Page 4 of Rebel in the Deep

“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. Soughtmeout.

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 flattering me and spit it out.”

She hesitates, but finally 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 theCrimson 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 whotheyare. The Cwn Annwn. But that doesn’t make any sense. The Cwn 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 Cwn Annwn rule Threshold with iron fists and crimson sails, all in the name ofprotection. Unfortunately, there’s no one to protect us from them. They don’t like the idea that they couldbe 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 flavor 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…

Andwhat?

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 meonepromise 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.Between all the air- and water-users you have aboard and Bowen, no one can match your speed or your shields. TheAudacityis 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 Cwn Annwn know he’s valuableandthat 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.”

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