Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 50389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 252(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 50389 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 252(@200wpm)___ 202(@250wpm)___ 168(@300wpm)
“Plan, plan, I need a plan.” Now’s not the time to get distracted.
I drag in a breath and start snooping around the room. There’s a logbook that’s seen better days, a chest full of clothes that I will not be touching, and… “There we go.” A wickedly curved knife that will do the trick in a pinch.
I’ve just turned for the door when a cry goes up among the crew. I recognize the panic. It’s the same I heard the last time Maura came to port in Ashye. Or tried to. I watched from the castle with my heart in my throat as her ship was driven away by the navy. We were both nineteen, and she’d created that reputation she’d always wanted, a young pirate captain so fearsome that ships would surrender without a fight. Not someone my father wanted in his city…or around his daughter.
She never tried to come back.
Surely she hasn’t made it here this fast, though. It seems to defy belief. Staying put is the smartest thing to do, but curiosity has its hold in me, and I can’t resist trying to catch a glimpse. With how my luck is going, it’s just as likely that it’s some other pirate who’s taken exception to the dear captain and decided to do what pirates do.
Or worse…my father has sent the royal navy after me.
I hoist my bag over my shoulder and crack open the cabin door. Shouts and pounding feet greet my ears, but I can’t see anything properly without going out onto deck. At least the captain is nowhere in evidence, but that doesn’t really mean anything. He’s close. He has to be.
I yank the door all the way open. No point in trying to be sneaky; as soon as I breach the narrow doorway, everyone will see me. I drag in a breath and charge forward...only to stop short when I get a good look around.
It seems like only minutes since the captain chained me to his desk, but apparently more time than I realized has passed. The shore is a smudge in the distance, much too far away for me to swim, even if I were a strong swimmer. I’m not. “Shit,” I breathe.
The ship jerks to a stop.
It happens so suddenly, I stagger a few steps forward. The crew cries out in fear and then anger as everyone rushes to the left side of the ship. What’s going on? But I know, don’t I? Maura is here. She’s come for me.
“Where is she?”
Even over the wind and other sounds, even with so many years and far too much baggage between us, I would know Maura’s voice anywhere. My throat tries to close, and I rush forward, elbowing my way through the crew to get to the side of the ship.
And there she is, standing on the railing, one hand on a rope to steady her, with her long blonde hair whipping in the wind. Maura.
I must say it aloud, because the crew starts to realize I’m among them. They curse and jump back as if I have some sort of contagious disease. The captain is the only one who doesn’t. He glares at me. “You didn’t mention you were bound for The Kelpie.”
“You didn’t ask,” I say primly. “I’ll be going now.”
He looks like he wants to argue, but with the crew muttering around him and making the sign to ward against evil, he doesn’t have much of a choice. He spits at my feet. “Get off my ship.”
“Happily.” I turn for the railing, only to pause. “Um, how?”
“You want her?” The captain’s voice becomes a roar. “Well, then go get her.” He shoves me.
My hips catch the railing, and for a moment, I think it will be fine, but he shoves my shoulders again, and then I am very much not fine. I tip over the railing and fall.
It’s a longer fall than I expected. I have a moment to realize why the crew members were so scared before I hit the water.
Maura somehow lifted their entire ship into the air.
2
MAURA
“Damn it!” I spin, but my quartermaster, Cai, is already shoving the other ship away, zir expression a mask of concentration as ze uses zir power to ensure Juliette doesn’t get crushed between us.
Having a full-blown firefight within eyesight of Ashye is the height of foolishness, especially with the crown princess in the mix, but as Juliette hits the water hard enough to make me flinch, I find I don’t give a fuck. “Sink them.”
“Captain?”
“You heard me.” I shrug out of my coat and dive into the water. We’re closer to the surface than The Drowning Maid, since Cai’s air magic is holding them aloft. Ze will have to rest after getting us here and dealing with the confrontation, but that’s fine. I have half a dozen air mages on the crew for a reason.