There’s also the problem that I might hesitate to kill Lizzie, but she’s obviously intent on murder.
I bring us down as carefully as possible near the docks. Even with all my concentration, we fall the last two feet to the ground. I stagger. “Sorry. Carrying people is more challenging than objects.” I look around. After that fight, it feels odd that nothing is amiss here. There’s the sounds of people starting their day in the distance and the soft sound of water lapping at the shore, the docks creaking with each small wave. There’s only one ship present. The Audacity.
I wasn’t happy about sailing under Hedd, but there’s no choice now. We need to get on that ship and we need to leave Sarvi. Immediately. “We have to get off this island.”
“Agreed.” She doesn’t let go of my neck, though.
That’s fine. I’m not feeling the need to set her down right now, either. I hug her closer and press a kiss to her temple. “It will be okay. We’ll figure this out.”
“I’m in the middle of a mess of my own making. You should drop me on my ass and take off for the horizon. She has no vendetta against you.”
“No.”
Evelyn gives a choked laugh. “You just encountered a trespasser of Threshold and took off instead of offering them a spot in the C?n Annwn or killing them. Your Council would probably consider her a monster, too, so that’s two laws broken.”
She’s not wrong. The thought makes me sick to my stomach. “Will she hurt anyone in the village?” If that’s even a possibility, then I don’t have a choice. I have to put Evelyn on the Audacity and stay behind to fight her vampire ex. Even after the last conflict, it brings me no joy to think of killing that woman. If I even can.
“No. It’s not impossible, but I really don’t see it happening.” Evelyn sighs. “She’s too smart to go on a killing spree the second she arrives, and she’s too much a predator to get enjoyment out of killing people she views as beneath her. She likes a challenge. Plus, she’s intent on murdering me, which will take priority.”
Hard to say if that’s a comfort or the worst possible scenario.
“Is that Bowen of the Crimson Hag I see?” The question booms over the water and I have to fight the urge to turn around and walk away. If it wasn’t for the lethal vampire bearing down on us and my need to get Evelyn to safety, I’d simply wait for another ship.
That’s not an option, so I have to put on a good face. Hedd, captain of the Audacity, is a blustering asshole, but he’s dangerous enough to scent out weakness and exploit it. Better to give him nothing to work with.
I set Evelyn down and tuck her carefully behind me before I turn to face Hedd. He leans on the railing, a massive man with a riot of red hair, a beard that would be impressive if he spent any time taming it, and skin that seems to be perpetually sunburned. He’s a berserker, and damn near unkillable. Which is not something I’ve worried about overmuch in the past, but with my new wariness of all things C?n Annwn, I can’t help assessing him the way I would an enemy.
“We need a ride, Hedd. I heard you’re headed toward Lyari.” That’s not, strictly speaking, what Dia said, but hope springs eternal.
He eyes Evelyn at my back, but then his attention shifts as Dia moves out of the trees. I can’t see his eyes clearly at this distance, but he seems shocked. “What the fuck are you doing on land?”
I bristle at his tone, but Dia shrugs it off. “Keep your nose on your face and out of my business, Hedd. Will you give us a ride or not?”
“It wouldn’t be right to deny my fellow C?n Annwn the sea.” He sweeps an arm over his ship. “You’re more than welcome aboard. We’re heading to Lyari, but we have a hunt to finish first. Three Sisters has a mermaid infestation that needs to be dealt with. If you’re on a time crunch, I would recommend waiting a few days for the next ship to come through. You might have better luck with them.” From his tone, he doesn’t particularly want me on his ship any more than I want to be there.
Unfortunately, we don’t have much choice.
I glance at Evelyn, but she’s watching the trees Dia just exited as if expecting Lizzie to burst from them at any moment. It took us a few hours to make it to the portal from town, but we weren’t moving fast. I don’t know the full capabilities of the vampire, but I have to assume she can move at heightened speeds.
No time to waffle on this.
I turn back to Hedd. “One night on land is enough for us. We’ll take the long way around. Happy to help with the mermaid issue as well.”
“More the merrier and all that.” Hedd eyes me dubiously. “We’re about to head out, so grab your shit and be quick about it.”
“We have everything we need.”
His suspicion is a thick thing in the space between us, but he moves back and motions us forward. I catch Evelyn’s arm and speak low under my breath. “Don’t be caught alone with him if you can help it. He won’t …” I clear my throat. “He’ll just make you uncomfortable, and I’d spare you of that if I can. But the quartermaster, Nox, is good people.” I had offered them a spot on my ship a few years ago, with the intention of them serving as quartermaster once they’d earned the crew’s trust. They turned me down, saying their brand of chaos would drive me out of my mind in a few short months. They weren’t wrong, but I think I still would have preferred them over Miles.
Evelyn’s too pale, but at my warning, a familiar glint appears in her green eyes. “I can take care of myself, but thank you for the concern.” She slips out of my grip and climbs up onto the ship.
Dia snorts. “She’s not as helpless as you keep thinking she is.” She lightly smacks my arm. “But love makes fools of us all.”
“I’m not—I don’t—” I sputter into silence, and it’s just as well. Dia isn’t listening to me. She follows Evelyn on board, as nimble as someone a fraction of her age.
I cast one last look over my shoulder and then follow. Within a few minutes, the ship is easing into deeper water and the wind fills the sails. I keep my attention on the shore, ready to strike if Lizzie appears. She doesn’t.
Somehow, I doubt it’s the last we’ve seen of her.
CHAPTER 23
Evelyn
AFTER SAILING ON THE CRIMSON HAG, I THOUGHT I HAD a good handle on what it means to be one of the C?n Annwn. It turns out I was wrong. This crew is nothing like the Hag’s. Or at least like the Hag’s was under Bowen’s captaincy.
Hedd, the captain of the Audacity, is obviously threatened by Bowen’s presence, and he blusters and postures and does everything except pee on the deck to mark it as his. The crew takes their lead from him, giving us snarling comments when they bother to speak to us at all. It’s just as well. Most of them are people I would not want to meet in a dark alley.
The sole exception is the quartermaster, Nox. They’re a lean but powerfully built white person with platinum-blond hair cut short on the sides and slightly longer on top. Their pale brows give them an almost alien appearance, or that might be their superior bone structure. It’s the kind of strange one sees on runways back home.