Page 82 of A Dawn of Gods & Fury

“You can’t go in there!”

“Why? Are you worried for my safety?”

“No.” She scoffs. “But it’s pure idiocy. You may as well climb into a coffin.”

I smile at her, perched on a rock, looking regal. “Do not fear, I will return and our wedding will go forward as planned.” I ease past the ship’s wooden frame before she can throw a barbed retort. Surely, she’s grinding her teeth.

It’s dark inside, the air ripe with a damp, earthy aroma. As I expected, the wooden crates are submerged and long since rotted. If these merchants were hauling anything of use, there is likely nothing of value now.

Splashes sound behind me. “Anything useful?” Annika’s voice echoes in the cavernous space.

I stifle my surprise that she would venture inside here. “No, and there is not enough light to explore.”

“For you, perhaps.” She wades in until all I can make out of her is her golden hair in the last few tiny streams of sunlight.

And then she’s too deep for me to see even that.

“Find anything?” I squint into the pitch-black as I edge forward.

“Not yet,” she mutters as if annoyed. A moment later, she yelps. It’s followed by a heavy splash.

“Annika?”

“I’m fine. I tripped over this stupid piece of wood. Now I’m soaked again, thanks to you—ah!” Her bloodcurdling scream has me running blind into the darkness.

23

Annika

“Annika!” Tyree’s roar echoes in the vacuous ship’s hull and heavy splashes sound behind me.

“I’m okay,” I call out as I stare at the corpse caught in the netting, my heart pounding. “I was just startled. I wasn’t expecting a body.”

He slows. “What kind of body?”

“A dead one,” I snap back, watching as Tyree fumbles blindly toward me. “Take two steps to your right or you’ll—”

He trips over the same hunk of wood I did and tumbles into the thigh-deep water.

“—fall.”

Pulling himself up with a grimace, he edges around the hazard. He is sopping wet, his tunic and pants clinging to every hard curve of his muscular body.

If only he weren’t such a lecher.

“Where are you?” His eyes search the dark.

“Over here. I knew my kind was far superior, but is your Ybarisan sight really that lacking?”

He grins as he veers toward the sound of my voice. “Just keep saying those sweet things and I’ll find you in no time.”

I roll my eyes, though he can’t see it. “There are two small wooden crates hanging within the netting, out of the water. They seem intact.”

“I was hoping for that.” He closes in on me, his hand fumbling through the air until it grazes my hip. Still, he moves closer until he’s standing inches from me.

So close I can pick the flecks of silver in his eyes as he searches the darkness, and the scent of neroli teases my senses.

Too close. I take a step back.

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