“Rosamund,” he chastised.
“Your pet is not very good at listening,” Ximena said. “Did you think I would allow you to continue on after disrespecting me?”
I fought the urge to roll my eyes. People called me dramatic, but only because they hadn’t met Ximena.
“I meant no disrespect,” Bash said.
I hated this. Hated hearing him try to avoid conflict with her. He was better than that, and it made him sound weak.
“You told me she was nothing, and yet what is that on your finger?” Her voice rose an octave as the skies in the east turned a dark gray. “On hers?”
Thunder boomed in the distance as Koinu leapt into the air, a mournful bellow coming from him. It felt like a warning.
“Hold steady!” Flynn shouted.
Water splashed as Koinu went back into the sea. Above us, our sky was blue, but fifteen feet away, the sky was turning as dark as night.
“We are drifting,” Emille said.
Something hard pushed into the Wraith, and I caught myself on the ledge to keep my balance. Blackbeard was barely phased, eyes trained on the horizon.
“What was that?” Oscar asked.
Just then, Koinu reappeared, hugging the Wraith and earning a groaning sound from the ship.
“He’s trying to keep us out of her territory,” Dilly whispered, awe in the way her voice fell.
“Five minutes,” Oscar announced.
Five minutes till this gamble paid off, and we never had to go anywhere near Mallorca again.
“Cowards!” Ximena shouted.
She appeared in a flurry of black feathers just as I remembered her. Long golden red hair floating in air, her perfectly symmetrical and just right angular face twisted in rage. The first time I met her, she’d charmed me until Blackbeard knocked some sense into me. That he sat in front of me now, growling, made me wonder if he was a sort of guardian after all. Just one who hated everyone except me.
“You said she was nothing!” Ximena fumed, cheeks red.
The three cormorants flanked her and transformed into three beautiful women in flowing dresses.
“They are beautiful!” Kit said, voice low.
I slapped a hand over his mouth while still keeping my pistol trained on Ximena. The ship lurched once more as Koinu fought to keep our course. The islands on the other side of Ximena’s territory were closing in, making our path narrow to avoid shallow rocks that would leave us stranded.
A gamble. This was all a gamble.
“I lied to you,” Bash said. “She was never nothing. She has and will always be everything.”
For a second, Ximena’s face was half-human, half-bird as lightning flashed ahead.
“While I appreciate the sentiment towards my sister, maybe not rubbing it in the angry bird woman’s face is the right answer?” Oscar whispered.
“You have made a grave mistake, Sebastian Flynn,” Ximena said, voice eerily calm in the wake of the storm of clouds and thunder around her. “My waters will be the death of you, and any of your descendants should they stray close enough. Be sure it will be a slow and painful death.”
“Ten feet!” Oscar shouted.
I didn’t much appreciate the smile on Ximena’s face or the one on the three women behind her.
The Wraith shook and groaned as Koinu launched himself into the side, and I could have sworn I heard the sound of splintering wood. Honestly, though, sinking was preferable to losing another foot of sea.
