Page 16 of Rebel in the Deep

“Nox…” He coughs. “This is a terrible idea.”

“Just hang on.” I yank on the water again, harder this time. The weakened boards buckle and creak. Water sprouts in the new gaps, more and more of it as the creaking gets louder. “Almost there.” One last pull and the boards burst, the sea rushing in, eager to fill the new space in great, greedy gulps. It smashesagainst us, and I manage to get an air bubble around our heads just as the water closes in and slams us against the ceiling.

Bastian wraps his arms around my waist, as if he really thinks I’ll let him be swept away in this mess. It pisses me off. He’s been underestimating me from the moment we met, and I’m literally saving his ass right now, and he’sstillsure I’m going to botch the job.

“You’re lucky I don’t kill you myself, you absolute wanker.” I wrap an arm around his waist and use my magic to propel us through the new hole in the ship. The moment we reach the sea, I’m tempted to breathe a sigh of relief. I know better, though. There’s still so much that could go wrong.

In the seconds it takes us to shoot the hundred yards to theAudacity, I have half a dozen contingency plans in place in case our retreat is hampered. The other teams were scheduled to strike earlier enough that they should have returned by now. Bowen should be able to bring Lizzie back aboard.

Too many “shoulds.”

Our momentum is enough to drive us past the surface and all the way onto the deck, where we land in an undignified heap. I shove Bastian’s prone body off me and lurch to my feet. “Orchid! Get him belowdecks!” I don’t pause to ensure my order is obeyed. “Poet! Report!”

Poet appears at my side as if by magic. She grabs my elbow and steadies me when our ship rocks violently to the side. “Both teams are back. We’re just missing Lizzie.”

“Is she—”Dead.

Poet saves me from asking the thing I very much do not want to ask. “Still fighting.”

Thank the gods. That vampire is a nightmare to work with sometimes, but I like the little asshole. I don’t want her to die.

A quick glance around finds Bowen, his massive form braced against the railing as he moves his hands, fighting to dismantle theBone Heart. I rush up to him. “We’ve done enough. Get Lizzie and we’re leaving.”

“Impossible to pull Lizzie without pulling Morrigan, too,” he grits out. “They’re moving too fast.”

I see what he means immediately. The women are a blur of violence, their strikes coming so quickly I can barely follow them. Blood coats the deck around them, but neither shows any sign of slowing down. Bowen has mostly cleared the deck, but that doesn’t help us get the vampire back.

“I’ll go,” Maeve says.

I grab the back of her shirt and haul her away from the railing. “Absolutely not. You go over there, Lizzie is going to get distracted and Morrigan will rip out her heart.” I can’t pause to feel guilty for the way Maeve’s face goes gray in response to my words.

“Bring them both.” Siobhan nudges Maeve back even farther and takes her place next to me. “I’ll separate them, and then you can toss Morrigan as far as you can throw her.”

There’s no time to ask her if she can do this, if she’s really considered what it will mean for Morrigan to see her, to know Siobhan is potentially the leader behind all this. There’s no going back after this. There hasn’t been a way to go back since we set ourselves on this course.

I nod at Bowen. “Do it.”

“Okay.” His shoulders bunch, and the chunk of deck underthe fighting women’s feet rips away, taking them with it. In the space of two heartbeats, it reaches us and lands on our deck. Through it all, Morrigan and Lizzie never once miss a beat.

Later, I’ll be impressed. Right now, I’m too worried that I don’t have the energy needed to keep fighting. I’m already weaving on my feet from the transport to and from theBone Heart, to say nothing of breaking a massive hole in the hull.

But I’m the captain, and the captain has to take their hits to protect the crew. I lift my hands, dragging my magic to the fore to attack. Siobhan beats me to it. She launches herself forward, a shot of movement toward the fighting women.

She hooks Lizzie around the waist—taking a swipe along her arm in the process—and tosses the vampire backward. Another time, I’d enjoy Lizzie’s surprised squawk of protest. Right now, I’m too focused on the danger Siobhan just put herself in.

Morrigan looks up and her eyes go wide at the sight of the other woman. “Siobhan.” There’s a thread of…familiarity there. Not just in her knowing the name, but as if they have history.

Siobhan unsheathes her claws. “Sister.”

Chapter8

Siobhan

I launch myself at my sister,the tormentor from my childhood who made my life a living agony. Sixteen years since I’ve seen her in person, nearly half my life, and somehow she’s still larger than life, for all that I tower over her. I kick her in the chest, sending her sliding back across the deck.

She stops herself with her claws sunk deep into the deck and looks up through her hair at me. Her eyes go wide. “Impossible.”

Now is the time to attack, to do my best to rip her throat out before she can do any more damage. To remove the threat of her, once and for all. But my feet feel like they’ve grown roots, sinking deep into the ship and deeper yet to the very bottom of the sea. “Leave,” I say hoarsely. “Leave and I’ll let you live.”

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