Page 152 of Daughter of the Dark Sea
She pulled away to look at him—at Raiden.
He frowned at her expression. “Kordelia?”
She pushed away from him, scowling. “That’s not my name,” she snapped.
The devastation on Raiden’s face made her want to rush over to him, to comfort him, to tell him that it’s okay—thatshe’sgot him.
It was utterly baffling, and she clenched her fists, attempting to suppress thisinfatuation.
“You don’t remember,” he observed.
“No. I don’t know who you are.”
Raiden looked away, his jaw clenching, and her chest tightened. She felt the wild, second side of herself fade away, her clarity returning. What the fuck was she doing? She was supposed to do something . . . she was supposed to kill someone.
“I’m nobody important. Now, tell me who youthinkyou are.” His tone riled her, and she stooped to swipe her sword from the deck.
“I’m Kora fucking Cadell. Iknowwho I am.”
Raiden stilled. “Cadell,” he repeated.
She lifted her chin. “Yes, and?”
“That traitorousswine.” The snarl tearing from Raiden’s throat was truly terrifying and animalistic. A gust of wind whipped across the deck, and groups of bodies lifted and smashed against the masts of the ship, their spines cracking in two. The masts groaned, the already-splintered wood cracking deeper, and the iron-gated brig sprung open, metal warping from the force.
As the wind raged . . . it never touched Kora. In fact, she couldn’t feel it at all.
“Raiden!”
Aerion darted towards them, carrying an unconscious Skylar in his slender arms, with Aryn hot on his heels. The sight was conflicting, like two puzzle pieces that didn’t fit together. Kora’s spinning head threatened to curdle her knotted stomach, and she inhaled deep, ragged breaths.
Behind them, Talmon soldiers had been obliterated, and the deck was eerily quiet. Kora searched for a familiar green cape, but there was no sign of Erick, and bile burned her throat. Had he been caught in Raiden’s power . . . or worse . . . hers?
“We need to go now,” Aryn ordered. “Do your thing, Windward,” he spoke to Raiden.
“Which one of us are you talking to?” Aerion chuckled, and Aryn rolled his slanted eyes.
The knot turned into a barbed twist. Arynknewthe Windward siblings. He knew their names, who were they were . . . what they coulddo.That they had magic, and it was elemental like hers.
Kora scrambled away. She couldn’t be near this—them. Galen was theenemy. They were bloodthirsty killers, theymurdered innocents, and tried to destroy the Azarian Islands in the last war. They killed Eleanore and Erick’s unborn babe.
They were barbarians.
And Aryn was one ofthem. He didn’t look the same, or act the same as them, but he was intimately familiar.
“Kora,” Aryn hurriedly followed. “You need to trust me. I know it’s scary—”
“You don’t know anything!” she snapped. “Youliedto me. Everyoneliedto me. You’re a Galenite, aren’t you?”
“I wasn’t born one, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“You chose to be one—that’sworse.”
“So did you, once.”
The words stunned her. They couldn’t be true. It wasn’t true. She wouldn’t be something as awful as a Galenite.
“You need to come with us. I’m asking you to trust me one more time, Captain.” Kora winced at the title. “When have I let you down before?”
