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Nox

Some days, i have to actually do my job. those tend to be the bad days. The ones fi lled with violence and blood and a sorrow so thick, the entire crew can taste it on the air.

Today is shaping up to be a bad day.

“Hold it, Bowen,” I snap. “If one of those tentacles makes it through your shield, we’re in trouble.”

“I am holding it,” the man at my side grits out. He’s easily a head and shoulders taller than me and twice as large, the muscles in his arms standing out in stark relief. He appears to be holding air, but it’s just a physical representation of what his magic is doing.

Mainly: protecting my damn ship.

Another tentacle arches out of the sea and slaps down on the invisible barrier of Bowen’s shield. Even with his deep well of power, he can’t keep this up forever. Not when our primary shield already failed, which isn’t something that’s happened in the weeks since Evelyn has been aboard.

The woman herself crouches behind us, frantically trying to remake the circle that will re- create the shield. When I dare a glance at her, she’s looking shaky and paler than normal, her skin waxen. She meets my gaze, green eyes wide. “Is it the kraken?”

“No. Krakens can be reasoned with. Everyone!” I lift my voice, injecting a boom that will make my crew snap to action. “Attack the tentacles. Bowen, drop the shield when I go over.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind, Nox?”

It’s not the fi rst time I’ve been asked this. It won’t be the last. I shrug out of my coat and drop it onto the deck next to me. If I’ve learned one thing, it’s that when in doubt, it’s best to brazen your way through. I don’t have the same scale of power that Bowen does, but I have enough. “I would prefer a peaceful resolution, but this beastie isn’t cooperating. I’ll get it to the surface. You rip it to shreds.”

His dark brows draw together. “How are you— ”

“Don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to, darling.” I yank oﬀ my boots— even with magic, they’re a pain to get salt water out of— and step onto the railing. “If I die tragically, remember me fondly.”

“Nox, damn you!”

I dive over the edge before he can fi nish berating me. Bowen’s got a paladin’s sense of honor—which means he’s a stickin- the- mud— and he’s always been reluctant to admit that sometimes it takes breaking the rules to come out on top. Since coming out on top of this current conﬂ ict means my crew lives and my ship stays intact, there’s no room for negotiation.

The water welcomes me like an old friend, my magic rising beneath my skin in response to my intent. It’s diﬃcult to see

with the beastie churning through the depths, bubbles and tentacles everywhere. That’s fi ne. I’ve worked in worse conditions.

I pull a small funnel of air down to meet me and enclose my head, allowing me to breathe, and then cut down through the depths, propelled along by my water magic through the small hole Bowen opened in his shield for me. Most people have access to only one element, but I’ve never been like most people. I can wield all four.

The thing has twice as many tentacles as a kraken and is half as smart. Maybe not even that much. It completely ignores me weaving around its body in favor of trying to eat my ship.

Not today, darling.

I dip between two massive tentacles and stop short at the sight of its massive mouth. A mouth , not a beak, as if I needed further confi rmation. Krakens can be reasoned with. If they grow to ship-killer size, they’re old enough to know when faced with a fight they can’t win. They prefer easier prey than humans anyway. There is plenty to hunt in the cold, dark depths that won’t rip you to shreds.

I’m still a sap, though; instead of immediately attacking, I project my voice through the water toward it. “Stop attacking my ship!”

I already know it won’t work, but it gets the beastie’s attention on me. It opens its mouth wide, exposing row after row of razor- sharp teeth nearly as tall as I am.

Okay, then.

I shove my hands forward, propelling air from the funnel and into its mouth. More and more and more, the force of it preventing the beastie from shutting me out. “Too late, darling.” My body shakes from the energy drain, but we’re not done yet.

The air fi lls it like a balloon, sending it toward the surface even as it keeps trying to eat me. It can’t seem to figure out why the distance between us is increasing, which further proves that it’s pure animal— if one of a truly monstrous size. It doesn’t mean it deserves to die simply for existing, but it’s eaten four trade ships in the last four weeks and shows no sign of slowing down.

It swipes a tentacle at me, and I have to take the hit because all my magic is devoted into propelling it upward and keeping enough air around my mouth and nose so I don’t drown.

It’s like someone dropping a ship on me. The tip of the tentacle is thicker around than I am. It slaps me hard enough that I see stars. I lose my grip on the magic bringing air to me— but not the air to the beastie.

The Cŵn Annwn are the biggest monsters in Threshold, the realm that connects all realms in existence, but occasionally one of the beasties wreaking havoc does need to be put down. It’s always tragic, but again, that’s my ship and my crew and my world. I’m not going to let a beastie keep eating people.

One fi nal desperate burst of power overloads its natural weight and creates enough buoyancy to send its form surging to the surface. My body shakes as I keep it going up and up and up. I can tell the moment Bowen’s power takes hold. The weight against my magic disappears.

I exhale slowly and start swimming. I’m far enough from the surface that I have to be intentional about my ascent. Deep pressure does a world of damage to the human body if not managed correctly.

By the time I shoot from the surface and use the water to propel me back on board, it’s raining blood.

“Bowen!” Evelyn crouches on the deck with her hands over her head. “Did you have to literally rip it apart?”

Bowen looks a little woozy, which is worrisome in a man that large. “Sit down before you fall down.” I nudge him with my fi ngertips, and he stumbles a few steps to sink to his knees next to Evelyn.

The rest of the crew is looking just as dazed. We’ve fought mermaids and other ships and all sorts of creatures we can’t talk down, but I’ve never seen the Audacity covered in this much blood. It matches our crimson sails. In fact, I’m the only one who isn’t red and covered in gore.

Well, I’m captain for a reason. It falls on me to snap everyone back to reality. I spread my arms and slowly circle. “Well done, chaps. Callen. Gable.” I snap my fi ngers at the two, who straighten to attention when I name them. “Get the deck cleaned up as much as you’re able. The rest of you, see what we can harvest of the beast. Evelyn will get shower schedules set up.”

We might have the magic of indoor plumbing in the pocket dimension inside the ship, but the resources aren’t infi nite. We’ll have to make port soon so I can refi ll our freshwater stores.

I turn to fi nd my quartermaster, Poet, holding my coat. It wasn’t spared from the carnage, now several shades darker than its usual crimson and dripping the same gore covering everyone else. I sigh. “Well, it was about time for a new coat anyway.”

Poet shakes her head, her long dark hair ﬂ inging blood. She’s a tall woman with light brown skin and a thick body that can carry three barrels to every one of mine. “You don’t need an excuse to add to your wardrobe.”

She’s not wrong. I grin. “It’s true, but this excuse is better than most.”

“I suppose it is.” She neatly sidesteps a surge of water Gable guides across the deck, concentration on zir face. Callen is next, slightly overlapping with zir path.

I glance over to where Evelyn is tugging Bowen to his feet. It looks absurd for the big man to be leaning on his short, curvy woman, but she’s stronger than she appears. She keeps them both on their feet. “Before I get the shower situation figured out, I need to help Bowen,” Evelyn says.

“I’m fi ne,” he murmurs. Except his dark eyes aren’t quite focusing.

“You’re really not,” she says tartly. She doesn’t look much steadier on her feet, but Evelyn would have to be dead to not run her mouth. It’s what I like about her. She frowns at me. “You look terrible, too.”

I’m not about to admit that I’m fighting to avoid weaving on my feet. I can channel more magic than most elemental users, but even I have limits. All of us reached them today.

But I’m the captain, and the captain can’t show weakness. I dredge up a roguish grin. “Keep talking sweet to me, and I’m going to have to challenge Bowen for your heart.”

She rolls her eyes and Bowen mutters under his breath as she turns them toward the hatch leading belowdecks. Poet snorts. “You done playing hero? You need to be looked over.”

“I’m fi ne.” It’s more or less the truth. My ribs ache, but my breathing is uninterrupted so nothing’s horrifi cally broken. “Save Orchid’s tender ministrations for those who actually need it.” Our healer is a miracle worker, and he believes in the cause. We might all be serving the same purpose— to undermine the

Cŵn Annwn and help the people and creatures who end up in Threshold by accidentally wandering through the wrong portal.

Poet sighs. “You’d tell me if you weren’t.”

“Of course I would,” I lie. I want nothing more than to peel out of my wet shirt, but I suspect if I do so, Poet will come down with the vapors. There’s sure to be a rainbow of bruises across my body. It’s fi ne. I heal faster than most people.

The sea around the Audacity is red and chunky. Bowen might have been a captain at one point, but he’s extremely good at following orders. Good enough that there’s only carnage left of the beastie. I fight down a shudder.

This is Threshold and I sail under the banner of the Cŵn Annwn, for all that I fi nd their policies loathsome. Each of their captains is a bigger monster than the next. It means I’m a monster— and Bowen, too. It’s natural to wonder which of us would walk away if it came to a fight.

His telekinetic power is fearsome, but he’s still human. He needs to breathe. The question is whether I could suﬀocate him before he tore me to pieces . . .

Cheery thoughts.

I motion to Poet. “Let’s wrap this up. I hate the smell of gore.”

A few months back, half the crew was killed in a hostile takeover— mine, notably— and we still haven’t fi lled out our numbers. Even so, it only takes an hour before we’re moving, cutting away from the frothing waters. The blood has summoned other predators, but they aren’t our business.

I make the rounds, talking to my people, checking in, until I circle back to where Eyal stands at the helm. He’s a tall, lean man with cool dark brown skin and blue locs— or he is normally; currently, he’s the same shade as our sails.

Which means it’ll be a bit longer before I can change out of these clothes. “You’re going to undo all of Gable and Callen’s hard work by dripping all over the newly clean deck. Go shower.”

“Won’t be time for that.”

I narrow my eyes. “What are you on about?”

“We have company.” He points, and I follow the motion to the horizon. I don’t see anything, but that doesn’t mean much. Eyal’s got better eyes than most.

This day just got exponentially longer. “Trouble?”

“Hard to say.” He squints. “Smaller vessel. White sails.”

White sails don’t mean much— the only ships that ﬂy crimson sails are Cŵn Annwn warships. We’re on the trading route between Drash and Three Sisters, so it might be a trader. Or smugglers. Neither fall within our purview.

Still, there’s no reason to be foolish. I raise my voice. “Everyone, on alert. It’s time to meet some new friends.”

chapter 2

Nox

Athread of unease goes through me as we get close enough to pick out the details of the ship. It’s easy enough because they’re heading directly for the Audacity. They aren’t attempting to pretend to do anything else.

“Orders?” Poet murmurs. She stands at my right shoulder. I’m tired and itchy from the salt water drying on my skin, and I want nothing more than to get this over with, but that’s just my impulsiveness talking. I know better than to listen to that voice. “Let’s give them a nice warm welcome . . . at least until we know what they want.”

Almost as soon as the words leave my lips, Gable yells from the bow. “It’s Lizzie!”

“Lizzie?” I can’t stop my shock. I thought for certain we’d seen the last of that murderous vampire. She ran oﬀ with Maeve ages ago. I fully expected her to fi nd Maeve’s stolen skin, retrieve her stolen family heirlooms, and then take a portal back to her world, never to return. She shouldn’t be here .

Except she is. She stands at the bow of the small ship, her long dark hair trailing behind her in the wind of their passing. She’s just as beautiful as the last time I saw her, but there’s something looser in her body language. Interesting.

A second person joins her, and I stop thinking about the vampire altogether. Because I know this person, this woman. I know that tall frame and those broad shoulders, that tanned skin and handsome face.

Siobhan.

“Fuck,” I breathe.

I haven’t seen Siobhan in years. There was a time when she sailed more freely about, using her charm and smarts to convince more people to join the rebellion. But as our numbers increased, it became necessary to remove herself a bit, to protect herself. So she essentially went into hiding.

She should still be in hiding.

The fact that she’s not is more than a little worrisome. I glance at Eyal. “Bring us close.”

“Yes, Captain.” He must sense my tension because normally he has a quip for every command.

None of the rest of the crew know how important Siobhan is to the movement to undermine the Cŵn Annwn’s hold on Threshold— namely that she’s the mastermind behind it. The fewer people aware of that fact, the safer she is. So why is she here?

Eyal brings the Audacity up next to the smaller ship, and the crew tosses a line over. Within a few moments, Siobhan is pulling herself over the railing and onto the deck. I expect Lizzie to follow her, but it’s Maeve who joins us next, her red hair bright against her pale skin. She’s paler than normal, appearing a little

shaky on her feet. And there is the vampire, landing lightly next to her and wrapping an arm around her curvy waist, looking like a shark protecting a minnow.

I would enjoy that development a lot more if not for the way Siobhan stalks toward me, her long legs eating up the distance between us. She looks good, really good. She wears the years since I’ve seen her well, there in the laugh lines on either side of her wide mouth and the crinkles in the corners of her eyes that seem to suggest she’s spent a lot of time laughing. And then she’s before me, easily six inches taller than I am and widely muscled.

I would have preferred to conduct this reunion while not soaked and missing my favorite coat, but life rarely cooperates with my preferences.

Still, no reason not to make the best of it. I spread my arms wide, a monarch greeting someone who might be a rival and might be an ally. “Welcome to the Audacity.” I cut a look over to where Lizzie glowers and Maeve smiles sweetly. “Welcome back, in your case. It looks like there’s a story here, but there’s one important question to be answered fi rst. Your ship?”

“Leave it.” Siobhan brushes that away. “It’s got a beacon. One of my teams will pick it up.”

Which means they came here for us .

I knew that, of course, yet hearing it all but confi rmed makes me twitch. “In that case, allow me to oﬀer you the hospitality of my cabin.”

Lizzie snorts. “Pass. Is our old room still open?”

“Indeed it is.”

She turns, her arm still around Maeve, and heads for the hatch. No hesitation, no pussyfooting around. I’ve always appreciated that about the vampire.

I glance at Siobhan. “Maeve?”

“She was attacked during . . .” Siobhan sighs. “It’s why we’re here. She’ll make a full recovery thanks to the miracle of vampire blood’s healing properties, but that’s the least of our problems right now.”

That’s what I was afraid of. “Let’s get this over with.” I reluctantly pull the remainder of the water from my clothing and send the little stream of it back into the sea. It leaves everything vaguely crunchy, but it’s still better than being damp. Marginally.

I lead the way to my cabin, tucked behind the helm. Inside is part haven, part war room, but the latter seems to have taken over in recent months. It’s certainly why Siobhan has sought us out. Sought me out.

The moment the door closes, she sighs as if setting down a great weight. I hate that I understand exactly what it feels like. I’m not carrying around as much responsibility as she is, but being captain means my crew’s lives hang in the balance of every decision I make. As leader of the rebellion, Siobhan shoulders dozens and dozens of crews. Even I’m not sure of the exact number. It’s safer that way.

“Okay, enough with the mysterious leader shit. What’s going on?”

She smiles brieﬂy. It’s a good smile, a little crooked, and it warms her honey- colored eyes. “There’s a reason you’re my favorite.”

“Now I’m actually worried. Stop ﬂ attering me and spit it out.”

She hesitates, but fi nally says, “It’s Bastian.”

The name rocks me to my core and sends me stumbling back several steps. “Don’t.”

Siobhan’s expression goes remorseful, but not so much that she stops speaking. “I wouldn’t have come to you if I had any other choice. I’m aware of the bargain we made.”

“Siobhan, don’t .” It’s pathetic that hearing his name, fourteen years later, is enough to make me shake. Some wounds never truly heal and scar; they fester.

“They took him, Nox. I thought he was aboard the Crimson Hag, but when we brought down the ship in Drash’s bay, he wasn’t there. They transferred him somewhere along the way, and I don’t know what to do.”

No need to ask who they are. The Cŵn Annwn. But that doesn’t make any sense. The Cŵn Annwn have a long history of abusing their power, but there are lines that even the foolhardiest captain won’t cross.

I shake my head sharply. “Impossible. He’s a fucking noble. His family would burn Lyari to the ground before they’d allow the Council to send him to trial for anything.”

“Normally, you would be right. Not this time.” She looks away. “He was caught using glamour.”

My breath swooshes out of my lungs. “No. Not even he would be so reckless.”

In a place like Threshold, we have more varieties of magic than I can begin to count, but the one that the Council universally banned as soon as they came into power is glamour. The Cŵn Annwn rule Threshold with iron fi sts and crimson sails, all in the name of protection . Unfortunately, there’s no one to protect us from them. They don’t like the idea that they could

be manipulated magically, so they spent the last few generations purging every single person capable of glamour from Threshold.

Bastian is a throwback to some many-times-great-grandparent who had that ﬂ avor of magic, but he’s successfully hidden it his entire life. When other children were being taught their letters, he was being drilled in how he should never give himself away. I swallow hard. “They’ll kill his entire family. If not for possessing glamour themselves, then for hiding him.”

“Yes.” Siobhan looks sick.

I’ve spent damn near half my life hating his family. They’re the reason he stayed in Lyari— the largest and most powerful city in Threshold—when I left. If he wasn’t the second son of a noble family, loyalty ingrained in him right down to his bones, he would have joined me and . . .

And what?

I still would have met Siobhan years later, and knowing what’s developed between them . . . It would have been heartache no matter which angle I take. I shake my head. “No.”

“Yes, Nox. Even if I didn’t care for him as a person, he knows too much about the rebellion. If he breaks, he and his family aren’t the only ones they’ll come after. They’ll hunt every member of the rebellion— including you and your crew.”

I drag my hands through my short hair. She’s right, but I’m not prepared to admit it. “Find someone else, Siobhan. I understand the stakes, but you made me one promise when I joined. One. Don’t break it now.”

“I wouldn’t if I had any other choice.” She sounds contrite enough that I almost believe her. “There’s no one else, Nox. No one but you and this crew you’ve stacked too eﬀectively. Be-

tween all the air- and water- users you have aboard and Bowen, no one can match your speed or your shields. The Audacity is the only ship that can catch them now— and the only one that can make a clean getaway.”

I laugh harshly. “Now I know you’re fucking with me. There’s no clean getaway, Siobhan. If he was transferred between ships, then the Cŵn Annwn know he’s valuable and that someone is coming for him. They’ll have contacted the Council to report it. They’ll have a whole ﬂeet protecting the ship he’s on. There’s no coming back from this.”

The only reason the rebellion has functioned so well is because we were beneath notice. A little mouse scurrying around, saving people in ones and twos, carefully skipping murdering some “monsters” we were set upon. If we’re found out, we’ll be annihilated. They have too much power. “It’s over, then.”

Siobhan takes my shoulders. “No. It’s not. You can save him. I know you can.”

Even knowing it’s a mistake, I stare up into her handsome face, am captivated by the glow in her honey eyes. This is what drew me in all those years ago. Siobhan believes so strongly that it’s like a force of gravity, drawing in those around her. She’s asking the impossible, but with her determination bolstering me, it’s diﬃcult to keep fighting.

This is why she’s so dangerous.

I sigh. “So be it. It will be a bloody funeral for us all.”

Siobhan

If i could have gone to anyone else, i would have. as I told them, Nox has stacked the deck too thoroughly in their favor. They have Bowen, who is one of the strongest telekinetics I’ve ever encountered. They have a crew fi lled with elemental users, which means the Audacity will emerge from any sea battle victorious. They have a witch whom I haven’t met personally but have already heard stories of despite her short time in Threshold.

Now that I’ve come with Lizzie and Maeve, they even have a powerful and deadly vampire— and the selkie who holds her leash.

I study Nox’s sharp face. They’re giving me little to read, but too often my life depends on reading people who don’t want to be perceived. Nox is a challenge, but I have the advantage of knowing the pinch point to this argument. “I understand you and Bastian have a complicated history . . .”

They slice an elegant hand through the air. “No, we’re not going to put a spin on this, Siobhan. When you courted me, talking of a rebellion and all the good things we can do for the people who need them most, I agreed on one condition. What was that condition?”

As much as I hate to admit it, they’re right. A single condition and I’ve just broken it. “That I don’t speak to you of Bastian.” It went without saying that bringing Nox and Bastian into the same location was strictly forbidden.

A promise easy enough to make years ago, when Nox was just a clever quartermaster with ambition and Bastian was in my bed. I still don’t know what went so wrong that both refuse to speak of the other, but weighing it against the lives of thousands . . . “If I had another choice, I would have made it.”

“You do have another choice.” They shake their head, the slightly longer top of their white- blond hair standing oddly on end. They look good, but Nox always looks good. Even whatever trouble they had here isn’t enough to detract from that. Their lean features and pointed chin are a trap, the wicked gleam in their gray eyes the only indication of just how much trouble they’re liable to cause.

“No one else has a chance of reaching them in time.” I have to clench my fi sts to keep my claws inside. I never lose control of my form, but the stress of this clusterfuck of a situation is getting to me.

Bastian, what were you thinking?

I don’t have answers. Bastian and I argued bitterly a few weeks ago. He was tired of all the secrecy and wanted to take the rebellion public, sure that the majority of Threshold would

follow us if they knew what we were fighting for. I called him a naive fool and refused to even consider it. Too many people would die. We’re not ready.

When will we be ready, Siobhan? When will you stop letting your fear control you?

His voice is so clear in my head, I nearly ﬂ inch. I didn’t have an answer then— still don’t now— so I used words as weapons to strike right into the very heart of him. And he . . . left. The last time I saw him, he was standing aboard a trading ship headed for Three Sisters, intent on bringing the leaders there around to our cause. Three Sisters holds no love for the Cŵn Annwn and their meddling, and Bastian is a charming fucker even without his magic. If he could get Three Sisters on board, it would go a long way toward forcing my hand.

I still don’t know what went wrong to result in him using his glamour— and getting caught. In all the years I’ve known him, he’s been so bloody careful to keep his magic contained. He wouldn’t have used it without cause.

Unless he was acting out of character because he was still angry at me.

“Nox, please.” I don’t make a habit of begging. I tell people what I want, and they make it happen. I’ve worked hard to ensure my network is as expansive as possible so there’s always someone in my corner wherever I go. So I’ll never be desperate like I was at nineteen, when my entire world was turned upside down and I lost everything.

Nox curses long and hard. “You don’t have to beg— I already said I’d do it— but you’ve set forth an impossible task. We don’t know which ship has him or what route they’ll take to deliver him to the Council in Lyari. I can hardly set up a single

ship blockade and check every Cŵn Annwn vessel that tries to pass.”

At least I have an answer for this . “We don’t need a blockade. We just need information.” I nod at the magical map next to their desk. All Cŵn Annwn ships have one, a direct way of communication between captains and the Council. It’s how they get their orders and update the status of their hunts.

Nox curses again. “It will break my cover.”

“Yes.” I can’t pretend otherwise. “And if Bastian is taken before the Council, your name will be among those tortured out of him. Either way, they’ll know you’re a traitor. It’s your choice how you deal with that.”

“You are such a bitch sometimes.” They laugh as they say it.

A growl slips free of my lips, the rumble in my chest almost vicious. “Help me, Nox. Don’t make me beg.” Again.

“I won’t.” They sigh and ﬂop down into the chair behind the massive desk bolted to the ﬂoor. “As charming as it would be to see you on your knees, it would be undignified for both of us.”

I ignore the bolt of heat that goes through me at their words. Nox ﬂ irts as easily as they breathe, and while rumor has it that a night in their bed is enough pleasure to last a lifetime, there’s never been intent when they ﬂ irt at me .

Even if Bastian and I weren’t exclusive, Nox would be oﬀlimits. Their history with Bastian is thorny and painful, and allowing my attraction to Nox to bloom would hurt Bastian deeply. So I never have.

They slide their chair to the map. “Might as well get this over with.” They spread their graceful fi ngers and press them to the edge of the map. “Nox of the Audacity here, ready to give my report.”

A disembodied voice sounds almost immediately. “Report.” They glance at me, gray eyes considering. “We took care of the beastie.”

“Classification?”

“Unknown. It was similar to a kraken, but more fi sh than squid.”

“Noted. Please hold for your next target.”

“No rest for the wicked.” Nox rolls their eyes. “I actually have a question about the Crimson Hag. We’ve heard reports of her sinking in Drash’s bay. What happened there?”

The voice ignores that. A few seconds later, they come back. “Travel to the sandbar in the west.”

I frown, Nox mirroring the expression. “Excuse me?”

“Travel to the sandbar in the west. I will patch through coordinates, but I expect you’re familiar with the location, as you’ve been sailing these seas for well over a decade.” The voice is so prim it makes me want to sneeze.

“Lovely of you to notice my wealth of history and experience. What, pray tell, shall I do at the sandbar when I reach it? Find and fight some sand sharks?”

The voice goes colder. “We have no current reports of sand sharks in that area or any other.”

“I’m aware,” Nox snaps. “Now, stop playing with me and tell me what my full orders are.”

“You will be acting as support and escort to the Bone Heart while they transport a highly dangerous prisoner to Lyari.” The faint sizzling sensation of the connection fades, signaling the conversation is over.

The Bone Heart . That’s going to be a problem. It’s the one ship I’ve gone out of my way to avoid ever since Morrigan took over

as captain. She’s the only person who knows who I truly am . . . though she currently believes I’m dead.

There are seven members on the current Council that rules Threshold, each more corrupt than the next. Usually they’re voted in by a ridiculously complex system that’s rigged to ensure only a certain type of person is allowed to occupy one of their precious seats. Council members spend the rest of their lives as metaphorical dragons, hoarding their power and doing their best to never do more than absolutely necessary in terms of their actual jobs.

Morrigan is the exception. She has been a member of the Council for years now, and she’s the youngest to hold the position. Rather than stay in Lyari and play politics, she became captain of the Bone Heart and has spent the intervening time carving out a fearsome reputation.

She’s also my sister.

“No one does anything halfway in this mess.” Nox curses. “Guess I don’t have a choice after all.”

I should have anticipated this turn of events. The Audacity has one of the best track records of all the Cŵn Annwn. It started because the last captain, Hedd, was a violent jackass who never met an enemy he didn’t want to beat to death with his bare fi sts. Nox taking over has only cemented that reputation. Their success rate is nearly one hundred percent.

Of course the Council would want them playing escort to the ship carrying Bastian to Lyari.

“There’s always a choice.” I force my spine straight and any emotion from my face. “I can’t make you.”

“Don’t pull that mystic bullshit on me right now. I’m not in the mood for it.” They meet my gaze. There’s so much in their

gray eyes, old pain and resilience and determination. “I’ll do this for you, Siobhan, because you’re right: there isn’t another choice. I’ll get him back.”

There’s a ringing in my ears, and it sounds like someone screaming my sister’s name while ﬂ ames roar. Deep down, I knew I’d have to see her again someday, but someday was never now. A small, foolish part of me had hoped that someday would never come. My throat is so dry, I have to swallow twice before I can get words out. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me.” They take a step back and motion for me to leave. “Figure out what you’re going to do once you have him back to protect my crew and every other person who’s pledged themselves to fulfi lling your vision of a better world.”

I walk out the door and back into the sunlight without answering. Because I don’t have an answer. Not yet. The confrontation between the Cŵn Annwn and the rebellion has been coming from the moment I recruited my fi rst person. Ten years ago, when I was fi lled with fury at an unjust system, I was sure that there would come a day when we would prevail, when Threshold would become the realm its people need, a place safe for everyone and not just those with crimson sails.

I’m not sure when things changed. There was no fi nite point where fear began to outweigh anger, no single loss that tipped me over into the shadow I am today.

I have people on most of the Cŵn Annwn ships at this point, reporting on their movements and bringing others into the fold. Most of the crew members aren’t local to Threshold. As the hub realm between all realms, we get more than our fair share of people and creatures who take a wrong turn, step into the wrong spot, and tumble from their realm and into ours.

The rebellion does their best to see these people home instead of into the hands of the Cŵn Annwn.

If the Cŵn Annwn fi nds them? Well, they are given a choice: join the crew or die. It’s the most eﬃcient way they have of bolstering their numbers to continue to “protect” Threshold from monsters. Some of those refugees take to the murderous intent of the Cŵn Annwn naturally and embrace everything that’s toxic and awful about them. Most don’t. They’re trapped and doing what it takes to survive.

I don’t realize Lizzie is waiting for me until the vampire shifts from her position leaning against the railing. She’s a fit woman with moon-pale skin, long dark hair, and eyes that ﬂash crimson when she’s irritated. She also doesn’t believe in this cause. She’s only here for her woman, Maeve. Up until recently, Maeve was just like hundreds of other locals who form a network of information that spans the realm. People who believe in a better world without the Cŵn Annwn’s boots on their necks.

There’s nowhere else to go for now, so I cross to the vampire and take up a position against the railing. “I’m surprised you’re not belowdecks with Maeve.”

“She’s resting. Apparently my presence is not restful.” Her lips shift into something that’s almost a smile as she says it. They’re two people who couldn’t be more diﬀerent— the soft and shiny Maeve, the violent and vicious Lizzie— but even I can’t deny that the connection between them is real. She motions to the door to Nox’s cabin. “Things didn’t go well.”

“ ‘Well’ is a matter of opinion.” I shrug. In our handful of days together, I’ve learned to respect Lizzie’s frankness, even if I fi nd it irritating.

“Told you.” Lizzie looks away, her brows drawing together

at the sight of the seemingly endless sea, not a spec of land in sight. “As I said before, I’ll do whatever it takes to keep Maeve safe, even if we have to murder our way through the entirety of the Cŵn Annwn. I would appreciate an actual plan, though.” She shudders delicately. “One that doesn’t involve going into the water.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” I survey the clear blue sky, not a cloud in sight. The Audacity has a handful of both water- and air- users, which means there’s no risk of the ship ever being becalmed. The sails fi ll even as I watch, the gentle breeze coaxed into a strong wind by the two air- users on the upper deck.

The ship jerks beneath our feet and Lizzie goes a little green. “I’m going to check on Maeve.”

I roll my shoulders and settle down against the railing to watch the crew. I’ve been on my own for a long time— and not only because everyone back in Lyari thinks I’m dead. When you’re the mind behind an entire movement, anyone you spend time with will become a target alongside you. The only exception was Bastian, and look how that turned out. Our fight has to be the reason he was reckless enough to draw the attention of the Cŵn Annwn.

The fi rst hard thing is done. Nox has agreed to help retrieve Bastian. There’s still half a dozen diﬃcult tasks remaining, but they can wait the few days it will take us to reach the sandbar that stretches from Ganabie to Exver, creating an impassable barrier to all but the shallowest hulls.

Later, I’ll sit Nox down and come up with a plan.

For now, I’ll let them stew and let the vampire and selkie rest.

B tian

Up until a few weeks ago, the closest i’d gotten to a cell was reading about them in books. Now I’m in my third of the week. First in Mairi on Second Sister, where I made the mistake of letting my glamour slip in a fit of rage to protect a woman being harassed by two members of the Cŵn Annwn. Then in the relatively nice and clean brig of the Crimson Hag. Now in the significantly less nice and less clean brig of the Bone Heart .

I’m practically an expert at this point.

“Be a good chap and pass me that water,” I say. Or at least I try to say. My gag makes the words a garbled mess. I’m not even certain the guard is there. I can’t see due to the blindfold tight around the upper part of my face. My hands have long since lost sensation after being tied behind my back.

The only senses left to me are smell and hearing, and both are a torment. This cell hasn’t been cleaned in my lifetime, and the acrid scent of fi lth never seems to get more mundane. I’ve

always found the steady shoosh of the waves soothing, but I’ve never spent so much time in a brig where the only thing between me and the waves is a worryingly thin hull. The constant sound is agonizing.

Almost enough to distract me from how thoroughly I’ve mucked things up.

I want to blame Siobhan for being so stubborn and refusing to bend, which led to the fi nal fi ght that broke us. That righteous anger only lasted the fi rst night of captivity. Siobhan isn’t the one who reacted emotionally and rushed into a situation without bothering to see who might witness me manipulating two Cŵn Annwn with a forbidden magic. She isn’t the one whose frustration and anger made her sloppy.

Siobhan doesn’t get sloppy.

Footsteps bring my head up even though my blindfold ensures there’s nothing to see. I don’t need to see to know who approaches, though. She’s made a point of visiting my cell once a day.

Morrigan. Captain of the Bone Heart . Council member. The last member of her noble line after a fi re killed her parents and— as far as she knows— her little sister.

“Truly, I’m embarrassed it’s come to this, Bastian.” Deft fi ngers pull my gag out. “Say the word and we’ll get you cleaned up. I’m even willing to spare an entire cabin for you. There’s a meal ready and waiting.”

The same oﬀer. It’s tempting in the way all perfect things are tempting. I’d give my favorite ruby ring for a hot bath and clean clothes. Working with the rebellion sometimes means nights spent away from comfortable beds and long days between bath-

ing, but for the most part, the role I’m meant to play is the one I was born into.

The noble second son, ﬂ itting about Threshold without a single worry in his head. All that messy responsibility and stress falls to my older brother, Liam. No one expects anything of me, except that I keep myself alive in case something terrible happens to the heir. At some point, there may be pressure to marry well and accumulate some children, but if Liam’s wife manages to squeeze a few out in the next couple of years, even that won’t be required.

Working with Siobhan is the fi rst and only truly noble thing I’ve ever done. No matter how angry I am with her resistance to moving the rebellion forward, I won’t betray her.

I close my mouth, doing my best to ignore how my jaw aches, and swallow. The gag only stays out as long as Morrigan talks to me. “You know, Morrigan, you’re truly impressive. A Council member, a noble, and still you’re out here on a ship, getting your hands dirty.”

She laughs, low with a ragged edge that just makes the sound more attractive. “Compliments will get you nowhere with me when you smell like that .”

I don’t tense, but my pride takes a hit. I know I stink. Hard not to when I’m tied and trapped like this. “You could toss me in the shower and clear that problem right up.” It’s a pathetic attempt at ﬂ irting, but I’ve never been particularly good at it. When you have money and good looks, prospective bed partners tend to care less about the words coming out of your mouth than they do about where sleeping with you might get them.

Except Siobhan. Both of those features counted against me when it came to working with the rebellion, making it harder for me to move covertly.

And . . . Well, Nox was never one to be moved by a pretty face. Not when they’re already the prettiest person in the room. The old pain is comforting in its familiarity. I haven’t seen them in fourteen years, not since they left Lyari on Hedd’s ship. A choice I thought would end with them dead. We fought bitterly over it. Ironic, that. At twenty- one, we were both so determined to fi x the problem from inside the system, and had wildly diﬀerent views on what that looked like. Nox was sure the crews themselves could be turned with the right leadership. I fi rmly believed that the change had to come from Lyari to take proper root.

We were both wrong.

“Bastian,” Morrigan says slowly. “Do me the respect of paying attention when I’m standing right here, enduring your presence.”

I might hate her, but she’s right. I can’t aﬀord to mentally wander right now. It’s just hard to think with the pain radiating through my body and the hunger gnawing a path through my stomach. “Apologies, Morrigan. I’m not at my best currently.”

“That could change in a moment.” Her voice goes low and coaxing. “Your family doesn’t have to be brought in for questioning if you simply tell us what you did to hide your glamour magic. It must have been diﬃcult.”

The same question from a slightly diﬀerent angle. I try not to think about the fact that she’s got to be lying— my family will be questioned. None of them have the same magic I do, but they did hide me. They know better than to tell the truth, though. It’s

9781529917215

Blood on the Tide

CRIMSON SAILS BOOK 3

KATEE ROBERT

DEL REY

Nox

Nox

Siobhan

B tian