“I have to stay, Lyv. I’m sorry. Bayne thinks he can get me time to train with Khato.”
I opened my mouth to protest.
She cut me off with a swift shake of her head. “Just trust me, okay?”
I swallowed and bit back the tears I knew would start to form if I let her goodbye sink in.
“Come back soon.” She gripped my hand before pulling away.
With a quick look at Bayne, I climbed aboard theCenturion.
Tiberius flewalongside Aquila for the first hour of our departure before returning west. My chest hollowed out as his dark figure disappeared along the gray horizon, a piece of my heart soaring away.
It was odd, being on a ship that wasn’t theEvecta. Even with the massive size of theCenturion, waves rocked the ship as we entered the wild of the Juniper Sea.
Vienah plopped on the bench next to me. “Surprised they felt it necessary to bring me along,” she murmured, eyeing the fifty sailors bustling about the main deck. “I counted at least three mages.” Her strawberry blonde hair had been braided tightly against her head. Little wisps of curls poked out of the hood she pulled up against the wind.
“I think your power is pretty coveted, Vienah. Mastering the weather is no small thing. I feel safer with you on board if that makes you feel any better.”
Vienah scoffed but offered a small smile.
“Let’s find where we’ll be sleeping tonight. I’m already exhausted,” I murmured.
The weight of the revelations over the past days settled in my chest like lead, doubt plaguing my thoughts as I replayed what I’d seen in the waters over and over again. Had I imagined that thread?
With Aelius now high in the sky, we meandered through the bustling deck, heading toward the stairs when Kresida’s clear voice cut through the activity.
“Sparring deck is open, deserter.”
I tensed. Nerissa and Bayne had fled with Vulcan and Isla after Queen Antares had killed their parents. Though the sailors continued their duties, many paused, glancing at the dark War Slayer standing in the center of the prow, the black paint against her face illuminating the whites of her eyes as they cast daggers at Nerissa in close discussion with Vulcan.
The deck quieted as the former War Slayer commander turned her Ravindra gaze on Kresida.
“Bold words for a number two,” Ronan drawled, appearing at Nerissa’s side. His gaze was filled with threat as he scanned Kresida.
Nerissa’s shoulders tensed at his sudden appearance. Kresida’s lips curved into an amusing grin as her stare hopped between the two of them.
“Trouble in paradise?” she taunted, lips turning down into a pout.
Vulcan murmured something inaudible to them both, leading them the other direction. Nerissa looked as if she wasabout to follow, pulling her lethal stare away from the War Slayer.
“Pathetic. No wonder you ran away,” Kresida said.
A tremor shot down my connection with Nerissa. She was barely containing her power. The only people on this ship who knew her true identity, that she shared the Bellator power with Bayne, were the three of us from theEvecta.
Nerissa stopped, schooling her features into cool challenge as she turned back to Kresida. “Up for a sparring match, sweetie?”
“Deck’s open, old-timer.”
Ronan cut a glance across the deck at me, eyebrows high.
We followed them to the sparring deck at the stern, where Kresida made a show of removing the lethal daggers from her vest, boots, and pants. Ronan choked as she unsheathed two, thinly curved blades she’d somehow kept beneath her breasts, and a final, small dagger that she slipped from a small pocket between her thighs, dangerously close to the space at the center.
Nerissa watched, a mask of boredom plastered over her face until Kresida finished. She unstrapped the leather sleeve that held her twin blades behind her back before tossing aside four daggers of her own.
I waited for the silent salute that precluded any sparring session, but Kresida leaped on her before I could blink. The War Slayer was airborne as a black boot flew at Nerissa’s face. She ducked, swiping out with her own leg as Kresida came down, deftly hopping over Nerissa’s leg. Fists flew faster than my eyes could register as the pair jabbed and parried for endless minutes.
Vulcan leaned against the edge of the ship, crossing his arms as he watched the two fly through the air. Ronan’s body was taught in a battle-ready stance I’d seen so often. The corners of his eyes creased as he watched the lethal pair throw everything they had at the other.
