apparently.
The pirates drag each of us from our pens with curved blades pressed to our throats.
I’m weak, I tell Zadyn. I’m not sure I can fight like this.
Allow me to assist, Furi purrs.
Furi wants to know if she should attack, I relay.
Not yet. His response is muffled, like hers. You win more bees with honey, and right now we could use more allies than enemies. Let’s try the diplomatic route first.
Spoken like a true emissary.
Going to charm the Pirate King? I tease, allowing a bit of a smile to color my words.
If that’s what it takes. He winks at me.
It seems we have now graduated to mind flirting, even in the face of imminent danger. Not that I’m mad about it.
We’re dragged up the decrepit wooden steps, onto a massive deck. It’s dusk, the sky an eerie, sleepy blue, casting the bodies around us in navy shadows. A heavy layer of fog clings to the air, obscuring the sea beneath us and keeping our whereabouts a mystery.
There are pirates everywhere, swinging from ropes and pulling at sails, shouting commands back and forth in some coded language as we’re ushered toward a cabin with thick stained-glass windows.
“The Pirate King will see you now. Try anything and you’re dead.”
We glance at each other warily before the cabin door opens, and we’re flung inside.
The Pirate King of Bleakwater Bay rises from his seat, removing his wide-brimmed black hat and placing it atop the old wooden desk. Platinum-colored waves tumble out, and eyes of ice blue rimmed with gold peer out from between the curtain of long hair. Our mouths drop open.
The Pirate King is a she.
“You’re a girl?” Kai sputters, his jaw slack.
“And you’re the little prince that’s been causing my crew so much trouble lately.
Cheating them at cards, burning their cargo, swindling them out of their purses.
” She walks around the front of her desk, her heeled boots clacking against the hollow floorboards.
“You’ve been somewhat of a thorn in my side. ”
“Well, if I had known whose side I was pricking, I would’ve let them take me a lot sooner.” Kai’s eyes sparkle as he drinks in the stunning female before us.
“Crossing a pirate is punishable with the plank.”
“My blood belongs to the sea. Rest assured, I am an excellent swimmer, my lady.”
“Your Grace,” she corrects, her voice velvet-smooth. “You will refer to me as your Grace.”
“And how will you refer to me?”
“Kai, shut it,” Dover hisses, but Kai delights in the challenge. He stares at her like she’s an anomaly, and truth be told, she kind of is.
She offers up a canary-like smirk, leaning in to grab his face. “Astonishing. You second sons truly have nothing but dicks for brains. Dismantling you is going to be such a pleasure.”
“Forgive me, but I think there’s been some kind of misunderstanding.” She pins Zadyn with a slow glare. “Your Grace,” he adds, an edge to his civil tone.
Releasing Kai with a shove, she spins toward the desk and lifts up a stack of flyers with our names and faces.
“I beg to differ. I’ve been seeing you lot around. There’s quite a price on your heads. Happy accident that the little prince happened to be with you. I’ve been searching for him for some time now.”
“Darling, the feeling is mutual.”
A nip of fear climbs up my legs. “You’re going to sell us out to Vod?”
She shrugs. “Or auction you off to the highest bidder. If Vod wants you, you must be valuable.”
Fan-fucking-tastic.
“Either way, I suppose I should be thanking you. You’re going to make me very, very rich.”
No. Absolutely not.
“Kylian is going down,” I warn, my fingers curling into fists. “You hand us over to him, and I will have a debt to repay you.”
Easy, Zadyn warns.
“You? You’re nothing,” she scoffs.
“I am the last Blackblood witch,” I declare, my words coming out stronger and steadier than I feel. “If I were you, I wouldn’t want to get on my bad side.”
She eyes me doubtfully, an amused expression on her face.
“It’s the truth,” Zadyn says, earning her gaze. Her head angles back to me.
“Where’s your dragon then?”
“Oh, she’s here, circling overhead. Waiting for the perfect moment to torch this piece of shit boat. I hear termite-infested wood is highly flammable. Hope you have insurance.”
“I have all the insurance I need in this room.” She laughs, crossing her arms. “But now I’m intrigued.”
“As am I. Hey, what’s with the petting zoo downstairs?” Kai asks. “Got a kink for farm animals? Don’t worry, I don’t judge.”
“I’m in the business of stealing and selling. Goods are goods. And your flyer didn’t specify dead or alive, so I’d mind my tongue, little prince.”
“Oh, there’s nothing little about me. Would you like me to prove it? More than happy to.”
“Bronyn’s right, you really don’t shut up, do you? Bronyn, please shut the princeling up.”
Jason Mamoa steps forward and stuffs a handkerchief in Kai’s mouth.
“Careful. He’s kind of into that sort of thing,” Dover warns.
“We have gold, you know,” Zadyn swoops in, steering us back on track. “And more diamonds than you could ever dream of.”
Eaton takes a slight step forward. “I’ll double whatever Vod is offering. I’m a prince of Hyrax.”