Sunset.
They were coming.
Chapter Twenty-Three
LILY
The stars were just beginning to appear when Cort found me again.
I was making my way toward the spot where I usually slipped over the side and into the water. My small canvas bag was slung across my body, packed hours ago with everything I owned: the few coins I'd saved, the knife I kept hidden under my mattress, the scrap of fabric from my mother's dress that I'd carried with me since the day I ran. It wasn't much. But it was mine.
My heart was pounding with anticipation, my skin flushed with heat that had nothing to do with the evening air. They were down there. Waiting. Ready to take me away forever.
I just had to get to the railing.
"Going somewhere?" His voice came from the shadows near the main mast, low and taunting, and I froze. Cort stepped into the dim light of the lanterns, his brown eyes fixed on me with an intensity that made my stomach clench. His gaze dropped to the bag at my hip, and his eyes narrowed. He wasn't suspicious anymore. He was certain.
"Just getting some air," I said, keeping my voice steady, my body angled toward the railing even as I faced him. "It's a warm night."
"With a packed bag?" he asked, one eyebrow rising, his lips curving into a knowing smirk. "Interesting way to get some air."
My blood ran cold.
"I don't know what you mean," I said, but the words came out weaker than I intended, my composure cracking at the edges, my hands trembling at my sides. He smiled, and there was nothing friendly in it—just predatory satisfaction, the look of a hunter who'd finally cornered his prey.
"I think you do," he said, stopping a few feet away, close enough that I could see the gleam in his eyes, the triumph written across his face. "I've been trying to figure it out for weeks. What was different about you. Why you smelled wrong. Why every alpha on this ship seemed to notice you even when you tried so hard to be invisible." He inhaled deeply, his nostrils flaring, and his smile widened, his teeth glinting in the lantern light. "Pre-heat. That's what I'm smelling. Your suppressants are failing, aren't they... omega?"
The word hit me like a physical blow. I took a step back, my hand finding the railing behind me, my heart hammering so hard I could barely breathe.
"You're wrong," I said, but my voice shook, betraying me, my fingers gripping the railing so tight the wood bit into my palms.
"No," he said, shaking his head slowly, his eyes never leaving mine, triumph written across his face as he took another step closer. "I'm not. I knew there was something off about you from the moment you stepped on this ship. Too quiet. Too careful. Too good at disappearing." He took another step closer, and I pressed myself against the railing, feeling the wood dig into my back. "An omega, hiding on a ship full of alphas. That takes balls, I'll give you that. Or desperation."
"Stay away from me," I warned, my voice coming out stronger now, anger rising to replace the fear, my chin lifting in defiance. He laughed, the sound harsh and ugly in the quiet night air, his head thrown back with cruel amusement.
"Or what?" he asked, spreading his arms wide, mockery dripping from every word, his smile twisting into something ugly. "You'll scream? Call for help? Who's going to help you, little omega? The captain?" He snorted, shaking his head, his brown eyes glittering with malice. "He'd sell you himself if he knew what you were. Omegas are worth their weight in gold on the black market. More, if they're pretty." His eyes raked down my body, hungry and assessing, making my skin crawl. "And you're very pretty."
I wanted to run. Every instinct I'd honed over eight months of hiding was screaming at me to flee, to find a dark corner and make myself small and invisible until the danger passed.
I was done running.
"What do you want?" I asked, forcing the words out through gritted teeth, my hands clenching into fists at my sides, nails biting into my palms.
"Smart girl," he said approvingly, his smile turning oily as he moved closer still, close enough that I could smell the ale on his breath, see the pores on his skin. "I want what I've wanted since the first time I saw you. But I'm a reasonable man. I'm willing to negotiate."
"Negotiate," I repeated flatly, disgust curdling in my stomach, my lip curling with contempt.
"The captain would pay good money for information like this," he said, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial murmur, his eyes gleaming with greed as he leaned in. "Enough to set me up for life. But I could be convinced to keep my mouth shut." He reached out, and before I could move, his fingers were trailingdown my cheek, rough and possessive, his touch making my skin crawl. "For a price."
Something inside me snapped. Not fear. Not the urge to flee or hide or make myself smaller. Something else entirely—something fierce and wild and utterly unafraid. I slapped his hand away, hard enough that the crack echoed across the deck, hard enough that I saw shock flash across his face.
"Don't touch me," I snarled, and my voice came out wrong, deeper and more dangerous than I'd ever heard it, vibrating with fury. "Don't ever touch me again."
His face twisted with surprise, then anger, his features contorting into something ugly. He grabbed my wrist, yanking me toward him, his grip bruising, his fingers like iron bands around my arm.
"Listen here, you little—" he started, his voice a low growl, his face inches from mine.
"No," I interrupted, and this time I didn't just hear the change in my voice—I felt it. Felt the fury rising up from somewhere deep inside me, somewhere that had been asleep for eight months and was now fully, terrifyingly awake. "You listen. I am claimed. I belong to something older and more powerful and more terrifying than you could possibly imagine. And if you don't let go of me right now..." I leaned in, close enough to see the flicker of uncertainty in his eyes, close enough to watch his confidence waver. "They will drag you into the deepest trench in the ocean and tear you apart so slowly you'll beg for death before they're done."
