Page 54 of Shadows and Flames
Elián dropped my gloves beside me, and he growled low in his throat, that sound speaking of mild annoyance. Iwashungry.
I smacked one last kiss to his stubbly cheek and let him go to the door.
His Shadow brother didn’t bother with any pleasantries, plowing forward in his ranting while he set down the tray loaded with our supper. “Honestly, after all I’ve done forbothof you.Some consideration for those of us without a lover in this trying time would be appreciated.”
Elián glanced at me, a loaded look that made my heart skip a beat. Tomás groaned, now with a bite of bread roll in his mouth. “Oh, godyx, with the looks. It’s bad enough that they’re planning to kill us before we get to the dock.”
I accepted the food El brought to me, and we used the bed as a surface to balance our plates as we dug in. Well, Elián and I did. Tomás took one look at the bed, wrinkled his nose, and commandeered the desk.
“It’s a fool’s errand on their part.”
Tomás and Elián both nodded along. “The confines of this journey have left them irritable. The woman remains in her cabin, but from what I could deduce, she has long stopped trying to calm her brother.” El had taken the most recent shift to find out what he could. When we did traverse the ship, the humans brushed past with wide eyes, terse nods, and whispers that followed as soon as they thought us out of earshot. Of course, with their Shadow magic, he and Tomás were the most skilled at hearing more of what was brewing around us. Though Tana and I were able to move stealthily, El and Tomás were able to bend the aether at their will, to become part of the shadows. Especially to humans, they could be invisible.
Picking at a piece of chicken, I ran through the possibilities for the thousandth time.
Rhaea’s power felt less of a parasite taking control at my most vulnerable moments and more of an extension of myself, now that it lived on my skin. But as I imagined the humans coming for us as they were intending, it buzzed within my fingertips, wanting to take flight. I could practically taste the death of these humans, how sweet it would be, thirst for blood and for retribution slaked.
I frowned. “If their ineptitude foils their plan and the weather stays on our side, we should be there in two days’ time, right? If not, we may have larger problems.”
Both Shadows remained silent, but their agreement didn’t need vocalizing. One of the first things we’d done as a group was ration the skins of blood we’d brought for the journey. Of course, the fluid didn’t keep for long periods of time, and we were on the last dregs, saving it for an emergent situation.
In our defense, most were more receptive to donating to us before this whole business with the woman’s brother.
The three of us ate in silence for a while, listening to the whooshing of the waves, but as my plate emptied, I set it to the side and paused, listening. The bathing room wasn’t far away, and after parsing through the sounds of other passengers and the ocean around us, I no longer heard Tana in that direction.
“I’ll be back.”
El frowned as I left, but he didn’t try to stop me. He knew I’d come back.
I crept out into the corridor, checking the empty bathing room with my own eyes before finding the lavender scent of my cousin in the air.
Something still felt off between us, even with the time passing since our argument. We’d forgiven each other, maybe? Was there anything for me to forgive?
When the urge to pull away from Elián— to retreat into the safety of her familiarity reared its head—Tana would see it written on my face and give me a sharp look. My apologetic smiles abounded as my former Shadow proved himself to be steady enough for me to cling to.
But when we get off the ship?
I shook my head, following Tana’s scent as urgent voices became clearer. I paused on the stack of steps, headed to thenext level. Tana’s bag was abandoned, toiletries spilling onto to the floor.
My feet carried me before my thoughts caught up, reaching the commotion as five burly men held Tana while they pulled away the Vyrkos male, metal chain wrapped around his throat.
TANA
A trap. One for him that I’d fallen into. The Vyrkos and human he’d drunk from were tucked away in a dark corner of the ship, on a deck designated for storage and crew work, judging by the crates and supplies stored in the rooms I’d passed.
The man, now sneering and shouting curses at the both of us, watched us in sick delight with pupils blown. Someone handed him a rag to staunch the bleeding at his neck.
“You idiot!” I shouted at the Vyrkos as his skin reddened around the jewelry they held him with. Another six were huddled around the male. Someone must’ve possessed that particular knowledge, that silver was toxic to their kind, and procured the jewelry from one of the passengers. It was dainty, and the delicate charms waved against his throat as they restrained him.
They tried using another bauble on me, haphazardly pressing it into my brow as if the X-shaped thing had any power. When my skin remained unaffected, they dropped it with a huff.
“By the power of Mortos, we compel you toyield,” one of them shouted, an older man who was holding his own chain and bauble out to us.
The Vyrkos, whose skin was now releasing smoke underneath the necklace and still struggling within the humans’grip, spat on the scuffed floorboards. He hissed, long fangs flashed toward the mob around us.
Of course, we didn’t yield, and the telltale press of sharp metal on my neck halted my movements. If they wounded me enough, like cutting my throat, I might be unable to save him.
Before I could twist out of their hold, the Vyrkos roared, eyeing my throat and the weapon now cutting into it.
