She stopped bristling a little, then nodded. “Or you two could swim, and I’ll sail right up to their canoe?”
Alexios stopped praying, or cursing, whichever one he was doing in his language.
“Makes sense. Let us take the things with us that we can. We’ll swim as far out and around as possible.” It was killing me to agree with her plan, to know that she was going alone, but I’d made a vow to let her lead me. I hadn’t expected to be put to the test quite so soon, but it made sense. “I don’t want to leave you, but I will.”
She handed me the bag, and Alexios came up beside me, stuffing everything else into it. He handed the dried fruit to Rada, who took it without a word. He drank a sip of water, then handed it to her as well. She drank, then offered it to me, but I shook my head.
“You drink it. We can forage for ourselves once we get to the shore. Who knows when they’ll give you food or water.”
“Where will they take you?” Alexios broke in, his voice raw. I was sure it wasn’t from the ash in the air. The poor Beta had gone from a placid, smiling man to a broken one in the space of a day. I remembered the feeling well.
She answered, but didn’t face him. “I’m sure they’ll take me to the volcano first. But I’m counting on them taking me to the other Omegas for a while.”
“Why? A while?” I was confused. I pulled my sword, knowing I’d need to swim with it tied to me, or leave it in the ocean. I couldn’t bring myself to leave it.
“They sacrifice on the new moon, or at least they used to. When the moon is at its ebb. That’s in about two weeks.”
Alexios made a sound close to an Alpha’s growl. “He plans tobreedyou. You think we can just let you leave? I swore to the Goddess to protect you! I am not about to—” She rocked the boat suddenly, sending me and Alexios to our knees. Before I knew what was happening, she’d grabbed my sword and swung it atthe fool. His look of shock only lasted until she’d whacked him in the temple with the side of the pommel, knocking him out.
She didn’t bother catching him, but did check to make sure he was still breathing before she nodded. “Tie him to the empty water jug, and he’ll float. Hurry.”
“Yes, my goddess,” I replied with a salute, doing just that.
“Goran, listen. Kellin and Lachlan should be on their way to the Omegas soon, coming from the south, by way of Starvale. When they arrive, start taking them off the island. I’m not the priority, do you understand? The Omegas come first.”
Everything in me screamed out to deny her command, but I knew what I had to say. “I understand. I love you, Rada.”
Her lips curled into a soft smile. “I love you, too, Goran. Now go.”
I blinked. “You’ve never said that before.” I sounded like an idiot.
She glared at me, like she wanted to call me one. “If you want to hear it again, start swimming.”
By the time I slid overboard, dragging the unconscious Beta behind me, the fires on the long skiff were visible. I swam with the current away from the island at first, hoping we looked like jetsam on the waves.
Whether the ruse worked or not, I wasn’t sure. But a large wave knocked into us, waking the Beta just as the ocean’s stronger current began to pull us farther from Pict, and we both started swimming for our lives.
And for hers.
RADA
Iwas pretty sure I’d done a good enough job hiding my pain. Not the pain of Alexios’s betrayal; that seeped from my fucking pores like Haviran toad poison. But after I’d made love with Goran, things had changed.
The fire that had torn at me was back, as if the proximity to its owner melted the numbing ice Skadi had given me. By the time the Pictish priests reached my boat, the cramping in my abdomen had gotten so bad, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to stand.
Luckily, I didn’t have to. Three of them jumped into my boat without invitation and wrestled me to my feet. They were Alphas, all of them, but they wore masks over their faces so the only way I could tell was their burly physiques and the acrid scents wafting off them.
Were they feral? They smelled a bit like it, but their actions were quick and decisive as they tied up to the boat, secured me, and checked the cabin, not one of them so much as sniffing at me.
The largest of them snarled something at me in a language I didn’t know, which I assumed was Pictish. I pulled away from the ones holding my arms, holding up my hands in a gesture of incomprehension.
He grabbed my wrists and wrapped a length of rough hemp rope around them in another unmistakable, unspoken sign, then dragged me over to the canoe. I was very glad I’d sent everything of value or use with Goran, because instead of taking any of the boat’s supplies, the Alphas dumped everything into a pile in the center of the hull.
They yelled at me when I resisted giving them my cloak, but after the leader cut long strips in it, ruining almost all the pockets, and found nothing, he let me keep it. They made me take off Alexios’s shoes and threw them overboard, one of them snarling at me when I hissed. I had to remove Dustin’s spare trousers and lift Goran’s shirt to prove I was fully unarmed, but not one of them looked at me with lust, and they allowed me to dress again.
Before he stepped back to the canoe, the shortest of them threw a small stone on top of all the ship’s piled-up rigging and the wooden bowls and cups from the hold. It lit on fire like magic and burned unusually hot as we pushed away.
I supposed it could’ve been magic, but I saw the Alpha pocket a small mechanism that had an odd side plate. A striker? I brushed against him and managed to slide it into one of my better concealed side pockets. There was something small in that pocket already. Pebbles? I wasn’t sure, and I didn’t have time to peek, with so many eyes on me.
