Page 37 of Hijack the Seas: Seismic

And he’d done exactly that! Yet he was mad at me for not abandoning him or standing back and watching it happen? When he’d done the exact same thing?

Something that did not go down well when I pointed it out.

“It’s my job,” he seethed.

“It was your job! I can take care of myself—”

“Yes, it looked like it!”

I felt my eyes narrow. “I wasn’t the one they were targeting, Pritkin! I was bait. It was a trap for you—”

“One you could have died in just as easily!”

“—and you gave them exactly what they wanted! I could have shifted out of there in a minute, but you had to go ballistic! You know, I thought we were past this. I thought that suicidal streak had worked its way out of your system, but instead—hey! Hey!”

I broke off because he suddenly wasn’t there anymore.

“Out of the way,” he growled at Alphonse, who . . . got out of the way.

Alphonse was big and bad and could throw down when he had to, but he looked like he’d had enough for one night. And did not seem interested in taking on a furious half-demon with an attitude, and neither was I. But I didn’t have a choice.

“Where are you going?” I demanded, following Pritkin into the bedroom. And then out of the door and into the hall, or at least, I tried. But there was a crowd out there already, although it seemed to be composed mainly of tall, sylph-like women and the flunky brigade from earlier. “Pritkin!”

“I’m going to quit,” he threw back over his shoulder.

It was currently naked because he’d lost his fancy vest in the fight, and I saw a fey woman with a cascade of rippling dark hair intertwined with tiny pearls, admiring what was visible. Which was a lot, as the skin-tight trouser/leggings didn’t conceal so much as highlight. I shot her a dirty look, got an amused eyebrow lift in return, and chased Pritkin down the hall since I couldn’t currently shift.

“What do you mean you’re quitting?” I demanded, catching up. “You risked your life to get here—”

“And it seems that I have to risk yours to stay.” He didn’t break stride or even slow down, making me have to run to keep up, damn him!

“You aren’t risking mine! What happened in there wasn’t part of the Challenge—”

“Like hell, it wasn’t!” And, okay, that got him to stop, if only to back me into a wall again. “Someone tried to poison you unless you’ve forgotten. And when that didn’t work, they used an illusion to separate us—”

I didn’t know what he was talking about for a second, and then I did. “That wasn’t an illusion! I saw Tony—”

“So did I—for half a second—then he was gone. So, unless he has the power to shift, what you saw wasn’t really there—”

“It was! It had to be! I’d know him anywhere—”

“And so would anyone else who’d met him, and plenty around here could have. This court is full of factions, some of which are on the other side. They knew what he looked like, heard us discussing him, realized how badly you wanted him—”

“All that in a couple of minutes?”

“—and did an illusion, which water fey are better at than anyone, to distract you. And it worked. You shifted off without a word and were almost gutted by Æsubrand, who is as jumpy as everyone else at present. Which, if I can remind you, would have removed two birds with one stone for the rest of these bastards. Æsubrand kills you, which weakens me and disqualifies him for taking out a rival combatant’s group member. And all the others win.”

I stared at him. “You think that’s what happened?”

“I know that’s what happened!” He grabbed me by my shoulders. “Cassie, you may think you know court politics, but you don’t, not on this level. This place will eat you alive, and I was a fool to make that deal with you. I am only glad that you showed immediately that it won’t work, that you can’t be trusted—”

“You can trust me!” I stared up at him, my heart in my throat, and his face softened. He still looked pissed but also conflicted as he stroked my damp hair with both hands, grasped my head, and kissed me on top of it.

“I can trust you to have my back, to risk yourself to save me, to refuse with blind, stubborn faith to leave me, no matter how grim it looks. You’ve proven that over and over in the past. Which is why I can’t stay here. You won’t leave unless I do, and if you don’t leave, you’ll die.”

He kissed me very softly, on the lips this time, then took off down the corridor before I realized what was happening.

So, I had to run after him again, which did not improve my temper! Which was why he got pushed against the wall this time, and harder than I’d intended. It wasn’t enough to knock that ridiculously sloppy fondness off his face, however, and that—

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