Page 64 of The Lost Child

I tied both leather belts together, then tied the end of Macguire’s to the bottom of the window. I leaned out, mindful of the glass edges that jutted out here and there. I judged the distance to the rocks below to be about thirty meters—or the length of one of my father's biggest ships.

And that was just to the rocks, not the soft, sandy shore underneath them.

Fuck.

Canavar roared again, closer this time. I heard my own father shouting, likely at his pet draken to do his bidding. How anyone could discriminate between friend and foe in such a crush was a problem I didn’t want to solve.

“Canavar! To me!”

I had to go before father called his dog back to him, and found Macguire dead. I wouldn’t let Canavar be used as a weapon against me. I knew I wouldn’t be able to strike him, not after everything we’d been through. Even though he hurt me, I knew he’d had enough pain in his life. I refused to add to it.

I gave the belt a tug and found it sturdy. Hopefully it was sturdy enough to hold my weight. I put one boot over the side, and took a deep breath. I’d rappel down as far as I could, then try to find a relatively flat rock I’d seen only twenty five feet down. From there, maybe I could wait out the fighting and figure out another way down.

Twenty-five feet was better odds than a hundred.

It would hurt, but I wouldn’t die.

Probably.

I closed my eyes.Mother above, if I’m truly a witch, please let my magick guide me. I slit my palm with my father's dagger for good measure, letting the blood trickle down my skin. There was no answering pressure in my chest for the first time in my life.

Tears pricked at the corners of my eyes.

You couldn’t rely on anyone else but yourself.

I jumped.

Twenty-Two

CANAVAR

Ididn’t need to fight most of them; they shrieked in terror and fled before me. Most of these soldiers had never seen me before, so I appeared to them as a horrific monster come alive from the fairytales their nursemaids had threatened them with as children.

The air was thick with blood and fear. I’d have to pass by the master to get to the room he came out of, the room I knew where Nerissa was.

And Master wasn’t happy I was taking my time getting to him.

“Beast! Stand by me and protect me!”

The soldiers were making a concentrated effort to fight the master, and the pirates were fleeing and saving their own hides. I arrived just as six men surrounded the master, blades out and encircling him. The moment he gave the order, my knees buckled and the sickness rose within me.

I shifted to my human form, and I could breathe again. The urge to obey was still there, but the effects of not listening were much less. I could stand and glare the master down.

“Monster!” one of the soldiers commented, his mouth wide with shock after I’d shifted in front of him.

I turned. “Not a monster.”

The master laughed at that. “A lovely little show, but get back into your true form. Kill them all. I want this deck wet with their blood!” the master demanded. The men in uniform eyed me warily, but stood their ground. They were afraid of me, but made the choice to stay anyway. Obedience was a choice too, I realized.

Only I was tired of it. It was time for a new choice.

“Not a monster.”

I fought through the lingering sickness as I grabbed the master by his neck with one arm, and raised him high into the air. He tried to draw his sword, but I ripped it away with my free arm. The sound of it clattering to the floor was lost in the chaos. The soldiers backed away from me, but kept their formation. They were waiting to see what I would do.

“I’m leaving.”

The fury in his face was worth seeing as he went red, then purple. He grunted and groaned as his hands tried to claw my mine away, but I was much larger and stronger than him.

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