His mouth twitched. “Did you ask if I was a prince?”
I snorted. “No. Would you have told me, had I thought to ask?”
He cut his yarn with a flick of his knife, tying it off and tossing me the blade me to sheathe in my boot. “Probably not.” Delving into the fish with our single fork, I shook my head and stole the first bite, offering him the utensil. He took it from me, aiming it thoughtfully in my direction. “But the point is, I’ve never lied to you.”
I nodded as I chewed, watching him stab the fish for his own bite. “You still have secrets, though.”
Golden eyes flashed to mine as he passed the fork back. “Some.”
My heart thudded softly as I considered what to say next. Fine—he didn’t have to share everything with me.Mihaunaknew he was entitled to keep things to himself, though the idea sent something aching in my chest.
“I got myself stuck in the channel,” I said, suddenly driven by impulse. Kye’s eyes flickered to mine. I licked my lips. “I didn’t realize I’d gone so deep.”
“But youdidget stuck.”
“Yes, but…” I bit my lip, my stomach performing a nervous flip. “The current dragged me down. I got stuck in underwater caves—” I broke off a piece of fish for him, wondering whether to gloss over what I’d found deep under the surface. “There was something under the water. It attacked me. When I finally escaped the cave, there was no time to slowly ascend. I needed air.” I glanced away, stomach clenching at the thought of claws ripping at my skin.
His brows pinched together, not bothering to glance at the fork as he took it from my hand. “What was it?”
I exhaled. “I don’t know. But you were right. Whatever it is, there’s something down there.”
He opened his mouth to voice a thought, and something whistled over our heads.
It passed us in a flash, too quick to make sense of what it might be. But our eyes instantly met, and I knew well enough. We scrambled, halfway to our feet—a second arrow soared past Kye’s cheek. He flinched away, twisting into a low dive over the ground, then jumped back up in an instant, a hand ready at the hilt of his sword, eyes scanning the direction from which the arrow had come.
“Get to Kolibri.”
Wooden walls. Rope around my tail. Sour breath along my cheek.
My pulse ravaged my own ears, my heart lost in a sudden flurry. I spun away, sliding on my heels as a glass bottle soared past my nose. It stuck the compact ground beside me, a mushroom of heat blooming across my back, my hair blowing past my shoulders and into my face at the sudden cloud. Fire devoured the ground in an instant, seared into the soft rubber of my boots.
Wooden walls shrinking, shrinking, shrinking—
Hands chained to the wall, Kye choking across from me, glittering silver disappearing into his neck—
Ahead, Kolibri gave a roar of terror, but we’d hobbled her for the night with a loose rope. The mare bucked her hind legs as Sero pawed the ground, white tail flicking with agitation.
I squeezed between them, knife ready to cut Sero’s hobble first, my hand reaching for his lead. Kolibri roared again, her eyes wide, body wild. She reared—or tried to. The hobble tied between her legs tripped her, and the mare fell heavily to her side. I scrabbled to help, abandoning Sero’s ties. Her hooves kicked madly, forcing me to step away to avoid being struck. Somewhere behind us came the shatter of glass and the explosion of fire.
Water pouring in, filling the cabin—
Drowning, drowning—
Kye’s hand grasped my arm, whirling me around. I reached for him, relief thick in my throat, and his scent hit me.
Musky and thick like stale rum.
The wrong smell.
His hair was black instead of chocolate brown, his beard too long, the grip of his hand too hard, the color of his teeth like tar. Anger wrapped around his mouth as he pulled me to him, and I would have been certain I’d never seen him before except—
His eyes. I knew those. Piercing blue, shaking with fury.
In the instant it took me to realize Captain Kriska held my arm, he lifted his open palm and blew white ash into my face.
It burned into my eyes, sticking on my tongue and the back of my throat as though I’d swallowed sparks from a fire. I screamed, wrenching back to frantically wipe whatever it was away—but my breath cut short. My vision blurred.
It burned. Everything burned. Fire sizzled into my skin, burrowing into my lungs. The world lost color, bright light seeping in from every direction as my knees gave out from under me. He released my arm and I dropped to my side, face slamming into mud. A few feet away, Kolibri’s hooves continued to thrash, shredding grass blades apart.
