Page 42 of Her Radiant Curse

Ratface is on the floor, writhing in pain, but it’s not long before he starts to clamber to his feet.

I claim the big one, Ukar says, getting straight to business.

Which leaves me Ratface.

I can’t go far with the chain weighing me down, so I jump on his back as if he’s the tiger I fought yesterday. His nails dig into my arms, imprinting little sickles. He tries to throw me off, but I cling tighter. I don’t let go, not until I drive his head into the wall, and he melts onto the deck.

Ukar’s guard is also unconscious, sprawled over a wooden barrel. Ukar’s venom doesn’t kill like my blood does, but it can paralyze a man for days.

“How many more above?” I ask Ukar, taking the guard’s whip.

“Too many for you to handle alone,” Hokzuh replies. Gone is the mocking tone he took with the guards.

At least seven more, Ukar replies. Dislike simmers between him and Hokzuh, and he ignores the dragon completely. I can tackle one undetected. Two, if the first doesn’t scream. But that will leave you to fend off the rest.

Not great odds. I pick a key off Ratface’s belt and try it on my collar. It isn’t a fit.

“Only Ishirya can remove that collar,” says Hokzuh.

“The queen?”

“It isn’t Meguh you should be worried about,” he says darkly, with a nod. “Toss me the key.”

He doesn’t wait for me to oblige. His tail sweeps at my ankle, swift and slender as a rope. As I fall, he snatches the key and unlocks the cage door. To my bafflement, he remains inside, letting out a long sigh as his wings uncurl through the opened door.

“What are you?” I demand. “Meguh’s prisoner or—”

“You won’t win by trying to escape the ship,” he interrupts. “You need to stay until we get to Shenlani.”

I’m done with the dragon’s nonsense. I throw the whip over my shoulder. “If you won’t help, then Ukar and I will get out on our own.”

Hokzuh grabs my arm. “I am helping you.”

I whirl to view him. During the tense minutes that I fought him in the marketplace, I’d memorized the way he moved. Graceful and fleet of foot, his wings like two lethal extensions of his arms.

In the cage, he doesn’t look half as fearsome. His red eye is less virulent, less murderous.

But I’m no fool.

“I’ll take my chances alone.” I twist out of his grip and leap for the hatch.

I’ve forgotten how fast he is. In three beats, I have my hand on the door. In four beats, Hokzuh is out of his cage, has leapt to the top of the stairwell, and is blocking me from exiting.

“What will you do after you overtake the guards?” he whispers harshly. “Even if you can fight them all off and subdue Meguh, where will you go? Do you know how to sail a ship?”

No. “Do you?” I retort.

“Yes.” Hokzuh unfolds his wings. “I can help you. Just not here.”

His hand is on my arm again, and I’m startled that I didn’t notice how it got there. I shake him off. “You expect me to believe it’ll be easier to escape Shenlani than this ship?”

“Yes.”

I don’t get to demand why. “What’s all that noise?” someone above us bellows. Footsteps thump closer. “What’s taking you so long?”

Hokzuh leaps back down into the hold, but I stay at the door. It swings open, and I hit the new intruder neatly in the groin before kicking him off the stairs. Let the dragon deal with him.

I hurry onto the deck. There’s laughter and music coming from the front of the ship, enough to cover the sound of my violence. I hope.

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