Page 20 of Veiled Fate
Eventually, even my untrained ears could differentiate the sound of breakers slamming into shore from the sounds of the storm.
“Sit up,” Kiel said, his eyes firmly trained on the lake in front of us. His voice was low, pitched only for me to hear. “I don’t think this will work out well. We’re going to capsize in the breakers. The boats are too small and moving too slow.”
I got to my knees, peering over the side of the boat. There wasn’t much to see in the pure darkness, but as I looked, fresh lightning forked through the sky, showing me the line of waves as they crested and fell against the shore, which was a dark blur out of sight.
Kiel was right.
The boat swept into the breakers and was immediately tossed onto its side, flinging everyone free and into the hard-pounding surf. Even though I was ready for it, the turmoil of the water caught me and sent me spinning. The riptide was brutal, sucking me down and sweeping me into a fresh breaker that slammed me hard into the water as it broke.
I sputtered and broke the surface just long enough to catch a breath before another breaker crashed over me. There was no way to determine which way was up, let alone the shore. I struggled against the pull, holding my breath, hoping my feet might find the bottom.
My back located it for me as a wave flipped me up and over and then slammed me into the shallow water hard enough that the air was driven from my lungs as I hit the sand. My mouth opened as I struggled to breathe, and more water entered. With no air to cough, I immediately began to choke.
A hand closed around my left arm, wrapping tight and trying to haul me up. The fingers dug deep into where I’d been stabbed. Pain lanced up the arm. My scream was just a brutal cough as I tried to suck in air while ridding myself of water.
The man who had grabbed me screamed in pain and fumbled backward. A wave hit me, sending me tumbling into him. He went down in a heap as I took out his legs. Nearby, others struggled against the waters as well. Shouts and cries filled the air as the crew struggled to reach the shore and ensure their fellows did the same.
More hands hauled me to my feet, along with the man who’d helped me. He cradled his arm to his chest while Kiel appeared out of the dark and helped me out of the water and onto the beach, where I fell to my knees. His strong hand slapped my back repeatedly until I hacked up most of the water. I stayed there, resting my head on my hands, focusing on breathing deep and slowly, trying to stifle the panic.
“Are you okay?” Kiel asked, his hand never leaving my back.
“Yeah,” I managed to cough out. “Yeah, I’m fine now. Thank you.”
“Good. Then on your feet.”
I cranked my head around to stare, shocked at his tone. “What’s the hurry? Where’s Andi?”
“We have to go,” he said. “We can’t stay here for long. We have to get moving, Jada. The captain and his men are already on their way. I’m sending Andi with them until she can head for the caves. But it’s you and me who are wanted. We have to get moving.”
I looked up to see that Kiel was correct. Most of the men were already in wolf form. Even as I watched, the captain shifted, the last of his men to do so, as usual. He glanced over at us and then, with an oddly human-style nod, led his men off the beach and into the forest beyond. Andi’s wolf was nowhere to be seen, but I trusted Kiel that she was with them.
“They’ll head west, around the edge of Lake Arcadia, and then out toward Pallas. I gave them one of our contacts there. He’ll ensure they get a new ship and everything. They’ll be safe.”
“We won’t?” I asked, finally feeling recovered enough to stand upright.
Kiel shook his head with a disturbing amount of confidence. “That fire will have been seen from miles around. All the nearby villages will have patrols out, looking for survivors. Especially if the Nehringi has already passed by. He’ll order all the militias out in force. In fact, he probably has. We have to run to get past that.”
“You think he’s made it this far already?” I asked, shivering. The rain was nothing compared to the chilly drop in temperature at the mention of the assassin. I hunched over, arms crossed tight over my chest.
“I don’t know,” Kiel admitted. “Are you willing to take that chance?”
“No, I guess not,” I said. “Not when you’re as right as you are.”
“What do you mean?”
I pointed up the beach behind him, where a hint of light could be seen flickering in the distance. A lantern from a search party, most likely.
“Well, that seals it,” he said, taking my hand as we trotted off the beach, leaving behind the boats and the crew's clothing. They would know we were there. Hopefully, however, the search party would see the tracks of the wolves and assume we had all headed west.
“Where do we go?” I asked. “Back to the caves?”
Kiel shook his head. “No. We stick to the original plan. North. We’ll skirt east of Lycaon itself, cross the river,and then turn northwest toward Nycitum. Hopefully, we can find respite at some villages along the way, but if we have to run, then we run the entire way.”
It made good sense. But so did striking for home, regrouping, and then perhaps heading north toward the mountains. But Kiel was strongly in favor ofnotdoing that. There was more to it than just wanting to get to Mount Triumph, though.
“The Nehringi,” I said, figuring out. “You don’t want to lead them home.”
“No,” he rumbled tersely enough to reveal just how worried he was.
