“I don’t know who that is, Sol. If you just come with me, we can explain??—”
Sol.
Her jaw tightened, the sound of her name on a foreign mouth sending shivers through her bones. “How do you know my name?Who are you?”
“Come and we will explain??—”
“There’s no way I’m going with you.”
Sol sprang to her feet and fumbled her way to the beach where she had been what seemed like years ago. Before she could jump from the docks onto the comfort of the waiting sand, the man threw his arms around her waist.
“PLEASE,” she begged, kicking against him. Her feet were off the ground, and with a sigh, he threw her over his shoulder.
“Irene would’ve had a sword out by now,” he mumbled.
Sol didn’t know if it was the adrenaline or if she did it out of spite, but without giving herself time for regret, she shoved her entire weight sideways, throwing the man off balance and sending them both tumbling into the frigid, hungry ocean.
Three
A THING OF NIGHTMARES
THE CRASHINTOthe water awoke all her senses as she kicked upward to breathe. With a gasp, Sol swam to the nearest ship, the moonlight her only guide in the sky. Waves pushed her until she finally grabbed a stray rope, then secured it around her wrist while she gathered her wits.
Perhaps she’d be lucky, and the assailant wouldn’t know how to swim. Maybe he would sink to the bottom of the Helian Ocean, and though she would have to process killing a person, at least she saved herself.
A small laugh escaped her trembling lips. She outsmarted a kidnapper. Lora and Leo would never believe her.
“I would've let Alix come after you had I known you wanted to go for a swim.”
Sol whined and hugged the ship, the small glimmer of triumph fading. “Please, please just go away.”
The man laughed and swam up beside her. “I guess this is our fault for not explaining ourselves sooner.” He spat out water. “But in our defense, you didn't give us the chance.”
“Cas?!” A female voice resonated from the docks above them.
“Down here, Nina,” the man—Cas—called out. Steps vibrated along the wood before the delicate, red-haired woman peeked her head over the edge of the railing, scanning the waters for them.
Nina sighed, relief flooding her features. “Please tell me you can swim,” she said, her eyes focused on Sol.
In response, Sol swam away from them.
“I don’t think so.” Cas grabbed her shirt, then her waist once again. Sol made to fight him off, but this time his grip was rock solid.
Sol stilled. Something was different about the sensation. Instead of his arm warming her, it was colder than the water itself. She looked down and for a moment thought perhaps this whole encounter was a nightmare.
Seeping from his arm were tendrils of black, swirling ropes, securing her tightly against his torso. No—as Sol looked closer, they weren't ropes at all, but shadows, dyeing the blue ocean black as if paint seeped from around them. The moonlight directly above shone on the darkening water, and Sol gasped as the spirals of ink shimmered like a billion stars winking in the night sky. Speechless, she ran a hand across the water’s surface. The mist clung to her skin as she lifted her fingers in front of her. It danced in the air, breaking apart into hundreds of tiny droplets before floating away on the breeze.
Although logic told her she should be scared, a sense of wonder filled her instead. She turned to look at the man who held her. “What are you?”
Cas only gave her a small smile before jerking his head toward the rope ladder hanging from the dock a few yards away. “The ocean is unsafe at night. Let’s talk outside of it.”
“Cas...”
Sol looked up to find Nina staring ahead to the horizon beyond them, her loose hair almost brushing against the crashing waves as they rose to meet her.
“Get the fuck out of the water, Xanthos,” another voice called from above, the woman named Sawyer.
Sol couldn’t see her, but the seriousness in her tone made her follow Nina’s line of vision.
