Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 97188 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97188 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
I’m not so sure about that. I want nothing more than to see the back of Siobhan, but as I look down at Maeve, I can’t help hearing her voice in my head. Help her. I don’t want to. Putting the rebellion behind us would be my preference, anything to keep Maeve out of danger. And yet I find myself speaking: “No reason to split up.”
“Excuse me?”
“It will be quicker if you wait for Maeve to wake up and we take your ship . . . together.” I’m feeling my way, Maeve’s palm warming against mine where I hold her hand. “This one won’t be content to sit by and watch others take risks going forward, and I won’t let anything happen to her. We’re headed back to Nox as well. We might as well travel together.”
Siobhan studies me, her body tense as if she wants to spring into motion. “Very well. I’m going into town to make a resupply run and see if I can find any information about what might have happened to Bastian. I’m sure the Crimson Hag’s crew will have made landing by now.” She stalks to the crates and digs through them until she comes up with a cloak that looks identical to the one she wore when we met her. “Meet me at my ship by dusk tomorrow.”
“We’ll be there.”
“Maeve will be fine.” She flips the hood of the cloak up around her face and hesitates. “Sorry about your jewels, though.”
I’d all but forgotten them. Again, I wonder what the fuck I’ve been doing. Chasing down some godsdamned inanimate objects, putting Maeve at risk to do so, and for what? To go back to a life where I was just going through the motions. I’ve lived so fucking long, and this last couple of weeks is the most alive I’ve ever felt.
I don’t want to go home. I don’t give a fuck about the jewels. I just want Maeve to be okay.
As Siobhan slips out of the cave, I settle down next to Maeve and take her hand. I can carry her to Siobhan’s ship if I need to, but I’m going to give her as much time as possible to sleep and let my blood continue to heal her.
There’s nothing to do but wait.
chapter 35
Maeve
Everything hurts. It’s a strange sort of pain, weighing me down and making it hard to open my eyes. But it’s not sharp like I expected to experience when I woke up . . . if I woke up at all. If not for Lizzie—
Lizzie.
My eyes fly open and I try to sit up. Or at least my brain gives the command. All I’m capable of is a jerky movement that barely raises my body off the hard surface I’m lying on. Hands press to my chest, easing me back down. Then Lizzie’s face appears over me, concern etching lines that bracket her mouth and spider from the corners of her eyes. “Steady, Maeve.” She sounds exhausted, too, more tired than I’ve ever heard her. She takes my hand and guides it to a damp fur folded neatly next to me. My pelt.
“What happened?” I croak.
“You’re alive.” She gives a faint smile and brushes my hair back, her touch gentle and filled with so much emotion that my throat tries to close. “Take things slowly. My blood healed you, but accelerated healing is hard on the body in its own way when you’re not used to it.”
She’s calm. Too calm. Last time I woke up in what amounts to a sickbed, she was beside herself with worry. “Are you okay?”
Her smile warms. “I am now.” She studies me. “I’ll tell you what happened if you agree not to try to sit up again until I’m done.”
Considering I was about to do exactly that, I flush. I force myself to relax and survey our surroundings as much as I can without moving. Judging from the dark arch of rock overhead, we’re back in the sea cave. I have no idea how we got here. The last thing I remember is being underwater, pain lashing my entire body as Lucky stabbed me, and then . . . nothing at all.
I swallow hard. “Your jewels?”
Lizzie curses softly under her breath. “You have a one-track mind even when on death’s doorstep.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No, it’s not. I’ll tell you everything if you promise to lie there quietly for the duration.”
I huff out a breath. I wish I could say she’s overreacting, but even that deep breath causes something deep in my chest to ache. There’s no way I’ll admit as much, though. She’s worried enough about me. “Yes. Fine. I promise.”
“Good.” She quickly details what happened. Bastian missing, the swim back to the cave, the plan to meet up with Siobhan at the sailboat waiting for us on the other side of the island. Through it all, she keeps up those little touches as if reassuring herself that I’m alive and well enough to talk. She finally sits back on her heels. “Say the word and we’ll find another way off the island. We can go back to Viedna and live there.”