Page 37 of Wicked Tides
I stared toward the rocks, trying not to be obvious as I said, “Well enough that you know who I am.”
She hesitated. “Your ship is far out at sea. You cannot get to it without us. You cannot get to your ship without your boat.”
“What boat?” I said, almost laughing.
“You do not think we could bring your fragile human body here without one, did you? You’d have drowned before Dahlia had her fun.”
I sighed, leaning my head back against the post. “What do you want?”
“I cut you free, you help kill the xhoth.”
I wasn’t going to ask her to clarify that. There was only one thing on that island that could possibly be “the xhoth.”
“I’m prepared to die here,” I said. “Why would I help you?”
She inched closer to my ear, still not coming out of the shadows behind me.
“Because your crew doesn’t know what’s coming. You could change that. If you care for them, that is.”
I tried to bite back the worry that sparked. I was going to try and negotiate with the woman, but my options were limited. I knew she was implying that I help her free Dahlia, which meant she was still alive. I also knew she couldn’t do it alone. To be desperate enough to enlist my help meant she had no other choice. It also meant she and Dahlia were close. It was a weakness I could exploit if it ever came down to it.
I weighed my options quickly and ultimately, if I had a chance of getting off that rock alive and back to my crew, I had to take it.
“How many?” I asked.
“Four. My sister waits on the other side of the island to aid us.”
“I help kill them and then what? How do I know you’ll help me in return?”
“You don’t. But I promise that right now, a whole skryll of us is under the belly of your ship just waiting to eat your entire crew alive. You get Dahlia out of this, she calls them off.”
She slid the blade closer to me, tempting me to take the offer. I deduced a couple of very significant things in those brief moments. One, the creatures that had interrupted Dahlia’s playtime were no friends of hers. Two, she was very important to her companions. It wasn’t surprising considering she was Reyna’s daughter. It was enough to pique my interest.
With another sigh and a glimpse at the moon, which I thought only moments ago would be my last, I nodded.
“Better get on with it, then.”
She sliced my binds instantly, freeing my wrists. My shoulders were cramped. My hands were numb. I was stiff as a goddamn cripple.
But I’d been worse.
I picked up the blade and took a quick survey of the area to know the terrain I had to work with. Rolling my shoulders, I rocked forwardinto a crouch and glanced over my shoulder to see the woman hiding in the shadows. Like the dead one, she had silvery hair, pale skin and faintly glowing freckles on her admittedly beautiful face. Her white eyes caught mine and she moved back an inch, untrusting.
I wanted to refuse her offer, jump into the sea, and take my chances, but I knew it would have ended quickly, either to drowning, sharks, or one of the many fiends beneath the waves. I shook my head and hissed with aggravation, knowing I had no other choice.
Fuck.
Standing at full height, I tested my mobility as I marched toward the gilled beasts across the little rock island. The water was getting higher and soon that whole place would be under the waves just like Dahlia had said. I was the only one there at a true disadvantage because I didn’t have fins.
The first “xhoth” I spotted had his back turned and was staring into the dark sea. I lifted the old sword and kissed the cool metal of its blade before rushing him. He spun as soon as I put my leather boot down hard enough to be heard. I thrust the blade up through his chin until it hit his skull, but it went no further.
Tough creatures. His bones were dense, but all things had a weakness.
He gurgled on black blood before clawing at his wound. I slid my blade free and then jammed it between his ribs, searching for soft tissue. At that point, the little island of horrors was up in arms. The creatures made a terrible wheezing screech as they moved in to fight. I spun just as my first kill crumpled into a twitching mess of unnatural limbs at the edge of the rocks. I kicked him into the water, but just before I took my eyes off the waves below, I spotted something I could use.
A goddamn boat.
I growled to myself, watching for a moment as its wooden edge knocked against the rocks.
