We sail the distance in record time, propelled long by some strange combination of water and air magic, courtesy of Nox. They stop us about ten yards off the beach. “This is as far as I go.”
I examine the distance. “That’s not going to work. If you toss us out here, he’s going to drown before I can drag him to shore.” I glare at them. “This is a really shitty thing to do after how he saved everyone. You would’ve lost more people if he hadn’t released that blast of magic.” I’m still not ready to examine the sheer delicacy and power required to do what Bowen did. I’m pretty sure if I think about it too hard, I might actually pee my pants in fear. The man is a fucking monster, and he’s been in my bed for the best part of the week. I don’t want to examine the truth that the same power that brought me so much pleasure is also responsible for so much death.
Nox props their elbows on their knees. “I’m in a particularly precarious position. I don’t expect you to understand, but as long as Hedd is captain, things will be done a certain way. Yes, Bowen saved a lot of the crew’s lives. But I just saved both of yours.”
I want to argue … but the truth is they’re right. Hedd was going to kill me right there. I might have held him off for a few moments, but I was going to lose that fight. Then he would’ve finished Bowen off, and there’s not a goddamn thing I could’ve done. Still. “You’re clearly the better captain and the better person. Why aren’t you in charge?”
“You were on the ship long enough to know the answer to that. I don’t have the votes. There are plenty of the crew who are happy with how he runs things. Until that changes, the only thing I can do is counteract his more extreme impulses.” They sigh. “Get moving, Evelyn. I’m not so ungrateful as to let him drown. Trust me.”
After the fight with the mermaids, the very last thing I want to do is slip into the inky water surrounding our boat. Anything could be below the surface and I would have no idea until it was far too late. Not to mention I’m not entirely certain I trust Nox enough not to let us drown. It would be a convenient way to take care of a problem.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a choice.
I take a deep breath that does nothing to fortify me and slip over the boat’s edge into the water. It’s colder than I expected, significantly more so than two islands ago. I’m still trying to figure out how I’m supposed to get Bowen in the water with me when Nox rolls him over the side.
I curse and make a grab for him. I can’t touch the bottom of the shallows, and it’s everything I can do to shove his bigger body over me so he doesn’t drown. For a moment, I think this is it. What a pathetic way to go out after everything I’ve survived. Bunny will be so disappointed when I meet her in the afterlife.
But then the water around me changes and seems to grow almost solid. It lifts me up to the surface, making Bowen’s weight less significant. I sputter and cough and look up into Nox’s amused face. “Told you I wouldn’t let you drown. There’s a safe house about thirty minutes’ walk north up the coast. It’s hidden in a crevasse that looks like an X. You can find food and clothes there. Stay safe, little witch.”
The water around us shifts again and then we’re being ferried away from the boat and the elemental sitting in it. Within seconds we’re spit out onto the rocky beach. It’s one of the more surreal moments of my life. I’ve known people who can harness the elements, of course, but Nox is on another level. They might be helping us right now, but I can’t stop the shiver of fear at the thought of ever being on the opposite side of a fight. With their control, they could stall the air in my lungs or pull a move like Lizzie and rip the blood right out of my body. Or, rather, the water in my blood. Semantics won’t matter when I’m dead.
They aren’t on our side, but at least they don’t want us dead.
This is the moment when Bowen chooses to wake up. He coughs a little, so I turn him onto his side to keep him from choking. His neck still looks pretty gnarly, but he hasn’t started bleeding again. At least my spell’s holding. It should continue to do so until his body heals enough that he won’t die when the spell fades.
“Evelyn.”
“I’m here.” I move around so he can see me without straining. He’s too pale, his dark eyes standing out. Worry worms through me, but I swallow it down as best I can. “Do you want the good news or the bad news first?”
He curses and slumps onto his back. “Good news.”
“Rookie mistake. You always ask for the bad news first. It makes the good news feel more optimistic.”
His lips curve, but that’s the only hint of amusement I get. “Give me the good news, Evelyn.”
“Suit yourself.” I sink onto the rocks next to him and try not to shiver in my cold, wet clothes. “We’re alive. Hedd was going to kill us both after you collapsed, but Nox stepped in—very cleverly, I might add—and saved us.”
He shudders out a long breath. “Okay. And the bad news?”
“Funny story. Really, you’re going to laugh.” Damn it, I’m stalling, and not even in a clever way. “It seems we’re stranded again, and about to watch another one of the C?n Annwn ships sail away.”
“About what I expected.” He presses his hand to his wound and winces. “What happened? The last thing I remember is a mermaid on my back.”
I swallow hard. I really don’t want to revisit the events that ended that fight, but he has a right to know. The sooner we finish this conversation, the sooner we can find somewhere warm and dry. Hopefully. “It bit you. Quite badly. You sent out a wave of power that, as best I can tell, turned every bone in every mermaid body to liquid and made their bodies flesh sacks. It was really impressive in a horrifying, nightmarish kind of way.”
Bowen is silent for several beats too long. “Did I kill anyone else?”
CHAPTER 28
Bowen
MY CHEST TURNS TO ICE AS I WAIT FOR EVELYN’S RESPONSE to my question. It’s been so long since I’ve lost control, and I don’t know that it’s ever happened to this degree. Except … there’s something that almost feels like an echo of a memory lingering in the back of my mind, a surety that I have lost control and someone I cared about died when I did. It must’ve happened before I came to Threshold. It’s the only explanation for the bone-deep fear that rises in response.
“I don’t think so.” Her expression is troubled. “I would really like to promise you didn’t hurt any of the crew, but it was pure chaos in that moment and right afterward. I didn’t see any of them taken out by your magic, but I’m not willing to lie to you just because I’m not sure.”
I exhale in something that’s almost like relief. My body hardly feels like my own. My throat and shoulder are pulsing in agony. I’m not sure I have the strength to move right now. Which is a fucking problem, because we have to get off this beach. “Let’s get going.”