Bardo tried to correct us, but his oar smacked against the hull, echoing into the bay.
A shout rose from the beach.
“Gods damn it.” Aiden forced me to sit. “Get us out of here!” he barked at the bone-rattlers, who immediately complied.
I held on as the boat slowly swiveled to point back toward the passage. But I kept my gaze fixed on the closest ship.
A few guards clambered up onto a catapult platform while another loaded a barrel into the sling.
“Aiden . . .” I said through clattering teeth.
The catapult launched its barrel, a fuse sparking on one end.
“Aiden!” I screamed.
He turned around just as the barrel exploded behind us.
And set the sea on fire.
Chapter 5
Aiden
Kiera screamingmy name destroyed my calm, faster than the wave of heat and light racing toward the boat.
I shouted as the burning oil skimmed over the water. “Row faster! Get us out of range!”
Yarina and Nikella joined the bone-rattlers at the oars. The flames petered out inches from our stern. But the guards were already loading another barrel.
Fucking Four, I had nothing to fight back with except Stavrik’s bow and arrows. Useless against oily fire. No doubt Renwell had known that when he mounted gods-damned catapults to his ships.
I had expected something nefarious, but not this. My failure in Aquinon went deeper than I thought.
“Incoming!” I shouted as another burning barrel arced toward us.
Yarina grunted out a string of curses behind me.
The barrel came much closer this time, exploding just to the left of our boat. Nikella hissed as a few drops of burning oil singed her cloak, but she kept rowing.
Kiera seized the bucket Yarina had given her in jest and hauled in sea water to toss at the flames trying to eat through the boat.
“Water won’t work!” I shouted as I stamped out any drops that made it inside. “Suffocate it!”
Nikella and Roark tried to keep their oar from dipping into the burning oil while the other two worked double time.
We rounded the bend, leaving a smoke trail, and I breathed a sigh of relief. The catapults had looked short range, judging by the length of their arms. Even mounted on a swivel, they couldn’t reach us around these stony bends unless they moved the ship from dry dock.
A shout rose above me. Gods damn it, therewereguards up there. Torches flickered to life along the rim of the canyon.
I nocked an arrow into place and aimed upward. “Kiera, switch with Yarina.”
I didn’t shift my gaze, but I felt them scrambling to obey. At least Kiera could followoneof my orders.
An arrow slammed into the bottom of the boat, inches from Bardo.
“Fucking Myn!” he shouted, pulling harder on the oar.
I rotated, spotting a guard peeking over the edge. I fired just as a wave rocked the boat. My arrow went wide.
