Page 95 of Damned and Broken Gods
“I’m fine!” Alia protested as Bina pressed the glass on her.
“Drink!” Bina snapped. “I will not have you ruin our chances tomorrow.”
Alia groaned and downed the water.
“Where is she?” Armin swung into the room. “Alia…” He took her in, then sighed heavily.
Alia handed the glass to Bina then held her arms up to Armin. “Carry me to bed.”
He frowned, but his lips twitched as if hiding a smile. “Very well.” He scooped her up, and they left the room.
Bina leaned back against the counter and crossed her arms. “How difficult is it tonotget intoxicated?” She shook her head. “I saw Vick was looking worse for wear.”
“Yeah, we hydrated him and sent him to bed.”
She nodded. “Be careful tomorrow.”
The way she said it, the strange shifty look in her eyes had me zeroing in on her. “Why’d you say it like that?”
“Look, just…keep an eye on Vick.”
“You still think he had something to do with Gia’s death, don’t you?”
“I don’t know what I think. But rumors usually have an element of truth to them. I’m just not sure how much truth there is in Vick’s case. But…I like the boy. I do. I just…You’re important, Leela. Be careful.”
She left me with a bad taste in my mouth and a hollow pit of doubt in my belly, but I shook it off and finished tidying away the tea things.
A good night’s sleep would put everything to rights. I just hoped I could fall asleep without Araz there to hold me.
Chapter 34
Hoist The Sails
LEELA
The sky was clear, the wind was high, and Rajnanga, leader of the bale, sailed effortlessly, even when asleep. Granted we had to steer and make sure the sails were adjusted accordingly, but the last three hours had been smooth.
Keyton and Araz were on standby in case we needed assistance, but the rules were clear: They were to interveneonlyif we were in mortal danger.
There was no sign of Bina, Alia, Joe, Eran, and Dharma. Their two Shattiraksha had sailed off in opposite directions to us. We had been given different routes, and it was up to us to navigate them.
“This isn’t too bad,” Priti called out from the wheel.
I finished looping rope around my arm. “I know! And the weather is lovely.”
“Hey, Vick, we on track?” Priti called out.
Vick sat on the bow with the map and a compass, his head down. He raised a hand and gave us a thumbs up.
I scanned the horizon, looking for any sign of land. Bhartina had said that we’d see land after two hours, and it had been closer to three with no sign of it.
I wandered over to Araz and Keyton, who were sitting at the stern. “I think we should be seeing land by now…” I looked out at sea, squinting at the dark clouds to the east of us.
“Yes,” Araz said. “You should.” His mouth formed a thin line.
Oh great. He obviously hadn’t said anything because he wasn’t meant to interfere. I hurried over to Priti. “I think we’re off course.”
Priti frowned. “I was wondering why we hadn’t seen land yet.” She chewed on her bottom lip. “Maybe I should have taken navigation.”
