Page 27 of Kept to Kill
But it was lessening, Bastian thought. Yes, it was definitely slowing. He kept his grip on the doorframe, hearing bangs and crashes as the cargo thudded around in the hold.
‘Keep holding on,’ he called into the room. ‘The waves aren’t crashing against us anymore. The portal is closed. It will stop soon.’
A few moments later, they saw he spoke the truth as the ship began to even out. It was still pitching as if in choppy seas, but no longer with the violence of the past few minutes.
‘Are you all right?’ Quin asked Lily as she sat up and rubbed the back of her head. She nodded.
‘What was that?’ she asked shakily.
‘A breach,’ Quin muttered.
At her blank stare, he rolled his eyes. ‘You’ve heard of portals, yes?’
The girl frowned at him. ‘Yes, of course I’ve “heard of portals”,’ she said scathingly, not flinching at the menacing look Quin gave her. Bastian’s brows rose. It was true he didn’t know his Brother well, but if the girl wasn’t careful, Bastian was quite sure Quin would be stinging her backside with the lash. From his expression, it was practically a certainty – when, not if.
Bastian swallowed hard as an image of her stripped and her wrists tied with long rope to a high tree bough entered his mind. He hadn’t donethatwith a woman in a while, he thought, his cock stirring to life as he imagined her trapped there, stretched taut and at his mercy.
He tried to bring himself back into the moment. Quin was still staring at her with that impatient look on his face.
Finally he spoke through clenched teeth, but she didn’t seem to notice Quin was angry, close to losing his temper, it looked like, for whatever reason. ‘Well, the bridges don’t only appear on land.’
Her mouth opened and closed again. ‘Oh,’ she said. ‘You mean a portal openedunder the sea?
‘Aye.’
‘I— I’ve never heard of that before,’ she murmured as she sat on the bed, her hand over her chest as if that alone would calm her racing heart.
‘Shocking,’ he said under his breath, and she stiffened but didn’t say anything more.
Bastian sauntered in, intending to get himself some more wine now that the little adventure was over, but before he could even close the door, they heard yells from the deck.
‘Gods, now what?’ Quin snarled and pushed past him into the corridor. ‘Stay with the girl,’ he ordered Bastian.
Bastian snorted. It wasn’t as if she was going anywhere. But he sat at the table and poured himself a drink anyway, avoiding her gaze in case she was going to mention his drinking habits again. But she said nothing, just walked over to the porthole and peered out into the darkening sky.
‘Do you know anything about the portals?’ she asked quietly from behind him, and he peered over his shoulder.
‘As much as the next person,’ he half lied. He wasn’t an authority on them, but he did know more than mortals did.
‘I heard once that Dark Realm creatures can come through into our realm,’ she said.
He chuckled at the notion. ‘Impossible,’ he told her. ‘There are wards in place to prevent such things.
‘I heard—’
Whatever Lily was about to say was drowned out by the bang of the cabin door being thrown open, Quin’s form obscuring the threshold. He was breathing heavily. ‘Grab what you can,’ he ordered. ‘We’re leaving.’
‘What?’ Lily said, her eyes like saucers. ‘To go where? We’re on a boat!’
‘So help me, woman, do not test me now,’ he snarled so vehemently that this time she did recoil. ‘Mal is making sure they don’t leave without us.’
Bastian moved quickly, gathering up their packs while Lily fumbled to put on her cloak.
‘Move!’Quin yelled at her when she hesitated.
‘I need my gloves!’ she spat at him angrily.
‘By the gods! Leave them and come!’
