Page 17 of Hijack the Seas: Seismic

Or a really, really pissed-off heir.

“Agnes dropped the object—a lady’s hand mirror—which she’d stolen from me when my spell hit her,” I continued. “I thrashed my way out of the seaweed, grabbed it, and shifted the hell out of there before she could recover. It was a Pyrrhic victory, considering the state of my dress and the fact that I was likely to smell like a corpse for a week, not to mention that I kept making myself gag. But it was a victory nonetheless.”

“Of course it was,” Pritkin said. “You’re a demigoddess.”

I huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, and she was Agnes. I limped back to court, dripping and towing a couple of strands of blackish-green rot, like toilet paper that had gotten attached to my shoe. But before I’d even gotten across the front hall, there she was, snorting like a dray horse and covered in fish guts. And still clutching one of the seagulls, which I guessed had attacked her when she landed in the middle of its dinner.”

Pritkin blinked again like he was having difficulty imagining the elegant lady he’d known that way.

He had no idea.

“It got loose,” I said, “or maybe she threw it at me; I was never really sure. But it flew squawking around the front hall, setting the chandelier swaying and the initiates screaming and me ducking, just before that bitch grabbed me.”

“What happened?” He actually looked interested.

“She was a savage, is what happened. Almost pulled me bald and practically beat me to death trying to get that mirror away from me.”

“Did she succeed?”

I shot him a look. “What do you think?”

Pritkin looked confused. “And Lady Herophile didn’t intervene?” he asked, using Gertie’s reign title.

“Do you remember how we started this subject?” I demanded. “She was laughing so hard she could barely stay upright. Had to clutch the balcony railing so as not to fall off!”

Agnes hadn’t been the only bitch in town.

“But my point in telling you all this was that I spoke the truth earlier. I can hold my own.”

The grin that had been spreading over his face faded. “You shouldn’t have to.”

“None of us should. But that isn’t how life works, is it?”

He grasped the back of my head with one strong hand. “If you stay, you’re going to be careful.”

“I’m always—”

“Really careful.” Stern green eyes looked into mine, and my stomach, so satisfied a moment ago, started fluttering again. “If it comes down to it, and it’s me or you, you let me take the hit—”

As if!

“—or you go home now. I will have your word, Cassie.”

He looked like he meant it. Which did not make him right! “You always act like I’m the

most important one in this fight,” I said. “While you and Mircea—”

“Right now.”

“—and a lot of other people have played major roles in this war! If you die, how do you

know it won’t be just as devastating to—”

But Pritkin wasn’t listening. “Or you can leave immediately.”

“And if I don’t?”

“I’ll remove myself from this contest, and both you and Faerie can find another champion.”

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