Sebastian gripped the gunwale to steady himself as the sirrak disappeared. He found Cat staring at him through narrowed eyes, as if she couldn’t quite understand what she was looking at.
“What are you doing? Get on the bloody wheel, damn you!” he ordered, and turned to watch the churning water that was dark green and laced with white foam.
Ilior staggered beside him. “Is Svoz…is he…?”
Sebastian made a fist. Blood seeped from between his fingers. “He’s gone to get her.”
The Vai’Ensai’s skin was pale white and he shuddered with cold. “Gods, please…”
Sebastian itched to push him overboard. The moments were adding up in his head.
Too long. She’s been under too long…
A shadow flew overhead. A huge, black-taloned sea hawk, water streaming off its sleek feathers, hovered, flapping wings that were as long as a man. Selena lay clutched in its claws. The giant bird dumped her inert body onto the planking and then landed beside her. Its talons scratched the wood as he ruffled his feathers, raining seawater over the stupefied crew. The hawk loosed a deafening scream and then folded its wings close to its body where they vanished into blood red skin. Horns protruded from its crown, the enormous beak became a mouth, and then Svoz was there, his skin hissing and steaming like a blacksmith’s iron dipped in water.
Sebastian stumbled to kneel beside Selena. Her face was a pale shade of blue and she wasn’t breathing, nor moving at all, not shivering for the first time in days. Her clothing was sodden with frigid water; it pooled around her and leaked out of her sealskin coat. She looked dead.
No! Sebastian grabbed her ankles and drove her knees to chest three times, trying to pump the water out of her lungs. Nothing happened. Sebastian crawled to Selena’s head. He tilted her head back and pried open her jaw with his cut hand, smearing his blood over her chin. He laid his mouth over hers. Her lips were as ice. He blew air into her three times, and then started back to her ankles.
“I will…” Ilior said. The dragonman looked half-dead himself but he took hold of Selena’s boots and drove her knees up to her chin.
Sebastian put his mouth to Selena’s again and breathed for her. Ilior pumped her legs. Nothing.
“Niven! Are you a healer or not?”
Sebastian realized that Niven had knelt beside them was praying for healing magic; his little flask at hand pouring seawater—as if there wasn’t enough on Selena already—his other hand on her shoulder. An orange glow emanated from his hands and spread across her chest. And then faded away.
“I can’t,” Niven said tearfully. “There’s too much water in her.”
“Then get the fuck out of my way.” Sebastian shoved Niven aside and took Selena’s face in his hands. He put his lips to hers, breathed, and then Ilior drove her legs up.
Svoz circled them leisurely and lit a stinking cigarillo. “Keep it up, Master,” he said. “A life for a life.”
The words stabbed Sebastian with fear all over again and he breathed into Selena’s mouth. But it’s too much time. It’s been too long…
And then her body shuddered. She curled to her side and retched out what seemed a lake’s worth of water onto his deck. Her lips drew back in a horrid rictus, and she drew in a wheezing breath, and then coughed until Sebastian thought her insides would spill out of her like the seawater. When the spasm subsided, she lay very still.
She’s beyond shivering.
Svoz had pulled her from the water but the danger wasn’t over. Sebastian stripped off her seal fur coat; it slapped onto the deck like a bloated jellyfish. Ilior cradled Selena in his arms. The crew, those that could, had gathered around to watch.
“Take her to her cabin,” Sebastian ordered. “Spit, get on the wheel. Cat!” He called up to the quarterdeck. “Get down here!”
Cat slinked down the ladder.
“Get her out of those wet clothes before she freezes to death.”
Cat nodded, still staring at him with that peculiar, curious look, and then started belowdecks with Ilior. But the Vai’Ensai took two steps and fell to his knees.
“I…can’t…” he moaned. “Help her…” His head lolled and Selena tumbled out of his grasp.
“Bugger me.” Sebastian strode to the fallen dragonman and lifted Selena of his slack arms. “Niven, get Ilior to the galley. Build a fire in the oven and set him by it. Then get back up on deck and heal Grunt. We’ll take her to my cabin,” he told Cat. “The rest of you, keep watch for the merkind.”
Cat led them across the debris-strewn main deck and yanked the captain’s cabin door. She rattled the handle. Locked.
Sebastian ground his teeth. “Bloody fucking Deeps...”
Selena seemed to weigh a thousand stones in her sodden clothes He needed a third arm but he’d be bloody pricked before he let Cat dig around in his black coat. He hefted Selena awkwardly and fished his cabin key out of an inner pocket. Cat took it and turned it in the lock. Sebastian kicked open the door.
Inside, he shut it behind them and lay Selena down on the floor. Then he and Cat hurried to undress her. Buckles stuck, her overtunic tangled in her long damp hair, and her boots seemed welded to her feet. Sebastian had run out of profanities by the time they had her stripped down to her underclothes, sure that she would cease breathing at any moment. Then Selena’s eyes fluttered open and she moaned.
“N-no…” she struggled through clattering teeth, her voice hoarse from swallowing the sea. “D-Don’t….l-look …”
Sebastian thought she meant her nakedness, but her hands covered left side of her chest, over her heart.
“I won’t look at the wound,” he said. “We won’t look, I swear it.”
He laid Selena on his bunk and she rolled onto her left side, clutching her shoulders. Her shivering began again, and he was relieved to see it. He kicked off his boots, and tore off his own wet long coat and shirt.
Cat stared at him.
“She needs heat,” Sebastian snapped. “I’m bigger than you.” The mute woman’s eyes were unblinking. “Take her clothes to the oven to dry and then get back to the wheel.”
Cat gathered up Selena’s clothes but then stood still, looking as if she wanted to ask him something but didn’t know how to form the words.
“Get out,” he bellowed, and she jumped to obey. When she was gone, Sebastian climbed into the bed.
“Selena.” He tried to turn her to face him but she whimpered and would not turn. “Selena, I have to take this undershirt off. It’s wet and will keep you cold.”
“Y-you can’t s-see it. I w-won’t let…you. “
He pulled at her sodden undershirt but it would not give. It was made of linen and fit tightly over her breasts. He peered over her shoulder and saw it was laced up the front.
Bloody gods, what am I doing?