I ignored the pirate and followed my brother into the jungle. This wasn’t the reunion I’d expected, but hopefully after I explained everything, Lochlan and Mal would be willing to work with the pirate lord and his crew. If not, I had no idea how we were going to pull this rescue mission off.
Chapter Forty-Eight
Mal stood in front of a crashing waterfall that pooled down into clear water. It bubbled over stones of all colors, making it look like someone had pulled a rainbow from the sky and splashed it across the rocks. Sun sliced through the clouds above, but as Lochlan and I approached Mal, I still felt the presence of shadows lurking in the dark cover of the trees.
Items scattered across the bottom of the pool: a red ring, a spear, a fishing pole. So many objects with so much power, it was dizzying.
Tears pricked my eyes as we got closer, and I broke into a run, crashing into Mal and holding him tight.
“What are you doing here?” he said. “Gabby, why did you come?”
“Just shut up and hug me,” I said between sobs.
He quieted, his arms tightening. I pushed him at arm’s length and studied my younger brother, his short black hair. My siblings and I were a mishmash of my parents: Mal inheriting my mother’s dark hair, while Loch and I inherited my father’s auburn hair. While I had my mother’s brown eyes, Lochlan and Mal had my father’s blue eyes, stark and bright. Mal and I hadslighter, leaner builds like our mother. Lochlan took after our father, towering over us, broad chested and thick with muscle. It didn’t hurt that he also had my father’s strong jaw and crooked nose, which gave him a rugged kind of beauty that not many men could pull off. That was no doubt how he’d earned the playboy prince nickname, how he’d somehow become the most eligible bachelor on the continent of Arathia—and even in some of the human lands.
Lochlan strode forward and slung his arms around both my and Mal’s shoulders. “Well, look at that. A family reunion.”
Mal shot Lochlan a look of annoyance and shoved his arm off. He sat down on a large rock that crested the edge of the water. “What are you doing here?” His gaze flicked toward the ground. “Is your shadow?—”
“I have my shadow.” I gestured to it, the sun highlighting it as it stretched over the water.
Mal let out an exhale of relief.
“What about you two? How did you get your shadows taken? Have you seen him? Where are the boys? Are they okay?”
Lochlan raised a thick brow. “I think we might be the ones who need to ask the questions here.” He looked at Mal. “Go ahead. Ask her who she’s here with. You’re gonna love her answer.”
In usual Lochlan fashion, he was treating this like some entertaining game. It hadn’t been so entertaining when he was threatening to shove a sword through Bastian’s throat.
Mal’s brows furrowed together, and he ran a hand over his black hair. “What is he talking about? Who are you here with? Father?”
I winced. They didn’t know. I supposed that made sense. Marian had said she never returned after she’d lost her voice, so ashamed over her role in my father’s death.
“I have a lot to catch you up on, it seems,” I said.
Mal’s face fell, and Lochlan tensed.
“So who are you here with if not Father?” Mal asked.
Might as well get this over with. “The pirate lord.”
Mal shot to his feet. “He kidnapped you too?”
“Oh no, brother.” Lochlan clapped one hand on Mal’s shoulder. “Not kidnapped.”
Mal looked between us. “Then what? What am I missing here?”
I gestured to the rocks. “Both of you sit your asses down, shut your mouths, and let me speak. I’ll tell you everything, and when I’m done, you’ll understand why I’m here.”
Mal and Lochlanboth sat on the rocks in a stunned silence as I finished my story.
“You’re in love with the pirate lord?” Mal asked.
I let out an exasperated sigh. “That’s what you got from my story? I’ve been talking for thirty minutes, and that’s what you’re choosing to ask about? Did you not hear anything I said? He doesn’t have his shadow. He’s under the shadow king’s command. He’s ninety-five years old.”
Lochlan leaned back onto his hands. “I think we got it, Gabby. It’s just...”
“It’s bullshit,” Mal said.
