Page 52 of Pearls of Salt and Sacrifice

Felix ran his fingers through his disheveled hair. “When you disappeared, I suspected Cassandra had taken things too far, and when I went to confront her, I caught her using a Death Pearl, and—”

“Wait!”

“—and while I may not be kingly material, I paid attention in my history lessons, and I know dark magic when I see it. Don’t ask me where she got a Death Pearl, but she’s using it, I tell you. She blew up my ship, and she’s the one who tried to have you assassinated—and why are you flapping your hands at me?”

“Because you won’t shut up!” Reva clapped her hands over his mouth and glared at him. “I’m going to deal with Cassandra, have no doubts about that. But I’m going to need your help, and if you’ll stop talking long enough to listen, I think we can find an arrangement that will be beneficial to both of us.”

Felix’s pale eyes narrowed. When his lips parted beneath the palm of her hand, she pressed harder against his mouth until he nodded in submission.

“Now listen,” she ordered, pulling her hand away and wiping it on her trousers. “How much money have you stolen from your father? Do you have access to it?”

“Enough to set Felicity up like the princess she should be,” Felix said with a smirk. “My father always underestimated me—”

He broke off when Reva took a menacing step toward him again. “That’s good,” she said. “So, here’s my proposal. If I rescue Felicity and offer you a place to live in Etthan—outside your father’s hold—will you give me the money you’ve stolen to buy food for my people?”

“No. That money is to rescue Felicity—”

“I’m not planning to buy her freedom. We’re going to steal her back—don’t look so shocked. You’re clearly good at that. And after you get her back, I’ll make sure you both have everything you need. But either you give me the money to feed my people, or you’re going to have to marry me so your father gets his trade routes.”

“And how do you expect to find her?”

Reva exhaled and braced herself for the fight she knew would be coming. “I know a man who’ll be perfect for this assignment.”

“Rency.” Felix’s eyes narrowed and his voice took on a dangerous edge. “So you get food, and I get Felicity, but what does Rency get out of this hypothetical arrangement?”

“Not being hung,” Reva answered. “That’s what he gets.”

“He’s a pirate—he’ll come up with a third option that doesn’t benefit either of us.”

Reva frowned. “He’ll probably try, but we’ll just have to make sure he doesn’t get a chance to do that, won’t we?”

Felix’s eyes glinted with ill humor, but he finally heaved an exasperated sigh. “Well, I don’t see what choice I have. Cassandra has me backed into a corner, and unless we deal with her, I won’t have any money to give you or Felicity.”

“Then let’s go deal with her. You and me.” She arched one eyebrow and waited for him to make his decision.

“How do I know I can trust you?” Felix crossed his arms over his chest and studied the floor. While the words were petulant, a muscle twitched his jaw. That—combined with the tense set of his shoulders—suggested to Reva that he really was worried about this girl of his.

“Do I look like I want to marry you?” she asked, echoing his words from earlier. “Unless we want to get stuck in this arrangement, we have no choice but to trust one another.”

That muscle twitched in his jaw again, but the prince finally met her gaze. “Very well. But if you don’t hold up your end of the bargain and we get stuck with one another, I promise I’ll make your life absolutely miserable.”

“That goes both ways.”

He glared at her but stuck his hand out. “It’s a deal then.”

Reva hesitated only a moment before she gripped the clammy hand he offered. She released him and stepped back, motioning for him to join her in the servant’s corridor. “Now that we’ve settled that, let’s find Cassandra and put an end to this.”

Felix stepped into the hall and kicked the door closed behind him; the entire corridor shook from the impact. Reva staggered and shot him a startled look. Somehow she found it surprising that he had enough strength in his spineless body to deliver such a resoundin—

The hallway shook again, as if a shiver had torn through the entire castle.

“What the—”

Outside, alarm bells began clanging.

Chapter Sixteen

The peals from the alarms echoed through the castle, joined by frantic voices from outside the castle walls. Reva strode to the nearest window and threw open the wooden shutters. Leaning through the window, she strained to see what was wrong.

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