Page 114 of Ship of Shadows
He winced. “Hello, Goji. Nice to see you again.”
“I could think of a lot of words to describe this meeting, but nice is not one of them.”
Goji. So this was Bastian’s friend. The one he’d betrayed. Well, this wasn’t going to go well for me.
Goji’s green eyes, bright like emeralds, settled on me. “Hello, dear. You’re going to have to come with us.”
“No.” Lochlan and Mal stepped up on either side of me.
“Goji,” Bastian growled. “Not her. Do this for me.”
She scoffed. “For you? No, I think not.”
I heard the rasp of a sword being unsheathed from behind me. “Then I suppose I’ll have to fight you.”
He couldn’t. They’d kill him. He would let himself be torn apart for me. Of course he would.
She rolled her eyes. “You’re always so stupid when it comes to her, aren’t you?”
I held out my hand to Bastian. The last thing we needed was a bloodbath. I would never forgive myself if any of these boys got caught in the crossfire.
“I’ll go,” I said.
“Absolutely not,” Lochlan said at the same time as Bastian said, “Fuck if you are.”
“What happened to me being able to protect myself?” Bastian met my gaze, pain flashing in those eyes. “This is my choice, Bastian. I won’t let you fight my battle. Trust me. Please.”
His jaw tightened.
“You don’t know what you’re doing,” Mal said.
“I don’t have a choice.” I gently unclasped his hand from my arm. “And neither do you.”
Goji raised her hand, and a few pixies fluttered forward, grabbing both my arms. I felt my feet lift off the ground, my stomach shooting up to my throat.
“You’ll get used to it,” one of the boys shouted from below as I rose higher in the sky.
“Goji, keep her safe!” Bastian yelled.
I looked back one last time as the pixies flew me over the trees, and everyone disappeared behind the canopies.
My eyes grew heavy, and my head lolled against my chest as I fell into darkness.
“Wake up,”a voice said. “Oh, don’t tell me my dust was that strong. Wake up, woman.”
My eyes felt so heavy, my head like a stone.
Cold water splashed against my face, and I jolted upright. A figure stood over me, a halo of sun around them that streamed through the trees. My vision went sideways, and my head thumped against the ground again.
“Here,” the voice said with that beautiful accent. “Drink this.”
They tipped my head up, and I sipped a warm liquid that made my vision clear, my head less foggy. I blinked a few timesat my surroundings. Goji stood in front of me at the edge of the jungle. She set the cup down. Through the thick foliage, turquoise water lapped gently at the shoreline, and tall trees and shrubs surrounded the water. Rock formations jutted up in the distance, blocking any view of the sea beyond this little lagoon. I wanted to get up and run through the trees and into the warm sun, but shadows lurked above us in the canopies, no doubt waiting to strike should we try to escape.
Escape. The pixies. Goji.
I shot to my feet. “What’s going on? Where are the rest of the pixies?”
Goji smiled, looking completely at ease. “Don’t worry, dear. They think I’m taking you to the shadow king to have your shadow extracted. That’s usually my job.”
