Chapter 14 #2
“Is the sphere centered on the ring, or the person who activated it?” When he replied it was centered on the ring, but the person who activated it could still move if they took it off, that gave me another idea.
“Oh, maybe you could also activate it, set it down, and leave. The sphere would probably stay stuck in time while you, say, escaped your adversaries. How long does it last?”
“Ten minutes. I reckon I could make it longer, though.”
“Did you tell Calinia?” I asked.
He made a face. “No.”
“I bet she could help you improve it, Ash.”
Even Rei seemed to finally understand why he was so excited, but he just put Ash in a careful headlock. “Hey, listen to me: never bust your way in here without knocking again. She could have been changing, and I’m not responsible for what she’d do to you if you walked in on her.”
Ash scowled. “The door wasn’t locked or nothin’. Let go!”
Their antics made me snicker as I brushed my hair into my usual pearl-woven ponytail.
Ashkade struggled against Rei’s iron grip until eventually Rei released him.
Ash toppled onto the floor, but he popped back up like a bobber a second later to swing his crutch at Rei’s feet, hooking one of his legs to take him down.
He pointed the end of it at Reiven’s neck and giggled, so full of energy.
“You’re weak right now, old man,” he taunted.
It was nice seeing him so lively, but if they kept roughhousing, Rei’s injuries might actually reopen.
“Leave the old man alone or he might break a hip,” I said.
“Stop calling me an old man, both of you.”
I helped Rei to stand from where he had been glowering at Ash on the floor. “What are you going to do if he isn’t fully recovered when we get to Ghrysim Isle, hm? I’m not fighting off hordes of angry Mourners for you, Ashkade. Has the captain given any update on our timeline?”
I assumed we were around three weeks out from our final destination, and Ash confirmed.
His eyes darted between Rei and I and dipped to where I still held Rei’s hands. “So…nice to see you two’re gettin’ along. Gettin’ along swell, huh?”
“Not really,” both of us said in tandem, releasing each other.
“Uh, Blue brings up a good point, Ash.” Rei changed the subject with all the grace of a drunk sailor attempting ballet. “And there's one more thing that worries me about our journey to the island…That pirate.”
Even if he didn’t say his name, my throat constricted, and I froze.
Since Vaetrik was guiding Shaddan to Ghrysim Isle, we would certainly run into him again.
Ashkade tapped his chin and the two of them threw around some ideas about the timing of when they would arrive at Ghrysim Isle compared to us, and possible courses of action.
I lost myself in a whirlwind of quiet panic, each and every thought peppered with Vaetrik's soft, controlling voice and laughter.
My back hit something solid, and I leaned against the wall, grateful for something to support me, though I hadn't meant to retreat into it.
A part of me wanted to slide down the wall and curl up on the floor.
Just thinking about Vaetrik stole away the strength in my body.
It wasn't even dark in our room, yet somehow, the shadows in the corners of the ceiling seemed to stretch, to reach for me with oppressive tendrils.
“Answer me, pet.”
I squeezed my eyes closed. It didn't help to shut out his voice in my head. There was just no escaping him.
“You really love me, Zephra?” I hated that I had been foolish enough to tell him that. “Would you want to come aboard my ship? I’ll introduce you to my friends. It’ll be fun.”
Deep breaths. He isn't here.
I recoiled when someone touched my shoulder, though there wasn't anywhere for me to go but to shrink harder against the wall.
Ash furrowed his brows and carefully retracted his hand. “What's wrong?”
“N-nothing. It's nothing.”
“Bullshit,” Rei said. He folded his arms across his chest, lips thinning into an unyielding glower.
“You were so afraid of him you could hardly talk. What are you going to do the next time we run into him, Blue? Go all silent again, maybe cry?” I balled my hands into fists, but he continued, his voice cold, but not quite cruel.
“It pissed me off to no end, that you're so snippy and tough when it comes to me and anyone else, but with him, you're just a frightened girl. You fell apart like wet paper the moment you saw him.”
“Y-you don’t…you don't know what he did to me.”
“No, I don't. But I can guess.” He leveled the empty void of his gaze at me and pushed Ashkade out of the way to take his place in front of me.
It wasn't quite threatening, but I pressed harder against the wall anyway.
“You're allowing him to dictate your state of mind.
What if you're the only thing standing between him and Ash? What then?”
My fingers grasped uselessly at the grainy wood of the ship wall behind me.
I’d do anything to escape from the images Reiven was putting in my head, even break all my nails clawing through the wall.
But I was frozen, thinking about a future where Vaetrik got the upper hand and ordered me to watch him kill Ash. I’d be helpless to stop him.
“I…I…” Even without Vaetrik’s presence, I couldn't get my voice to work.
“Stand up to him next time. You aren't his pet. He can't control you.”
Easy for you to say.
“I know it won't be easy, but if you don't get a handle on your fear, you're always going to be running away from him. Even when you go home to the Abyssal Deep.” He set his jaw.
“You said before that I reminded you of him.
So pretend I'm him, and tell me everything you want to say to him.
Then it'll be easier when it's the real deal.” He spoke quietly, but an undeniable bitterness laced his words.
“You…You're angry at me for comparing you to him, aren't you?”
“Of course I am.”
Ashkade tried to interject, but the two of us waved him away. We were too busy holding each other’s icy stares.
I missed the surprisingly warm smile Reiven had given me just the previous night. Maybe I had dreamed it all up, and he was still awful as always. “If Ash didn't keep you in check, you'd be just as horrible as Vaetrik. I picked up on your cruelty from the moment we met because it was so familiar.”
Reiven had the audacity to scoff, as if he wasn't completely horrid to me before we even knew each other’s names. As if he wasn't being a dick to me right then. “And what exactly do I do that's so familiar?”
“Taunting me that I'm so close to my home, but I can't get away from you. Endless mocking—” I spoke through gritted teeth, but my eyes were growing unbearably warm and scratchy. “You don't even think I'm worth being called by my name, do you?”
He pressed his lips together.
Words kept spilling out of my mouth as I raised my voice to a scream. “I’m chained to you like your fucking pet. And just like him—you've been acting nice to trick me into trusting you, so you can have an even better laugh when you beat me down!”
Rei stepped closer. The smell I associated with both him and Vaetrik, the smoke and male musk…it was shrouded in a veil of chamomile. The bathing concoction I brewed recently with the fresh ingredients Lyneca bought.
It almost made me pause, but he hardened his gaze and slammed his fist into the wall beside my head. “So, what do you have to say to me?”
Ash tried to jump in again but was silenced by a wave of Rei’s hand. His eyes didn't leave mine.
“I hate you.” A pathetic whisper.
“I can't hear you.”
“I said, I fucking hate you! I hate everything about you and how you make me feel! How…how you drain all my strength with a glance. How you laugh at me.” I buried my face in the palm of my hands to hide my tears.
Crying always meant he'd punish me somehow. My voice trembled and cracked. “You always tell me that without you, I’m nothing. That I was born to be your wretched, obedient pet.”
“Come now, pet. Say you’re mine.”
“Even if it’s true, I’m too stupid to learn that lesson.
” My body shook. Hot tears crawled down my cheeks as I glared up at him—not Vaetrik, but he might as well have been.
Rage and more tears blinded me enough that I could pretend he was my kidnapper.
The memory of his chilling smile, his heavy fists, the darkness of the hold of his ship. That sickening nickname.
Ashkade tried one final time to intervene, but his words sounded far away.
“I’m not your pet, do you hear me? Nobody owns me.
I am a sister of the Abyssal Deep, untameable as the waves.
The wrath of every ocean tempest flows through my veins.
I’m—” I reached beneath my skirt, found cold metal.
“Not—” My hand moved on its own to grip the front of his shirt.
“Yours!” I screamed, driving my knife forward, straight for his heart.
Why, why didn’t he fight back? Normally he would have knocked me to the ground by now. My dagger stopped before it pierced his chest.
“Zephra.” That was Ash’s voice, right in front of me. He sounded pained somehow. “I’m sorry.”