Page 28 of Kept to Kill
Bastian was already halfway up the steps to the deck when he heard another sharp rebuke and a whimper from the girl. He turned back to see her cowering before Quin, his gloved hand around her throat.
‘Thought you were in a hurry,’ he called over his shoulder, pretending he didn’t care that she was receiving any kind of punishment, though he wanted nothing more than to turn back and push Quin away from her.
He heard Quin swear and then they were both behind him, the girl first and then his Brother.
When Bastian got outside, he scanned the ship in the low light and turned back to Quin in query. Nothing seemed amiss.
‘What’s the prob—?’
Look out!’ someone yelled as a great thick tentacle smashed down only a few paces from them, tearing through the planks as if they were parchment.
‘Fuck!’ Bastian jumped back, following Quin and Lily as they ran for the last boat hanging beside the ship, waiting to fulfill its purpose as they heard the ship groan and crack.
Mal stood inside it already, his knife brandished. It wasn’t until Bastian got closer that he saw five crewmen sitting in it, all looking murderously at Mal. They would have taken the last boat if Mal hadn’t stopped them, Bastian could see.
He chucked in the bags he carried and they clambered over the side. As soon as they were in, Mal drew his knife and cut the rope that held the small boat. Next to him, Lily screamed as they fell, landing hard in the water with a jolt that sent her backwards.
For a moment, he saw her terrified face and then she was gone, the dark sea swallowing her up in an instant.
‘Lily!’ he yelled and rushed to the side to throw himself in. He could see her just there, if only he could reach … he felt her hand and grabbed it, hauling her up and out of the water. Coughing and spluttering, she landed in the bottom of the boat with a soft moan and he breathed a sigh of relief as the men began to row them towards the shore.
He looked back at the ship, seeing the last of the mast sinking beneath the waves. Then he looked down at Lily. She was shaking with cold, staring at him – no, not at him, at his bare hand. She looked stricken as she peered down at her own, the one he’d grabbed when he’d pulled her from beneath the surface of the freezing water. She wasn’t wearing her gloves.
He held her gaze for a moment before giving her a little shake of his head when she opened her mouth to say – what? That he was going to die? He rubbed his cold fingers together. Shouldn’t he be bleeding from his eyes by now? He felt fine, but perhaps his mortal life would be over before it had really begun.
He frowned as he imagined Gaila’s face when he appeared back on the Mount a mere few weeks after he’d come back here. She was practically unbearable to live with as it was, thinking herself better than the rest of them simply because she was their elder. She’d be impossible if he died now without finding out any of the information she’d asked for.
He looked back at where bits of the ship now floated, and his jaw set. One thing was for certain. If the wards were still in place, that great sea beast would not have been able to enter this realm. Something was seriously wrong, though he’d had his doubts when Gaila had told him about her suspicions. There had been stories for a long while now near to the most-used portals. Those used for trade had the most traffic and the most gossip; tales of dangerous creatures being found in realms where they hadn’t existed before. Bastian hadn’t given them much credence. Dark Realms were Dark Realms. They were dangerous places. Who cared if the creatures mixed? But was Gaila right about the problem being in this realm as well? If so, what did that mean?
They reached the shore and Quin jumped out with the others to pull the boat in. Lily was still huddled in the bottom, her face drawn as she snuck peeks at him every once in a while – to see if he was dying yet, he supposed.
What was left of the crew went to join their shipmates who’d already made it to shore and were setting up camp down the beach to await rescue. Bastian picked up their bags and made to follow, but Quin stopped him. ‘We keep to ourselves. On land, without their captain, they’re little better than pirates.’
Quin looked meaningfully at the boat, where Lily still cowered, and Bastian nodded. If they decided to try anything like their friends on the ship, at best she’d kill them all; at worst, they’d run her through when men started to die.
‘Time to get out of the boat,’ he called softly.
She didn’t move, nor did she give any indication that she’d heard him. He walked back to the craft.
‘Come,’ he said, and she raised her head.
She was shaking, her gaze focused on something behind him. He looked over his shoulder, but all he could see was the sky. Looking back at her, he stepped closer.
‘Lily?’
She huddled further into the bottom of the boat.
‘What is it? Are you hurt?’
‘No,’ she said so quietly he almost didn’t hear her. Her hand was on the wood of one of the benches, clasping at it. She was saying something under her breath as well, the same inaudible phrase over and over.
He leant even closer and strained to listen. It sounded like ‘only a little journey’ and ‘just for a little while’. She began to tap at the wood of the bench in sequences of five, and he simply watched her in fascination, trying to fathom what could be wrong with the little mortal.
Her breath, which had been coming in short, quick bursts, began to ease. Not taking her eyes from him, she uncurled slowly and stepped gingerly onto the sand, but she didn’t approach him until he beckoned.
‘Are you all right?’ he asked her again.
She didn’t look up from the beach. ‘It’s just so …bigout here.’
