Page 82 of The Eye of the Fifth
‘Tell me, captain,’ Sekun said with deadly calm, the smile on his voice growing with triumph. ‘Did you become a treasonous whore before or after you let my brother fuck you?’
Chapter Twenty Three
Naal Westerra’s Greatest Weakness
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The Thilene, Birlissus Ocean.
Kyra.
Rage blinded Kyra’s senses.
She watched, helpless, as the red-headed woman blinked up at the golden male, paralysed with fear. ‘Do not insult me,’ she said in a hushed whisper, shoving at his chest.
The sneering male caught her wrist and yanked it up to his face, swiping his nose along the skin with a deep, lustful inhale. ‘The reek of him is all over you, Captain,’ he snarled, then laughed quite maniacally. ‘You cannot lie to me.’
That laughter wriggled its way under Kyra’s skin and she moved out of the darkness, pulling her sword from its home at her hip, fury fuelled by a lifelong feud-
‘Kyra.’
Wait… that washername.
This was not her anger. The eyes she saw through were not her own. She did not know the woman trapped, nor the feral lion trapping her. And the hand that was now wrapped around that sword hilt-
A male hand. Wide and long-fingered. A gold signet ring adorning the middle finger.
Not her hand. Yet, one she knew. A present that was not hers.
She was nothing but a bystander, and she knew exactly whose eyes she was peering behind.
‘Kyra.’
Everything faded to nothing as that voice pulled her away to another place.
Her own present.
She awoke with a start, sitting bolt upright in the bed. Cold, clammy sweat clung to her skin as her eyes darted around the room, taking in the cool surroundings, relieved to be within the mountain and not stuck in the Fire Warden’s mind.
Her heart was pounding. Where was he? Who was the woman he was so valiantly desperate to save? His anger was so visceral, it had felt like Kyra’s own. Adrenaline still coursed through her blood, the cool touch of the sword’s metal still tingling her hand, as if it had really been there.
Kyra let her head fall into her palms, taking a deep breath in an attempt to dissolve some of the foreign fear still lingering in her body.
She nearly jumped out of her skin when a knock sounded at the door. Quickly yanking the crumpled sheets at her feet over her damp, naked body, she called, ‘Come in.’
Naal’s silver head poked around the door. ‘Sorry to wake you. The sun is dawning. TheThilenewill be here by sunrise.’ Her brow furrowed as she took in Kyra’s shaken appearance. ‘Are you alright?’
Kyra forced a smile. ‘Fine,’ she said, then added, ‘I don’t do mornings.’
Naal was undoubtedly a morning person; Kyra had never seen a face so fresh before the sun had even risen. Naal's apologetic answering smile didn’t quite meet her eyes, and Kyra had the distinct feeling she didn’t believe her attempt at nonchalance.
‘Where are we going first?’ Kyra swiftly asked.
‘Loros. We will begin our search in Blythtrie.’
‘You can’t think the Water Warden will be there, though?’
‘No,’ Naal said with a grimace. ‘It will not prove that easy, but we may gain a better understanding of where he might be.’
