Page 382 of Kingdoms of Night

The Brunes’ ship bobbed over a wave. The main mast lay broken across the deck and a rope flew behind the craft like a tail. She couldn’t see any people aboard. Another swell blocked her view, and then she glimpsed the pinnace.

Hung up on a slick, black rock, it rocked violently up and down as she swam toward it. She tried to grasp the edge of the upside-down boat, but it lurched away.

“Hold tightly now, Nico.”

She kicked with everything she had left and grabbed hold. Bracing herself on the pinnace and pushing it as best she could against the line of rocks, she nudged Nico’s head with her own, rousing him.

“Climb on. Hurry! Nico, now.”

The lightning snapped and thunder rolled, farther away now. Rain pelted her hands and cheeks. Her fingers were numb. Nico worked his way over her bowed head and onto the pinnace. He cried out as the boat shifted; she caught him and pushed him up by the leg so that he didn’t fall back into the water. The rain relented a bit, and she dragged her weary self onto the upturned boat beside Nico.

They clung to one another, gasping.

Isa ignored the last thrashings of the storm, the ocean’s angry waves, and focused only on the sweet, familiar scent of Nico’s hair, which was far preferable to the brine of the sea. She wrapped his small body in her arms and tears seared her cheeks.

When Isa regained her senses after what might have been unconsciousness or sleep, the sun reflected off a stretch of sand not ten feet from their resting place—the gnarled rock surrounded by shallow and lapping water. The tide must have been responsible for the fact that they were now on land.

Soaked all the way through, she was seated against the black rock. Nico lay across her lap, his face bone-white.

“Nico.” She shook him gently, but he didn’t stir.

Swallowing, she put a finger in front of his open mouth. Warm breath touched her skin and she sank back, exhaling. Despite her shaking arms and legs, she managed to gather him up and carry him across the mucky expanse where the tide had revealed ground all the way to the bright sand. It felt like a momentous journey.

Collapsing onto the beach, she tried to remember to simply stay alive.

Darkness took her.

She woke again only to find Nico sitting up, hugging his knees beside her. His gaze was on the sky. The sun had fallen fully, and night reigned.

Groaning at the multitudes of aches and pains in her body, Isa rolled onto her back. Stars glittered in the widest, blackest sky imaginable. Her limbs were light—too light—and she reached for Nico’s hand, taking his fingers in hers. They were both so, so cold even though the night breeze was mild across Isa’s cheeks.

“My wish came true,” Nico said, his voice torn and thin.

She felt as though she were dreaming. “What was your wish?”

“That you weren’t dead.”

Isa squeezed his hand. “Thanks for that.”

He chuckled. “You’re welcome.”

Sitting up, she gathered him into her arms and tried to will her warmth into his bony frame. “We’re both alive.” She said it to make sure it was true. Her head was filled with seawater and fear. The sand crunched between her bare toes. When had she lost her shoes and stockings?

A branch snapped behind them. Nico broke away and stood, his eyes wide.

Isa turned to see a dark forest limned in starlight. And then…

The stars glowed over the silhouette of a tall, slender man with tousled dark hair and a proud nose. She squinted to see him better as the trees seemed to lean toward him, the leaves shuffling.

A warmth gathered around her heart and she gasped, suddenly unable to breathe easily. It was as if the stranger had grabbed hold of her very soul with a gentle but demanding hand and her body and mind had no choice but to follow in its wake.

Suddenly, soft leaves wrapped her body. Willowy branches tangled around her waist and thighs. Strong arms held her fast. It was a storm of sensations, of touches and murmurs, of heat and the ache of longing. She couldn’t make sense of it, but she couldn’t say it was unpleasant. Quite the opposite. The taste of flower nectar touched the tip of her tongue as the stranger whispered in her ear, breath hot …

But he was no stranger. She knew him. But how?

He was twenty years old and loved watching the moon rise on summer nights. The stranger who wasn’t a stranger delighted in the loyalty of his friends. She could almost see their faces in his memories. The stranger’s arms around her felt like coming home and she smiled and leaned into him. He told her the name of every tree on the island. This moment was a thousand moments. He gazed at her lovingly, then his eyes went hot with desire and a grin tugged at her lips. His look turned feral, demanding something she couldn’t understand. The cool earth pressed against her back and branches lashed her wrists together and pulled her arms over her head. A soft kiss heated the base of her throat and she gasped—

And she was back on the beach beside Nico like she’d had a waking dream.

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