Page 87 of Of Vows and War: Special Edition
I turned, dashing for my desk and quickly scribbling words onto a page. Lian knowing exactly what I was offering was more important than ever. Finishing with a flick of my wrist, I grabbed the paper and practically ran at her. She stared with wide eyes and downturned lips, as if the sight of me was concerning. Before she could say something like goodbye, I shoved the paper into her face, watching as she mouthed the words.
“Join my crew. We could use an Air, and you already get along with CJ. You can keep us in line for your pretty prince.”
I could have Blue any time. All the time. As long as I want. Until I inevitably got sick of her, too.
Her eyes moved from the paper, to me, back to the paper, and settled on me again. Then, with all the consideration of ayoungling that just learned to speak, Lian bent over and laughed. Slapping her hands together, she continued to full-body laugh, the amusement turning her face red. My hand slowly lowered, rejection sitting heavy on my chest.
“You are funny, I will give you that. Anyways, I have to get going. But make sure you stay out of trouble. I would rather not have to come find you.” With that, she wiped a tear from under her eye with her middle finger before lifting it my way.Bitch.
Lian winked, turned, and left me.
She fuckingleftme.
My patience gone, I stormed to the door of my quarters, ripping it open. Lian was taking her place next to Henry as I stepped out. The male looked me right in the eye with the most obnoxious smirk on his face. Then, as if he knew just how badly I wanted Lian beneath me, he reached over and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her into him. The two disappeared beneath rays of Sun magic, but not before I noticed how Lian swatted his wandering hand and opened her mouth as if to yell at him.
They were not together. I was sure of it then, even if the proof was flimsy at best. And if they were, I no longer cared much.
No one left me. Ever.
My crew all watched me from where they stood scattered about the deck. Fists bunched and body shaking from my fury, I took a deep breath and nodded. She wanted me to be good? Then I would be worse than ever.
I lifted my hands, quickly signing to the five of them. “We set sail for the Ibidem Sea. They gave us a license, so let us make them regret it.”
Their cheers rumbled the deck below my feet, and for a moment I felt light again. We were made to loot. To take what we wanted. The prince and his pets might think that wrong, but that was their problem, not mine.
For now, I needed Dima back. Not only because having a siren would make life easier, but also because I now had an itch I needed to scratch. She would understand. Plus, she had been separated from her kind for so long that she craved acceptance and companionship. I was enough for her. More than enough. And she would be enough for me until I got what I really wanted.
Blue would catch wind of this soon, and when she did I would be ready.
I would show her trouble. She was coming back whether she wanted to or not.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Stassi
Blackened branches sliced through my cheeks as I carelessly walked out of the forest, my arms only saved by the leathers I had stolen from the creepy creature back at the military base. No beasts approached me, all of them likely sensing what I was and rightfully fearing me. That, and Milo was being an energetic vermin at my feet.
Sighing, I pressed on.
The entire trip felt like a waste in some ways. Stella refused to come, unwilling to even leave her cabin. I wished then that I had any other option. Neither she nor Padon deserved the throne anymore. But she was better than him in the long run.We needed to focus on fixing our home. On rebuilding what had been broken. That required the empress.
She claimed that the future the Oracle foresaw required her to remain still, but I found that hard to believe. It was selfishness that pushed her—all of them. Padon. Asta. Achari. Bellamy. Fuck, even me most of the time. The only good thing about Asher was that she was different. The princess did not allow herself to be guided by self-serving whims.
With a groan, I slapped the final branch out of my way. As the light of the day met my skin and my eyes locked on Torrel’s, I felt a strange sense of doom. A chill dashed down my spine, my fingers tingling with the oddest feel of magic in the air.
“Torrel, I need you to take Milo and leave,” I hissed as I ran towards her, Milo dashing ahead of me. Her pink eyes scanned my face, contemplating whether or not she would follow my orders. A growl rumbled in her chest, Milo copying the battle cry as he wove between her four legs. “Please Torrel, you know I will be fine. But I need you and Milo to be safe.”
Every hair on my arms seemed to rise as magic flooded the air around us, Torrel going more on edge when she began to feel it too. Something was coming.
“Now, Torrel!” I screamed. My dragon nodded, grabbed her little one with a clawed foot, and then shot into the air. She was but a speck in the distance by the time a cloud of emerald green magic appeared.
Venturae, then.
Just as I suspected, from the smoke-like substance walked the high demon of Fate and Chance.
Venturae’s long braids were the same color as the leaves in a forest at night, the tips nearly touching the ground as she neared me. Her smile was large, white teeth framed by full, round lips. Her skin was black as night, shining in the daylight. She wore adress made of strung crystals that exposed sections of her skin with each step.
“Venturae, what a pleasure.” Sweetness coated my tongue, the sound of my voice practically a hum.
