Chapter 22
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
HOOK
We’re well outside the Harbor District now, but because the carriage Vane summoned has none of the royal insignia, we’re repeatedly getting stuck in traffic and time is ticking away.
Warmth is pulsing through my chest and I’m having a hard time sitting still in the carriage.
I keep pressing on my chest, making sure everything is as it should be. Is my heart about to explode? Am I losing my damn mind?
I sigh and rub at my eyes, and when I look across the carriage next, I find Roc staring at me.
His gaze is penetrating, like he’s searching for something.
“What?” I ask.
“You seem different.”
“I was just kidnapped.”
He blows out a breath. “You’re a pirate. Surely you’ve been kidnapped before?”
There was that one time we ran into a rival crew in the back streets of Summerland and I was taken hostage in exchange for gold. And again, years later, when a witch hunter took me captive, claiming I was an abomination. Smee and my crew had to rescue me.
Though now that I think of it, I suppose the hunter had a point. I had Myth Maker magic running through my veins. I didn’t know that at the time. I’m shocked I survived that one. Witch hunters are brutal and they rarely fail at their jobs.
“I’m fine,” I tell Roc even though I don’t feel fine.
Not that I feel bad, either.
Just…okay, yes, different.
Traffic clears and the carriage lurches forward. Beside me, Wendy is quiet.
This isn’t how any of us wanted our wedding day to transpire.
Bloody Gutter Snakes.
Did they truly think kidnapping someone from the Portage Hall would get them what they wanted? It was ill-advised at best, downright suicidal at worst.
Wendy reaches over and takes my hand in hers. Nervous energy is pulsing through her and—
I glance over. She’s staring out the carriage window, watching the city pass us by.
She is nervous. I know it in an instant, but…she’s not fidgety. She’s not biting her nails or worrying at her lip or any of the telltale signs of agitation.
So why would I think otherwise?
I look down at our hands intertwined. Her delicate fingers, the oval cut of her nails and it’s like I can feel everything she’s feeling in an instant.
I yank my hand away, and the sensation is gone.
Wendy turns sharply toward me. “What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“No, I…my hand fell asleep, is all.” The lie comes out before I can think better of it. I don’t like dishonesty between us, but I’ve already contributed too much chaos to our day of union. I won’t contribute more.
I must be feeling the aftereffects of the fogshade.
I can sense Roc’s attention lingering on me like a slant of warm sunlight.
But this time, I pretend not to notice.