“Why?” I asked. “He won’t approve?”
“He is protective of you,” he said. “He thinks I will lead you into dangerous waters.”
“Will you?”
Now he met my eyes like an anchor in the deep. The waves went quiet, and the winds grew still.
“Yes,” he breathed. “Unapologetically, I will.”
There was no ship. There was no crew. There was only a man and a woman in a cabin on the sea.
“I know how to swim,” I said quietly.
Hels’ hooks. What was I doing?
“I need you on deck for a while longer.”
“To serve the Ship of Spells.”
“Just so.”
“And after that?”
The grin tugged his mouth to one side.
“After that, I have no plan.”
I was sure it was almost the truth.
“Consider this a booking, then,” I said. “I’ll get you in my b—book before you know it.”
Fog my mother. I’d almost said bed.
Clutching the journal to my chest, I turned and slipped out of the cabin, leaving the thunder of my heart behind.
Sister.
The next morning, the chimeric was gone.
My hands were sparking, my scars glowing, so clearly, the problem wasn’t with me. When I dipped my fingers into the sea, the runes shot straight down, sending light-filled bubbles up in their wake.
Sister wood, sister rune, sister of tangles, defeated, consumed.
Oh Forge, not again.
“Coming up, Blue.”
I looked up, surprised to see Fahr hauling the line that brought me on deck. He grabbed my hand and did not wince as he pulled me over the side.
The three ironmages had gathered on the main, and to watch them cast was like watching a theater. They moved, they swayed, they sent incantations across the deck like arcane music.
I glanced to the pup, where Thanavar stood, arms folded across his chest. Suns, I had so many wylde, rushing thoughts now, and I didn’t know what it meant. Months ago, I’d wanted to kill him, but now, I wanted to fall into his currents and drink his dark wine. My mother wove schemes for him in my bed, and for once, I couldn’t argue. It was where I wanted to be.
I tore my eyes away. Tonight couldn’t come soon enough. He’d promised another lesson tonight.
I leaned into Fahr.
“What are they doing?” I whispered.
