Erinna thrashed against the hands that pulled her deeper, trying desperately to swim up. But the surface faded far off in the distance.
A small thread of Talent finally fluttered to life. A weak, dull pull at her fingertips. The faint sinews of arcanum brushed at her hand. She grabbed at the invisible force and pulled.
The Weeping Queen wailed at the disturbance. As if Erinna had hurt her somehow.
She tried again, her body screaming from lack of air, numb from the cold of the water. Even with the queen’s hold gone, Erinna was far too deep to surface. Her lungs gave up before her body did, her last breath gone as she reflexively choked in water. She clawed upward, reaching blindly in the water until her hand brushed something warm. Solid.
A tether.
Erinna grabbed at it with everything she had andpulled.
The room spunin her vision as she tried to blink away the haze and splitting headache. The air was thick with firelight and the faint smell of herbs. Erinna’s breath came out ragged and tight. Her hand pressed against something—someone.
Hard. Warm. Safe.
She moved closer, her body stiff and aching. Erinna yearned for the heat, anything to ward off the chill in her veins. Hermind floated in that liminal space between dreams and waking, and the connection—simple, steady—was everything. The touch grounded her. She wanted to hold on longer. There was a pulse under her palm, and she could feel the tether between them. Steady and strong.
She reached for it again, desperate for somethingreal.
Gods, did she crave it.
Him.
A callused hand cupped her cheek and gently moved her head from side to side. Finally, the world stopped spinning, and the room came into focus.
She knew where she was. Had helped her father with enough blueprints.
It was the captain’s quarters on theHellish Rebuke. A comfortably sized room, and decorated with well-appointed furniture. Beneath her, the mattress was soft and the sheets of decent quality. She wanted to burrow into them and sleep for a month.
She looked up and met Kane’s amber eyes. Her hand clutched at his chest.
He held her hand in his, the other pressed against her cheek. Kane’s face was ragged, drawn with worry. He opened his mouth to speak, but she pulled away sharply. The memories of before rushing back with painful clarity. The feel of Damien’s blood on her hands, the way it felt when his life threatened to slip away. The heat of the fire that nearly killed him.
“Don’t.” Her voice came out cracked and raw. “Don’t touch me.”
He stumbled back as if her words burned him. Inez fluttered into view, piling more blankets on top of Erinna. “You left,” she whispered, tucking Erinna beneath the new quilts. Her eyes were red, as if she’d been crying. Guilt seized Erinna.
“I…I’m fine,” she stuttered, attempting to sit up, but the movement still made her dizzy. Shivers wracked her body.
“Inez, go get Serg.” Kane grabbed the rest of the blankets from Inez’s hands. “Now.”
Inez darted out of the room in a blur, leaving Erinna alone with the captain. Nausea roiled in her stomach, and her body trembled violently against a cold that refused to leave her bones.
“Whattt ha…happened?” Erinna asked through chattering teeth, bunching the comforters tighter around her.
“You overexerted yourself. Afton said it could be a kind of burnout.”
Erinna would have felt dread if her entire body wasn’t already numb. “You could h…have l…left me.”
Kane shook his head and stepped closer, worry lined every part of his face. “Wouldn’t dream of it.” He knelt beside the bed, pulling her hand into his palm. “You’re freezing.”
“I said don’t—” Her protest died as her teeth chattered harder against the cold. Whatever was inside her was unnatural, and no amount of blankets would help her warm. Erinna stared at Kane, her stomach winding even tighter.
He would have left her friend to rot.
Even if the rational part of her brain couldn’t blame him for what he did, there was no room for forgiveness. She couldn’t bring herself to it.
And yet, she desperately wanted what he offered. She could feel the heat he promised, craved even an ounce of the fire that danced within his veins.
