Chapter 47
The bells on the ceiling jingle, and I sit up in bed.
For a moment, I panic, thinking we’re under attack again.
But the cabin is still and dark, except for the dim light emanating from a dripping pillar candle in the galley.
The creaking and groaning sounds I heard before falling asleep have faded.
The bells tinkle on, but the sound is light compared to earlier with the water dragon.
I blow out a breath, squinting at my crew.
Rynthea and Algar are asleep.
I don’t need full vision to see that Thane isn’t on his cot.
Putting on my spectacles, I swing my legs over the edge of the bed, then walk to the door that leads to the deck, opening it as quietly as possible.
I listen for any sounds of danger, fortunate to come across none.
The sea is calm, a soothing, dull roar I could listen to all night.
The crescent moon hangs in the sky like a beacon, surrounded by infinite twinkling stars.
I step out with caution, looking to the left where Captain Solyen’s quarters are.
“We’ve already passed The Void,” a deep voice says.
I nearly jump out of my skin in surprise.
Thane sits near the edge of the boat on a bench facing the moon—his mask, swords, and cowl are nowhere in sight, but he does have a dagger in his hand.
Suddenly, he flings the dagger at the nearest wooden beam.
It penetrates the wood, lodging right in the center.
Bull’s-eye. With a flick of his wrist and a flurry of gold, the dagger is freed and returned to Thane’s outstretched hand.
“What are you doing out here, Thane?” I ask, folding my arms as a chill wraps around me.
“Couldn’t sleep.” He scans me up and down, eyes blazing. I’m only wearing a beige tunic that stops mid-thigh and underwear underneath. “Think it’s wise to walk around like that on a ship full of men?”
“They’re all asleep.” I make my way to the bench so I can sit next to him. “Which you should be doing.”
“How can I sleep with you in such a state of undress?” he asks, scanning my legs.
I ignore his comment, carrying my gaze around the deck again instead. I don’t see any of the ship crew.
“I’m with you now, so I’m safe, right?”
“You’re always safe with me, Zaira.”
I smile.
We’ve made it out of The Void unharmed, which is good. The only proof that we passed through is that there are a few tears in the sails.
“I don’t sleep much anyway.” Thane’s voice pulls my attention away from the dead bug.
“I see that.”
He tucks the dagger away with a sigh. “When I was in The Divine, they trained us to withstand sleep deprivation, so we’d always be ready to protect the kingdom no matter the hour.
I can catch up to three or four hours a night if needed, but not sleeping has been instilled in me.
” He shrugs. “Old habits truly do die hard.”
“Oh.” I hug my arms tighter around myself. I want to ask more about his time with The Divine, but I also don’t want to push it. He’s finally opening up to all of us, but it has to be at his own pace.
The ocean’s rumble and whistling wind occupy the silence.
“I want you to be prepared for what we have to do to get the tome…if we make it that far,” Thane says.
“We have to find the room where it resides. It will most likely be hidden, so I’ll need to figure out how to find it.
Once I do, it will only take a drop or two of your blood and the tome is mine. ”
I nod my head.
“Are you worried?” I finally ask. “About The Shallows?”
He tips his chin. “I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t.”
“Yeah.” My teeth sink into my bottom lip. “I’m scared for everyone, you know? I want us all to get what we need and survive that damn place.” I scrape a nail over the edge of the bench. “But that’s wishful thinking, right?”
“Highly wishful.” He smirks.
I bite back a smile. “I know I can be a little naive sometimes. Analla always says so.”
“I don’t know. After spending all this time with you, I’m starting not to see it as naivety,” he returns.
“You’re just optimistic. That trait is hard to come by in Thelanor.
” He tilts his head both ways to give his neck a crack.
“Your home was attacked when you were younger. You lost your parents because of it. Grew up an orphan. Your sister is cursed…and yet you keep this massive amount of hope inside you.”
I lower my gaze to study my toes. Hearing him lay my life out like that does make it sound quite depressing.
“Without hope, life in Thelanor is pointless, Thane. I don’t like to let those tragic moments define me.
I like that I get to control the narrative about who I am.
I mean, if you think about it, my emotions are the only thing I truly have authority over.
I refuse to waste it on being angry about my past.”
Our eyes connect, and his wrinkle around the edges in understanding.
Then he clasps my chin between his thumb and forefinger, keeping hold of my gaze.
“It’s not just your hope that gets me, Zaira,” he murmurs.
“It’s the goodness in you, too. How can you still have such a good heart and good intentions after what you’ve been through?
How can you be so willing to risk your life for something that may not even be there, all to save someone else? ”
“I guess that’s a part of my optimism,” I reply. “I tell myself if I hope hard enough, or pray to Orvena, even, that what I need will come to fruition somehow.”
He raises an eyebrow. “But that must come with some form of disappointment.”
I shrug. “Sometimes.”
He takes the warmth of his fingers away. I instantly miss his touch.
“Anyway”—I throw up my hands to lighten the mood again—“if we don’t all make it out alive tomorrow, I want to thank you now.”
He looks down. “No need to thank me, Quinlocke.”
“No, seriously.” I collect his face in my hands.
His stubble is coarse beneath my fingers, his scars enhanced by shadows and moonlight.
I graze the pad of my thumb over his lips, and he releases a defeated sigh.
“You didn’t have to come all this way with me.
You didn’t have to protect me. But you did, Thane.
I’ll owe you for the rest of my life if I survive this. ”
“What I asked for is enough.”
“Yes, but coins are material. They don’t represent my feelings.
I’ll owe you much more than that, especially if we save Analla.
You may not believe it, but I think you have a good heart beneath all those weapons, dark clothes, and moody expressions.
A good person wouldn’t have risked so much just to help another person reach death island.
” A smile spreads over my face just as it does his.
“That’s where you’re wrong,” he responds. “There is no good left in me. There is no light. It was drowned in darkness years ago. But thanks for believing it’s possible for an assassin to have a good heart, I guess.”
“I know it’s possible.”
His mouth inches closer to mine. My breathing accelerates as he brings a hand up to cup the back of my head.
“Just promise me something,” he whispers on my lips.
“What?”
“Promise me that you won’t be too disappointed if none of the stones are there.”
“I’ll try not to be.”
That’s a lie. I’ll be devastated. But I’ll keep hoping.
I clutch a handful of his tunic in one hand as the tip of his nose runs over mine. Then, after removing my spectacles and tucking them into the pocket of my top, he guides my head forward so our lips can touch—gentle at first, then deep and all-consuming.
I moan, exhilarated that I can taste him again. He buries his fingers deep in my hair as his warm tongue parts my lips. I sigh as he kisses me harder, with so much burning passion it seems we’ll ignite.
When I rest my back on the bench, he straddles it—straddles me—and kisses the curve of my neck, my collarbone, my chest. This kiss is everything I’ve been craving since we were interrupted by the dragon.
He guides the lower half of his body between my thighs, grinding his erection up and down in a slow, torturous manner against my thin underwear.
“I need to be inside you again,” he says in a ragged voice.
“Yes, please.”
I let out a small yelp as he picks me up in his arms and carries me across the deck to the nearest washroom. The door creaks when he pushes it open. The space is tight and small, but Thane manages to squeeze us both in and shut the door behind us.
He seats me on the countertop and consumes me again as he pushes the fabric of my tunic up and over my head while his magic tugs at the waistband of my underwear.
Cupping the back of his neck, I reel him in again and press my lips to his.
A groan rattles in his throat as his real hand slides up my inner thigh.
He skims that same hand up a bit more, grazing my sex.
Bringing his mouth to the crook of my neck, he drags the pad of one of his fingers over my sweet bundle of nerves, and a shiver of pleasure runs down my spine.
“Fuck,” he growls after hissing through his teeth. “You’re always so wet, sweet one.”
He dips a finger inside me, followed by another. I writhe on the counter, a needy moan escaping me. I can’t stand the teasing anymore. I need him just as badly as he needs me.
I reach for his trousers and untie them, but his invisible hand stops me and pushes me backward so I’m pressed against the wall. Thane’s eyes flash, and something warm wraps around my wrists, pulling them to either side of me.
I attempt to free myself but can’t budge.
“Thane…”
Lowering to one knee, he pushes my thighs farther apart.
“I just want you to sit there,” he murmurs, bringing his face closer to my sex. “Don’t move. Just sit there and let me taste you.”
Oh, gods. He’s trying to make me scream from such naughty words.
He runs his tongue over his bottom lip, eyes pinned on mine as he pulls my bottom closer to the edge of the counter. Before I know it, his hot tongue is skimming through me.