Chapter 27 #3
Above it all, Anunit blazed. She dove at the fishmen in strafing runs, herding them away from the rail and their harpoons.
Between the sprite, the serpent, and the treachery of the sons, the Gibil Anz? became a fiery hell in the distance.
Mack and I rowed in silence until our arms gave out. Then Dad and Rust took over, half rowing, half drifting as the current carried us toward the island.
There was a ship docked at the pier, but we headed the opposite direction, rowing around a rocky headland to a narrow cove sheltered by overhanging limestone.
The beach was white sand, backed by vegetation so strange it looked like it belonged on another planet.
Loud, colorful plants and bulbous-trunked trees with sparse, upturned branches dotted the cliffsides like something out of a fever dream.
The dinghy scraped against sand. I sat there for a moment, too drained and stunned to move.
We’d made it.
Mack climbed out first and secured the boat. Rust followed, immediately scanning the tree line, rifle ready. I nearly tumbled out of the dinghy because my legs had forgotten how to function. The alpha stepped onto the beach last, boots sinking into the sand.
Dad sheathed his sword and turned to face me with an expression that could have frozen the ocean behind us. Sweat crept down my spine, despite the morning breeze.
I planted my feet and braced for whatever was coming, because I’d earned it.
Instead, my father did something that nearly buckled my knees.
He laughed.
If you could call it that. A single huff of a chuckle, the barest tremor at the corner of his mouth, had I blinked, I would have missed it. But I saw it, and so did Rust. His eyebrows climbed high enough to disappear into his hairline.
Then it was over, and the alpha was back.
“You’re reckless,” he said. “Insubordinate. You act without thinking, and one day it’s going to get you killed.” He closed the distance between us, and I steeled myself for my punishment, whatever it might be.
His hand landed on my shoulder, but it wasn’t his usual alpha’s grip that pinned a person in place, demanding submission. This was lighter. Almost human.
Almost fatherly.
“Last night, your recklessness saved this team. I won’t forget that.”
It took a moment for his words to sink in, but when they finally did, my eyes burned. I blinked hard, refusing to let a single tear fall, knowing that would only ruin the moment. “Thank you, Alpha.”
His hand tightened once before falling away. “Don’t thank me. Thank whatever crazy-ass instinct told you to climb out that porthole instead of following orders like a good soldier.”
I nearly smiled. “Since when have I been a good soldier?”
“You’ve always been a good soldier, Ziara.
That’s never been the problem.” Something softened in his expression, gone almost before I caught it, and then the alpha slammed back into place.
“The problem is you think like a general while holding the rank of a private. You act on information nobody else has, and you don’t share it until the fallout hits. ”
The accuracy of that assessment stung more than any reprimand.
“Learn to trust your pack,” he continued. “Bring us in before you execute. You don’t have to carry everything alone.”
The irony of those words—coming from the man who’d sent me to steal from a dragon without a single warning of what I was up against—wasn’t lost on me. But I bit my tongue because he was right. This was my chance to tell him of the dragon’s demand for my surrender.
The bloodstone pulsed against my thigh.
“Yes, Alpha.”
He nodded and turned to Rust, already shifting into mission mode. “We need to move inland before the slavers come looking. Rust, take point.”
Mack fell into step beside me as we headed into the tree line. He didn’t speak for a while, just marched at my side with his spear balanced across his shoulders. The tension between us was a butter knife, dull but still capable of drawing blood.
“You climbed out the porthole,” he finally said.
“I did.”
“In the middle of the night. On a ship full of hostile fishmen.”
“Accurate.”
He shook his head. “And I slept through the whole thing.”
“You were tired.”
He paused for a beat that felt like an eternity. “I’m supposed to watch your back. How the hell can I do that, when your back isn’t where it’s supposed to be?”
The hurt in his voice squeezed my chest. “Mack—”
“I know.” He shifted the spear on his shoulders. “Just... next time, wake me up. Even if I’m pissed at you.” He glanced sideways at me. “Especially if I’m pissed at you.”
“Okay.”
He bumped his shoulder against mine, and I leaned into it, breathing in his woodsy scent. For a few steps, the weight on my chest lightened.
Then my hand brushed the sheath at my thigh, and I felt the bloodstone’s steady pulse beneath the leather, and guilt wiped the smile from my face.
The dragon was out there. Somewhere on this island, waiting. And when he came, I’d destroy the trust I’d just rebuilt.
I would hand him the bloodstone and myself.
And pray that my people survived the fallout.