At least he seems to have recovered from his encounter with his mother. Then he turns to me and lets out a strangled grunt.
“Thatdoes not look healthy.”
My stomach sinks as I’m sure he’s about to point out the gaping hole inside me, but he’s focusing on Torin.
“You’d better start working on that bond, bud, or it’ll turn to dust by the look of things.”
My cheeks heat as guilt pinches my stomach. I really should have spoken to Torin about our bond before now. By this point, it feels like it’s this great, heavy thing sitting between us that’s more and more awkward to broach with every day that passes.
“We’ll talk about it later,” Torin rasps, squeezing my shoulder.
I’m almost annoyed by how I feel my body relax at his touch, but I’m more grateful than anything. There are enough uncomfortable sensations going on inside me these days that I’ll take any reprieve I can get.
Chapter 26
Reva
Twenty minutes later and we finally reach a point in the city where Jack announces our lift will pick us up. I don’t realise at that moment quite how literally he means the words until he spins me around with a grin on his face.
In the middle of the street, there’s a huge basket the size of a cart with thick ropes trailing from it onto the street. Movement on the other side captures my attention and I step closer just in time to see a giant wing shifting and a long, thin tail that waves lazily through the air.
“Is that—”
“Our ride back to the ship.”
“I-it’s a gryphon,” I sputter. “This is your way of traveling ‘in style’?”
“Yup.”
“How much does this thing cost?” Torin asks while I gape at both him while Jack simply shrugs.
“We’re not the ones footing the bill, so it hardly matters.”
“I didn’t even know gryphons were real. I thought they were all just storybook monsters, like pixies and elves.”
All three of them share a look, and my eyes widen. “What? Are you saying—”
Aster’s the first one to break, his lips twisting into a grin as he silently laughs, and then the other two join in.
“Yeah, yeah. Chuckle it up.” I roll my eyes. “We’re seriously riding in this thing?”
“We are,” Jack replies, gesturing to the basket sitting on the ground beside its furry body.
“And it’s... safe?”
“As safe as sailing on a pirate ship crewed by beast-borne devils,” Jack says with a smile. “Now, hop on before anyone notices it’s missing.”
I’m already climbing gingerly into the basket while the gryphon lifts its huge head and gives a regal chuff. I’m already at the bottom, clutching my bag to my chest when his words sink in.
“Hang on ‘before anyone notices’? What do you mean before—”
But we’re already launching into the air, the gryphon’s powerful wings flapping as we rise higher and higher. The basket sways from side to side while the wind whistles around us, and I slump back, closing my eyes.
“So, we’re heading back to the ship then?” I yell over the sound of the wind as my hair whips me in the face.
Torin nods, shifting closer to me so that his body is blocking the worst of the wind. “Deadwood Cove isn’t somewhere you can go without having a plan. And Cap would have our balls if we headed there without him knowing about it.”
I nod, leaning back so that my head is resting on the hard basket behind me. A strange heaviness has taken over my limbs and it feels difficult to keep myself upright.
