Growing up in perpetually frozen, landlocked Sturmfrost didn’t exactly provide much opportunity for swimming lessons. And death by drowning seems like anawfulway to go.
But Anassa just lifts her head and plants her feet. It’s herI’m right, you’re wronglook, and it’s clearly convinced Cratos, who’s nudging at Stark’s arm until it’s slung over his nose.Get on, that means.
“Can direwolves even swim with all that fur?” I demand.
“They… can,” Stark admits, scratching at Cratos’s ear. His hesitation implies some negative previous experience. Great.
“That doesn’t mean they should!” I protest.
“Doesn’t it?” Noemi asks. “We need to get to the island.”
The debate starts up again. I am consistently on the side ofhey, let’s not jump into the sea and drown. I’d really rather live a little longer, please?
But apparently, I’m outvoted.
“You can’toutvoteme,” I snap, only partially joking. “I’m your queen.”
“I think we just did,” Venna says.
“We can bring our riders safely to shore. If the island is accessible only to Bonded, this may be our only way in,” Anassa insists.
I drag my hand over my face. “I’m going to kill all of you.”
“Not if the sea gets us first,” Venna says very deliberately to piss me off. I smack at her as she passes me, and she chuckles.
Lucien is lingering to the side, and I shoot him a look. “If you sail this boat away while we’re on the island…”
He puts a hand on his hip. “It would sort of defeat the point of sending you in there to retrieve another Tear if I just left you here to die, no?”
I narrow my eyes. “And my crown?”
Lucien leans against the railing. “I hardly think you should wear it swimming, do you? Enjoy the water; it should be refreshing after all that vomit.”
Scoffing, I turn to Anassa. She has a smug look on her face, her eyes blinking lazily like she’s just killed the biggest deer in the bunch. She loves getting her way.
“Mm-hmm,” I grumble, and start stripping my outer layers. The less clothing, the less water weight I’ll have to fight against to stay mounted.
Cold air lifts the hairs all over my body, and the mist immediately saps my heat as I rigidly climb up Anassa’s side.
“I hate this,” I tell Anassa as she approaches the railing. The others all mount up and gather at the edge of the deck now. “I hate this, and I blame you,” I tell her. “I think you just want to get off this fucking ship.”
She snorts at me.
Stark and Cratos approach. His eyes catch mine, and his intention ripples over the bond. It isn’t quite words, but it feels like,I’m with you.
“You better not drop me,” I whisper in Anassa’s ear. “I plan on dying in a much more heroic way.”
She huffs an amused breath, and then we’re launching over the railing. There’s a brief moment when we’re both flying through the air. I tighten my grip on her fur. We hit the water, and icy cold shrieks over my nerves.
The air rushes from my lungs, and I’m convinced I’m about to pass out.
Then the salt stings my eyes, and my mouth floods with the overwhelming, awful taste of it. I’m choking and gasping back to myself.
I lean into Anassa, bracing against wave after wave, my hands locking up on her fur. Her powerful muscles move through the water.
I can’t tell how fast we are or aren’t moving. As soon as one wave passes, leaving my eyes burning and my lungs crying out for air, another hits me like a suffocating blow. There’s no relief from the onslaught.
My mind goes as numb as my body, slowing by the second.
