The bell stopped ringing. In its absence, an eerie silence fell, punctuated only by Nick’s ragged breaths.
Kit released a wounded groan, but when Anna physically pushed him from Nick and took on the role of support, Kit went. The loss of him left Nick shaking. He tried to reach for Kit but could only lift his head high enough to see the flashing soles of his disappearing boots.
Chapter Thirteen
A blur of little kits swapped out the cool, saltwater-scented cloths on his arms every minute. Left on any longer and they crackled like dry leaves, kindling on the cusp of igniting. The ship could have sunk, and Nick wouldn’t have noticed, too entrenched in the burning of his arms. Anna dosed him. He coughed it up. She dosed him again. The cloths took two minutes before they crinkled. Then three. And then Mini replaced two lengths of saltwater-soaked cloth onto Nick’s arms, and rather than the cloth sucking in the heat, Nick absorbed the cold.
At the first bout of chills, awareness snapped back, as if he’d woken suddenly from a blurry nightmare to stark reality. The room came into focus. Kit was at his bedside. Anna stood at an awkward distance behind him. She cast a silent snarl at the back of Kit’s head when his lashing tail whipped dangerously close to her.
“What happened with the mermen?” Nick asked.
Kit’s gaze snapped to his face. “How do you feel?”
“What happened with the mermen?” Nick repeated.
“They did not approach.”
Anna shot Kit a sharp look, but Kit didn’t notice and continued.
“They circled a ship far to our rear and then went on to examine a ship ahead. They passed by us,” Kit explained.
Nick frowned. “They skipped us?”
There was something very troubled in Kit’s expression. “Yes.”
“You’re kidding.”
Nick didn’t understand. And then he was abruptly furious with himself. Even if his arms burned, that was his chance. That was his chance to get out of this situation. “For fuck’s sake.” He displaced the cloths as he scrubbed frustrated hands over his face. “I’m always useless when it counts.”
“Even if you had got above deck, we would have kept you prisoner,” Kit said in a soothing tone. “Or held your life as a bargaining chip to keep the ship safe.”
A strangled laugh choked its way up Nick’s throat. “That isn’t exactly reassuring.”
“You aren’t useless,” Kit insisted.
“You need to –” Anna began.
Kit growled, swinging his face towards her. His tail slashed as if to hit her, and she stepped back sharply. They glared at each other, the animosity of an argument Nick had no knowledge of simmering between them.
Anna’s jaw clenched, genuine annoyance in her eyes. “In the hall, Captain. I need to make a formal report about ourprisoner.” She turned on her heel and stormed from the room, picking her way through a floor covered with buckets and dirty cloths. She left the door wide open and advanced only a handful of paces before stopping.
Kit dipped a fresh cloth into the basin on the bedside table and reapplied the cool cloths to Nick’s arms. “I will be back in a moment,” he murmured.
Nick watched him step out and then quietly rose from the bed and put his ear to the door.
“You need to assign him to someone else,” Anna was saying.
“No.”
“He’s going to be handed over to the council the moment we set foot in Aridia. Playing in bed and some light scenting are fine, butthisis not. How do you think you’ll feel handing him over after imprinting?”
“I’m not –”
“I’m not stupid, Kit. And I have a functioning nose. Have you changed your mind about handing him over?”
There was a beat of painful silence.
“That isn’t a choice,” Kit said.
