“No backing out of it now, Avie.” I leaned up and bit her juicy ass cheek that was just there, right above my face. I was a simple man, who enjoyed simple pleasures. “Though I’m happy to climb down and back up again if you want.”
“I’m going to dump your horny ass in the ocean if you don’t hurry it up, Taeme,” Vox grumbled from the rowboat below.
Avie’s cheeks pinkened, and I grinned.No regrets.“Grumpy bastard.”
Lierick and Iker were already doing something on the bow of the boat, and as soon as I slid up onto the deck, I grabbed the bags to take them below. Stepping down into a galley, I placed the bags on the long bench seats. Avie was wobbly, so I held her hand as she descended, carefully carrying Quarry.
“Let’s take the captain’s cabin. The three of us can share.”
Opening an empty drawer, I helped her place Quarry inside. It would be a temporary nest for him while his wing healed, though he was already looking peevish about being forced to rest.
It’ll be okay. I’ll take you up on deck as well. You won’t be stuck down here forever. Use the time to heal, so you can fly with the sea birds,I told him, and he fluffed up, letting out a disgruntled noise.Don’t worry. I can’t do it yet, but one day, I’m going to snap Eugene’s arm for you.
That made my little murder bird happier.
A trickle of trepidation slid down my spine, but it wasn’t my own. I turned to my beautiful mate and pulled her into my arms. Holding her close like this, I could feel the gentle shake in her bones.
“I would never let anything happen to you. I love you, Avalon Halhed, with every single cell in my body, and I’ll stand between you and every person in Ebrus who’d harm you.”
She stroked her cheek across my chest, snuggling closer for comfort, even if she didn’t recognize that’s what she was doing. “I know. But who’ll protect you? Who’ll protect Vox and Lierick? My friends? The Goddess picked the wrong person. I can’t even save myself, let alone the world.”
I doubted the Goddess had ever been more right in her choice of champion, but confidence in her abilities was something Avalon would have to gather for herself. “You’ve already saved Vox, and me, and we’re two of the most stubborn bastards in all of Ebrus. The rest of the country will be a piece of cake.”
She laughed, holding me tightly. The boat lurched, and I guided her back up to the deck. We all stood at the rail, watching the cliff side get smaller and smaller as we set out into the eerie darkness of the open ocean, into a future that was just as murky.
Four
Avalon
Ipuked over the railing for what felt like the seventieth time that morning. Apparently, I wasn’t a natural seafarer. Vox was watching me with concern on his face, and I felt a small band of air around my ankle, like he was worried I was going to heave so badly that I’d propel myself over the edge of the boat.
As bile burned up my throat, and I jerked against the smooth wooden rail, I acknowledged it was a possibility.
Everyone else was fine. They’d all been sailing from place to place since they could walk, but I’d lived in the fucking mountains, about as solid a land lover as you could get. I wasn’t made for bouncing over waves.
Even the wordbouncingmade me want to vomit.
Hayle had come and held my hair, until I’d shooed everyone away so they’d stop hovering. I could be miserable and have the semblance of privacy.
At least the fish would be happy.
“Avalon?”
I groaned as Lierick appeared beside me. “What?” I snapped. Being seasick made me grumpy.
“You, uh, seem pretty miserable right now.”
“You think?” My growled response was punctuated with a noise that should only be made by a dying bullock.
The fucker laughed. Oh, he was lucky I was too miserable to ball punch him right now. “I’m sorry you feel sick. Uh, we have this trick we use on the children in Ozryn who suffer like this. But it involves letting me inside your mind completely. I need to basically convince your brain that it’s used to the motion of the boat already. It’s usually only done by parents or partners. Being inside someone’s head like that is… intimate.” He cleared his throat. “Although, I think you’ll naturally acclimate to the motion of the boat in another twelve or so hours, if you want to ride it out.”
I looked at him over my shoulder, regretting it immediately as my stomach lurched. “Are you going to fry anything while you’re in there?”
He looked offended. “Of course not.”
My stomach lurched again. This was so much worse than the ferry between Ovl and Boemouthe. This was even worse than that one time I’d been so desperately hungry, I’d eaten a meat pie I’d found behind the kitchen scrap bucket, which had given me food poisoning. I’d thought I was going to die that week.
“Let’s do it.”
