Page 20 of Trapped By Claws
Relief poured through me. Yes! They were getting in the longboats.I spotted Mama in her green shawl.
They were on their way back.
I watched as they made their preparations, everyone moving swiftly and with purpose.
A strange scent reached me, bitter and acrid, like lightning and venom.
Something moved in the water, coming up from the bottom and floating into sight.
I halted.
No.
Not one something.
Strange shapes moved in the water. Large and pale, somewhere between lavender and pink. They wriggled and spasmed.
Jellyfish?
The sentry in the crow's nest shouted. "Boundary line's moving! Boundary line's moving!"
My gaze snapped up. The three longboats in the water still had a ways to go. Jellyfish were swarming around them as well. A great column of them. The boundary was made of jellyfish?
The wind howled as it strengthened, and the sea roughened.
I tucked the book into my dress pocket and prepared to help.
Something scraped against the side of the ship.
I spun as the rain spattered against my face, cold and sharp as needles.
Thunder cracked and lightning flashed, highlighting the figure that now stood on the tentacled carving at the end of the stern.
Corvin!
A DESPERATE BARGAIN
Corvin's cloak billowed and whipped against him, his silhouette dark against the greying sky. "This ship will be destroyed," he said, his voice cold as the rain grew stronger and the wind sliced against the ship. "The warnings were given in due time. Your captain did not listen."
My blood thundered in my ears. "It's the storms," I protested, hugging the charcoal wool shawl around my shoulders. "They're on their way back." There was no denying that they were beyond the boundary. "As soon as they're back, we'll leave."
"The law has no mercy, and I have no choice." His voice remained hard, but a twinge of something—sorrow, disappointment, anger, grief?—passed through his eyes. "The ship must be destroyed."
"Please." I crossed closer to the railing as I looked up at him. My heart raced faster, my tongue thick in my mouth. I almost reached out to grip his trouser leg and then fell back, holding my hands to my chest. "There has to be something you can do. Otherwise, you wouldn't be here. There's a reason you're telling me this."
Thunder boomed, and the ship heaved on the swelling waves. I lurched forward and grabbed the railing. Somehow heremained steady, simply moving with the ship as if he were a part of it.
"I don't want you to die," he said roughly. His eyes narrowed on me as he crouched down. Leaning forward, his hand rose to my cheek, his claws grazing my skin.
My breath caught in my throat. I struggled to process his words as the wind tore at my hair and shawl. "If you destroy this ship, I will die."
"Not if you come with me." His gaze hooded, his voice going lower and becoming more urgent. "I can protect you. I will protect you. Just come with me."
"And leave everyone else?" I set my jaw, resisting the urge to look back toward the island and the boats that were desperately struggling through the mounting waves and the torrents of jellyfish.
"I don't care about them," he said, his voice darkening. "I care about you." He reached for my wrist.
I shook my head, drawing back, hand clasping my shawl. "What about a bargain? You fae love bargains, right?" My skin crawled even as I said it, but it was all I could think of.
