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’ve never been such a pessimist, bordering on fatalistic. Again and again, I consider knocking Siobhan over the head, tossing Maeve over my shoulder, and getting the fuck away from here. Only the knowledge that Maeve would never forgive me stays my hand.
This is fucked.
The trail ends in a neatly hidden cave mouth. Judging by the crates stacked up well past where the waterline is, this is a location used by the rebellion. Siobhan moves to one of the crates and pries open the lid. “We’ll want to change out of the clothing we’re in. Here.” She tosses something at me and then at Maeve. I hold it up to find a garment very similar to a wetsuit. It will cover me from ankles to wrists to throat, and the fabric is thick in a spongy kind of way. It’s not a proper scuba suit, as such things go, but as I strip out of my clothes and pull it on, it instantly insulates me from the chill in the air.
Next to me, Maeve has also donned her suit. She rubs her hands down her hips and makes an appreciative sound. “This is very cleverly made.”
“They come in handy in a pinch.” Siobhan braids her hair back in quick, efficient movements. With her suit hugging every inch of her, I reluctantly admire how powerfully she’s built. Even more so than I initially realized. She looks like she could bench-press a car—not just because she’s a shifter—and has inherently more strength packed into that strong frame than even a human of her same size and shape would.
“Lizzie, I need you to watch Maeve’s back. I’m going to climb up into the ship through the hole as soon as we break it and retrieve Bastian. The two of you will be in the water alone for a short time.”
She wants me to watch Maeve’s back. I look out over the dark water. Rationally, I knew what I was agreeing to, but somehow I’ve been able to avoid thinking about the specifics. That’s not an option any longer.
I’m more than capable of protecting Maeve on land, but in the water? With all that space in every direction, the darkness shielding anything that may be approaching? My throat spasms and I have to fight to breathe normally, to not gasp. I don’t know if I can do this. I have to do this. Maeve is hardly helpless in the water, but she’s a seal. Anyone with the smallest drop of offensive magic will have her outgunned.
Maeve tenses beside me. “What about Lizzie’s family heirlooms? If she’s protecting me and you’re getting Bastian, then who is retrieving the jewels?”
Siobhan flashes a smile, too sharp. “Those jewels will go down with the ship. They’ll be easy to retrieve once the dust has settled.”
As plans go, it’s not the worst I’ve heard. I open my mouth to say as much, but Maeve gets there first.
She frowns. “There’s no guarantee they’ll still be in the ship within a couple hours of it sinking, let alone a couple days. The bay is closed off from the greater open sea, but if it’s anything like Viedna, the currents move strangely the deeper you go. It’s entirely possible they’ll rip the ship to shreds and scatter it. It could be months, or longer, before we’re able to find all of the cargo.”
Siobhan doesn’t look happy with the persistent questions. She turns to me. “Well? Does the selkie speak for you?”
“The selkie has a name,” I snap. It doesn’t matter that I refused to say her name initially upon meeting her. We are putting our necks out for Siobhan and the godsdamn rebellion. The least she can do is show Maeve a little respect. “Is there a reason you don’t want to answer her?”
Siobhan drags in a breath and seems to fight for control of herself. “I understand your priorities may not be my priorities, but I hope you can understand why I don’t really give a shit about some jewels. They have Bastian, and if we don’t retrieve him—”
“We’ve heard it before. Doom, gloom, the end of Threshold as we know it.” I wave that away. “Give us a moment.” I take Maeve’s arm and tug her deeper into the cave. The space isn’t large enough to have true privacy, not when a shifter’s senses are superior even to my own, but it gives the illusion and that’s good enough. “It’s fine, Maeve. I’m more worried about you than I am about the jewels.”
“It’s not fine.” Maeve jerks her arm from my grasp. “This whole time, you’ve had one aim, one task. I understand that we need to save Bastian, but surely we can do both. If you go into the breach behind Siobhan, then you can retrieve the jewels while she retrieves Bastian.”