“They’re fine, everyone’s fine. The other ship, however…”
“Good.” Eira closed her eyes and took another slow breath. “Do you remember the last time you pulled me from a magical, frozen state?”
“As if I’d ever forget.” Cullen’s arms tightened briefly. He held her as tightly as he had that day in the room following the second trial, the day she had learned her parents weren’t who she’d thought they were. “No matter how far you go, I will always be ready to pull you back the moment you need.”
Her eyes fluttered closed and Eira sighed softly. A lifeline. A North Star. Not a shackle holding her in place, or a high wall surrounding her, but a dotted line on a map to guide her from the brink—a tether to grab before she toppled over the edge of being lost forever.
Eira pulled away. Their eyes locked. Something had shifted—been shifting. Yet, in this breath, it was all the more palpable and real. His fingers pressed into her skin a little deeper. The air was a little thinner. Every swell of her chest against his reminded her just how close they were.
Kiss me, her heart whispered, loud enough that for a moment she thought she’d spoken the words aloud. His eyes darted to her lips, as if she really had.
“Cullen, I—” She didn’t have a chance to finish, her words stolen with a kiss that sent a burning rush all the way down to her toes.
A gasp escaped her as the familiar taste of him consumed her senses. The feeling of him was like a return home at long last—somewhere she once knew, yet had been changed by time and distance. A place that she couldn’t see quite the same as she once had, yet also remained imprinted on her heart. His hands movedto her face as her fingers curled around his clothes, balling into fists and pulling him closer, were that possible.
Time held its breath.
His lips parted, allowing her entry, and a gasp escaped. She wasn’t sure who it belonged to, nor did she care. Cullen’s hands continued to move; his fingers were now in her hair. Perhaps it was the rush of yet another near-death experience. Perhaps it was the tension that they had been building with every spar on the deck. With every look across hammocks in the dim light belowdecks. Every brush of their thighs as they ate… Building, and building,and building. All the way back to that night in Champion Village when it took everything they had to hold back.
But the things she would let him do to her now if he only asked…
He pulled away abruptly.
An unbecoming groan escaped her. “Why are you always the sensible one?”
“One of us must be.” He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, no doubt one that he had just pulled out of place. The movement was gentle, a stark contrast to him leaning to rasp in her ear, “I doubt Adela would want me locking the door and taking you on her floor.”
A whole fresh wave of heat rushed through Eira atthat. But it was doused by better sense prevailing.
Eira went to stand. Every muscle in her body was exhausted. Doing anything more than being putty in his palms and kissing was too much, given the pain that jolted between her joints. She stumbled.
“Are you sure you should be standing?” Cullen was at her side, one arm around her back. Gripping her arm closest to him to support her. “You could?—”
“I’m fine, just exhausted.” She gave him a weary smile in an attempt to reassure him. It was hard not to touch his faceand get lost in his embrace once more. But… “I want to see what happened.” She could only indulge so many seconds of escapism.
“I could carry you,” he offered.
Eira considered it. She felt far shakier on her feet than ever before. She hadn’t been aware of how much magic she’d been using in the thick of it. But now that it was gone, and the rush was leaving her…it felt like she had gone five days without sleeping, running nonstop the entire time.
“Just help me, I want to walk on my own as much as possible. I can do it,” she decided. No matter how tempting the idea of being cradled in his arms was, she wanted to move on her own two feet.
If the roles were reversed, Adela would walk. So Eira would, too.
Cullen didn’t fight her. He tightened his arm around her middle and she leveraged his support as they stepped out of Adela’s cabin and onto the deck, covered in the aftermath of battle.
25
The first thing her eyes were drawn to was an orange glow in the dark night sea.
The ocean was burning.
No… Not the ocean. The remnants of another vessel smoldered as it was slowly being consumed by the churning waves.
Opposite the entrance to Adela’s cabin was a circle of pirates. Eira couldn’t see what was at their center. But if Adela was among them then the situation was in hand.
Eira scanned the deck for her friends. She knew Cullen had said everyone was all right. She doubted he would’ve spent time kissing her if they hadn’t been…but she was still relieved the moment her eyes landed on the small group that had become her entire world. She didn’t have to go far to reach them; they were perched on one of the two staircases on either side of the entrance to Adela’s cabin that led up to the quarterdeck.
They were bruised and scuffed. A thin trail of blood ran from Olivin’s temple down to the tip of his chin. But he seemed more focused on Yonlin—who was pushing his elder brother’s fretting away firmly enough that Eira wasn’t concerned for his well-being. The one who seemed in the worst shape among them was Noelle.
