Page 104 of A Promise so Bold and Broken

Lessia hesitated.

Was it better not to risk it?

But they’d need all the people they could spare if the threat of the Oakgards’ Fae from the other realm materialized…

“No,” she got out. “We should try to convince them of the threat that’s coming. Besides, they might have information that we could use.”

Kerym batted his lashes in her direction. “Can I at least make them more agreeable?”

“I can do it from here, Kerym,” Raine interrupted.

“They’re good people!” Ardow barged into the middle, his gaze slicing from Lessia to Raine and Kerym. “We can’t hurt them!”

“He’s right.” Lessia nodded. “We can’t force people to join us.”

“But—” Kerym started.

“She said no,” Merrick snarled.

Raine and Kerym shared a look that had Lessia’s top lip curling back.

Slipping away from the hand she somehow knew Merrick would extend, she stalked up to the Fae, pressing a finger into each of their chests.

“I do not agree with what the rebels are doing. But like us, they are fighting for something they believe is better. We have the same end goal; it’s just our means to get there that is different. You will not hurt them. Not unless they become a threat.”

The snapping of their jaws was so loud that Lessia was surprised none of their canines cracked, but finally, they dipped their chins.

“Good.”

Lessia spun around and grabbed Ardow by the shirt to line him up with Venko.

She cast a quick glance to the side, where the ship was closing in.

They only had minutes now.

“And you two.” Lessia wagged her finger at them, mainly toward Ardow, but she also kept a watchful eye on Venko’s reaction. “You will not try to sneak away with those rebels. Do you hear me? You have a mission.”

“We won’t,” Venko said quietly, but when his hand squeezed Ardow’s, a hiss tore from her throat.

“Don’t lie to me. Or”—she pointed to the Fae—“I’ll have them practice their magic on you.”

“You have our word, Lessia.” Ardow placed his free hand on her shoulder. “I promise.”

She wasn’t so sure of that, but when she looked out toward the sea again, the crew on the ship had opened the gate on their side and were preparing the brow—a huge one with spikes that would seal their two vessels together until they decided to pull it up again.

She met Merrick’s eyes, and they glittered when she stated, “Time to burn.”

ChapterTwenty-Seven

Even being a warship, the vessel lurched violently when the wooden brow connected the ships, and Lessia was grateful for Merrick’s strong hand folding around her own, keeping her steady.

And she was even more grateful for it when the first person climbed onto the brow and the wind brought the smell of shifter with it—that ever-changing scent of winter and summer and spring and fall and birth and death.

Her senses sharpened, the walls she’d practiced around her mind slamming up, and she could tell from the thickening tension layering across the group that Merrick’s and the rest’s did as well.

Lessia wasn’t sure she’d ever get used to that smell.

It was as if you’d bottled unpredictability, and she reminded herself not to trust a word that came out of their mouths.

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