Chapter 35
Chapter Thirty Five
“No!”
Panic. The thump of my heart, I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think.
The storm was everywhere and suddenly I was at the siding of the ship, my gaze searching and searching. Frozen gloved fingers clawing at the rope tight around my waist.
Where is he?
Strong arms wrapped around me from behind, lips close to my ear.
“Get a hold of yourself!”
My struggles were fruitless, the arms a banding of steel holding me back.
One. A breath.
Two. Mother of the Moon, hear my cries, see my tears, embrace me in your darkness. A silent prayer.
Three. A breath. Do not take him too. Son of the sea, Kinslayer he is called, but know his heart. And know mine too.
Four. He will not die today, he is not yours to take.
A prayer or a threat, I did not know.
I waited and waited for the head of white, for a sign of anything, but nothing came. My scream was a match for the roar of the ocean, wrath for wrath. Anger matching ire. I did not need to be water-blessed to know that the sea was angry, writhing. A beast intent to ruin.
“He is not yours to take!” Hot tears mixed with the cold rain and seawater, tracking my grief down the cold of my skin. I moved to push off my captor when—
“There!”
Antoni’s voice was a beacon, howling with the wind like a blessing to my ears. A flash of lightning, and then I saw it.
A wave rising—no, not a wave. It was too sculpted, not chaotic enough for the raging of the sea. It was blessed magic and in the middle was Roan, Kairen clutched tightly within his grasp.
Relief shot through me, suddenly sick from the worry that plagued me only moments before.
I braced as the water hit, a shower cascading across the deck, washing the two men upon its wooden floor. I moved quickly, steps stumbling forward when Antoni’s panicked yell cut through the chaos.
“Grab them! Hold tight.”
Unconscious, they were both unconscious.
I didn’t look back, couldn’t allow myself to as I dove for Roan. Kidd’s hold found Kairen just as a massive wave hit us, my scream of terror cut off as water filled my throat, salt burning through all my senses. Icy and tortuously cold as it clawed and tugged at me.
The wood of the ship groaned loudly and I felt as the vessel tilted.
The rope around my middle snapped tightly as Roan and I slid across the frozen deck.
My hold did not break, my nails digging into the freezing skin of his arm as I coughed the sea from my lungs and my eyes frantically searched for Antoni.
He stood, arms braced, hands splayed as though holding some great invisible weight. As though he himself was using his blessed magic to keep the ship upright and preventing us from tipping into the raging waters below.
Moments later the ship rocked and steadied, at least as much as it could. Amber eyes found mine, a breath releasing as his focus turned to the man in my arms.
“Take them below deck, they need to warm quickly. Body heat, go!”
I scrambled to my feet and grabbed Roan beneath the arms, intent to drag his massive form below deck, but Kidd’s hand had me pausing.
I glanced at the man who merely shook his head and pointed towards Rena.
I hesitated for only a moment, but he gave me no option as he grabbed both men by the collars of their drenched shirts and began dragging them towards the door that led to the cabin below deck.
With a curse I ran for the Healer, untying the rope securing her before I quickly grabbed beneath her arms and dragged her backwards.
It was dark below deck, so dark I could not see even the lilting dance of a shadow, but I knew this cabin now.
Even with the items strewn across the floor, I managed to drag Rena to where I knew Kidd had taken Kairen and Roan.
How the griseled man had managed to drag them both was beyond me, but I didn’t care at the moment.
My teeth chattered as Kidd’s voice called out to me, the small glow of a little flame meeting my eyes as I entered the sleeping quarters.
“Is it not dangerous—”
“It’s hooked securely to the wall and concealed, no fires will be started down here.”
I glanced at where Roan and Kairen were laid out, bodies resting upon what looked like slats and blankets so their skin did not touch the cold wood of the floor below. Blankets too covered their bodies, but it was clear Kidd had stripped them of their wet clothing.
I startled when he began to tug off his shirt and shimmy from his soaked breeches, my gaze quickly averting.
“No time for modesty girl, you want to save them from the chill or not? Strip her down to her knickers and we’ll get her placed between these two.
” I hesitated for merely a moment, but when he turned his gaze away I quickly laid Rena on the floor and removed the wet clothing that clung to her form.
With enormous effort I managed to lay her between Roan and Kairen.
“Hurry now, you too. I won’t take a peek. ”
I stripped from the wet clothes, leaving only my undergarments. A chill immediately wracking my body before I was crawling beneath the blankets, pressing my body to Roan’s.
Please wake up. Please.
“Nearly flung yourself overboard after those two, aye?”
I tore my gaze from Roan to meet Kidd’s curious stare. “Aren’t you needed above?”
His head shook, a knowing smile curving his lips. “Storm will pass soon, worst of it has already hit. Cap’ wouldn’t have let me help bring them down if he thought I’d still be needed up top.”
I shivered against the chill of Roan's body, a hand running over the hard planes of his chest to where his heart beat slowly against my palm. “He’ll be alright? They all will?”
Kidd nodded. “Once they warm, they’ll wake.” His gaze drifted to Roan, a surprising fondness softening his griseled features. “Would’ve been an awful thing for the sea to steal one of its own. Not even I think the Goddess would’ve been so cruel to let it take him too early.”
Humor lit his dark eyes. “Nor do I think you would have allowed it.” I shifted as his brow rose. “Cap’ said he offered you two a place aboard the ship.”
“He did.”
“And?”
My nose wrinkled, “And?”
The large man let out a sigh, one akin to that of a disappointed parent.
For a moment he reminded me so much of Merle, the exact inflection of it so like when I would come home too late after a night of drinking.
As though I should know better. His attention shifted to Kairen, then Rena, before drifting back to me.
“These two are earth and fire through and through. Their blood flows through the dirt and sings within their bodies, but you,” his gaze was knowing, “you crave the sea. It calls to you, doesn’t it? ”
I was silent for a long moment, perhaps a touch too long and he spoke once more. “Solerian or Luanthian, it doesn’t matter. When the sea calls to you, there’s no ignoring it. Like a siren hidden among the waves, it always draws you back.”
“What does that mean?”
He shrugged. “Suppose that’s for you to figure out.”
Silence settled over us and soon his snores filled the cabin. Yet sleep would not come to me, not even when the candle upon the wall burned so low, hardly any light remained.
“Syra?”
His voice was ragged and pained, but relief sang through my heart as I sat up. My chest pressed to his skin as I breathed, “You’re awake.”
His mouth twisted in the dim light, eyes adjusting to the darkness. He leaned closer, eyes flitting to where I was pressed to him. “Are we naked right now?”
I flushed, quickly pulling back, but his hand shot out tugging me back to him, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. “I need the warmth, little menace. Would you deny a man nearly frozen to death a bit of heat?”
“I’m wearing undergarments,” I muttered, words prickly with the embarrassment that flushed my body. “And I’m starting to think you have a wish to meet the Goddesses far too soon, Captain. I grow weary of your continuous near-death experiences.”
He let out a low sigh, his breath warm against my lips. “The only Goddess I wish to be in the presence of already has her body pressed to mine.”
I flushed even as the aggravation still simmered in my blood. “Flattery will do you no good right now.”
“What about a kiss?” He murmured, hand lifting to tuck my damp hair behind my ear. His hand curved around my neck, thumb brushing the soft skin of my jaw.
“You threw yourself overboard, Roan. Do you have any idea how terrified I was?”
“I’m sorry.”
Those two little words broke the already fracturing anger in my heart, my fear instead leaking through the cracks as tears formed in my eyes. “Why in the Nine Hells would you do something so stupid?”
“It was the only way to get to him, my magic was depleted and the water was too chaotic. I couldn’t sense him below the surface and I took an oath to protect Kairen the same way I did you and Bran.
” He paused for merely a moment, eyes dancing with sadness as he brushed the tears from my cheeks.
“Even if I wasn’t oath bound to him, I would have done the same.
He’s a brother to me, even if he’s been such an ass. ”
Head falling to his chest, I felt the steady beat of his heart, heard the sound of life there and let it comfort me.
A low, annoyed noise sounded in the back of my throat.
“I swear I’ll break you from every ridiculous oath you’ve made, Roan Delmar.
” I glanced back up, his hand smoothing over my hair, his eyes soft.
“So please just stop nearly dying on me.”
His lips curved. “I’ll do my best.”
“You two are sickeningly, disgustingly sweet.”
I jumped at the sound of Rena’s voice, her hazel eyes fixed upon me in the dark room. My question came rushing out. “How are you feeling?”
“Oh don’t fret over me now,” she snipped as she waved a hand weakly. “Go on pretending as if you’re the only two in the room. Just please if you plan to do other things, find a different space.”
“Agreed.”
My head shot to Kairen and he laughed weakly at the flush that flamed my cheeks. Roan pulled the blanket higher up on my body with a low growl, one arm curving around my waist as he tugged me back against him.
The prince eyed me for merely a moment before his golden gaze fixed to the ceiling. “My apologies for being an ass lately, Potion Maker.”
Roan grunted.
“And I’m sorry if my jealousy caused any issues, though from what Taven mentioned, it seemed it was a kindling to your budding romance. Suppose I should get on board now, shouldn’t I?”
“If you don’t wish to get your ass handed to you again.” Roan’s remark was laced with annoyance, his hand tightening on the curve of my body. “So can you stop acting like a petulant child now and go back to being my friend?”
“Goddess, men,” Rena groaned, rolling to get more comfortable. “Can you all quiet your dramatics, I need to concentrate on not being sick again.”
Still the tension seemed to ease, as though a truce had finally been met.
I didn’t think Kairen quite trusted me, regarding me as though he knew something I did not, but the group fell into comfortable silence as we all warmed within the heat of the blankets.
Roan's hand traced little patterns upon my hip as I pressed into his side, my head still resting on his chest.
And when the others fell back to sleep, I felt his lips press to my head. “I’ll be more careful.”
The vow was quiet, spoken more to the darkness than to me, but still a smile teased my lips. “You promise?”
“In every universe.”
“Until we are but stars in the sky,” I murmured back.