“Everyone.” Lumina sighed as she looked at Len. “Her head was struck during the confrontation. She has not woken since. I have tried everything.”
Dyna sank into the chair beside the bed, her mind reeling. Her heart saddened for Len. To lose Novo that way, and Bouvier was gone, too. She saideveryone. That must have been how Elon left—by faking his own death.
“If they died, who brought Len back?” Dyna asked.
“Sai did,” Lumina answered brightly. “He saved her and brought her to Tarn. It was how he joined.”
That wassuspicious. Tarn was very distrustful, and it was unlike him to welcome a stranger who allegedly helped his adopted daughter. Losing all his spies must have forced him to make an exception to fill the role. But Dyna had an unpleasant feeling whenever she looked at the quiet man.
“What did Commander Von think of Sai?”
Lumina’s brow furrowed. “Who is Von? Do you mean Commander Olsson?”
Ah. Well, that answered some of her questions. Lumina must have joined after he defected.
“Von used to command the Raiders. There was a skirmish before I left, and some were lost.” Dyna rubbed her temples, making her voice crack. “My injuries from the battle have made me forget who fell that day. The faces I expected to see here haven’t come to greet me yet, and I fear that…”
Lumina’s expression softened with sympathy. “Well…” She lowered her voice as she glanced at the door’s round window. “They may be in the brig. I heard there were prisoners there.”
Dyna smiled, and this time it was genuine. “You’re probably right.” She motioned to the pot. “You’re brewing an elixir for her nourishment, right? Add mugwort to stimulate her brain. That should encourage her to wake.”
“Oh! I had not thought of that.” Lumina turned away to sort through the glass bottles on the shelves.
Dyna leaned down and whispered in Len’s ear. “I know why you won’t wake up, but I hold too much respect for you to let you waste away like this.Get up, Len. And make the one who took Novo from you pay.” She got to her feet. “Well, I will leave you to it then.”
“Oh, all right.” Lumina nodded.
Exiting the cabin, no one paid attention to Dyna as she wandered the deck. She passed the galley, hearing the Raiders inside sing some bawdy song as they made a mess in the kitchen. No wonder the food was awful.
Dyna made sure no one was watching before descending the steep steps into the lower deck. It was dark, the gray light from above hardly illuminating the barrels of cargo. Something thunked on the floor, as if dropped orsomeonebumped into it. Dyna held still, listening. There were no other sounds but the creak of the ship as it swayed on the waves. She went quickly, checking over her shoulder constantly until she reached the door to the brig. The rank air hit her first, making her stomach heave.
Every cell was empty except for one in the back.
A bulky form was slumped against the wall in the shadows, the tip of a horn catching the limited light coming from the single window.
“Sorren.” Dyna ran to him. The Minotaur blinked at her blearily, and his cracked lips twitched. His fur was matted and patching, his ribs protruding. They had starved him. “That cruel—” She bit back her curse. “Sorren, can you hear me?”
Reaching in her cloak, she pulled out the set of cell keys that she had nicked from Tarn’s cabin. She inserted each key into the lock until one clicked. The cell door creaked loudly, and she rushed inside.
“Here, have a drink.” She held a waterskin to his mouth. Sorren guzzled down the water and coughed wretchedly. “Slowly now.”
He breathed heavily, his head lolling. “Dyna?” he called, his rough voice weak.
“Yes, it’s me. I need you to stand. Tarn has left the ship. Now is the perfect time to run.”
“I can’t…” he rasped. “There is no running.”
Sorren’s hooves jerked, and his witch bangles clinked, reminding her that they were trapped in more ways than one. And she didn’t have keys for those.
“The Crystal Core,” Dyna said. “Once I break it, you can run. You’re getting out of here, Sorren.”
He scoffed faintly, almost smiling. “I must be near death to hallucinate of freedom.”
“You’re not dreaming.” Dyna took his face. “I am real.”
His dark eyes blinked at her until they cleared, and he took several gasping breaths. “Dyna?” His voice cracked. “You’re really here.”
“I am.”
