Page 12 of A Song of Shadow and Starlight

I pound on his back as hard as I can. "Put. Me. Down!"

He has the audacity to ignore me, so I beat my fists against his back even harder, earning a grunt from him. I'm oddly satisfied that I've inflicted some pain on my kidnapper and raise my clenched fist to club him, but I stop when he says, "Hit me again and I'll hit you back."

"You wouldn't dare strike me! I'm a princess."

"Go ahead and try it, woman. See what happens."

I should back off, but for some reason, I can't. I feel as if I've been challenged and have to assert my dominance to let him know he doesn't intimidate me. I crunch my elbow into the middle of his back. A groan escapes his lips but before I can enjoy my short-lived defiance, he retaliates by smacking his callous hand against my ass.

"Behave," he hisses.

"Touch me again and I'll cut your balls off in your sleep."

"I'd like to see you try, Princess," he snarls.

"Let go of me!" I wiggle to escape his grasp but fail.

"Keep making all that noise and I guarantee something worse than a constrictor will find us." By his tone, I know he's telling the truth. I have no desire to find out what else might be lurking in the jungles, so I accept my temporary fate and let him carry me all the way back to camp, determined to wait for another opportunity to flee.

Five

ThanktheStarswefinally reach a clearing. The flicker of a campfire catches my attention, even though I'm not able to get a good look since I'm still bouncing over Atlas' shoulder like a limp deer.

"You found her?" I hear one of the brothers say and Atlas bobs his head.

"Almost got herself eaten whole by a constrictor," he says nonchalantly, and I want to slam my elbow into his back once more just for good measure. Before I get the chance to act on my impulsive and vengeful thought, the Tronovian barbarian plops me down on a log in front of the crackling campfire.

"You're welcome," he says over his shoulder as he stalks to the other side.

"And what exactly am I thanking you for? You can hardly expect me to thank you for kidnapping me."

"You were about to be snake food." He whips around, eyes zeroed in on mine.

"Better the snake than you, Tronovian prick." I spit at his feet, but he doesn't take the bait.

Atlas crouches in front of me, and I hate that I shrink back, but at least I maintain eye contact with him. "If you run off again," his voice is low and predatorial, "I'll hunt you down. There is nowhere you can go that I won't find you."

I narrow my eyes, and although I know I should keep my mouth shut, I can't help but hiss, "I will escape you,Trinkiti."

The derogatory slang, roughly translated toUnclean Bloodline,doesn't seem to bother him one bit as he smirks and says in an amused but menacing voice, "Then you'll pay the consequences every time I have to retrieve you."

"Ifyou catch me," I growl in response.

Atlas flashes a wicked smile. "Oh Princess, I willalwayscatch you." He pops up from his crouched position and turns on his heel to walk back into the jungle.

"And where are you going?" I ask, but he doesn't break stride as he flashes a grin at me over his shoulder.

"Miss me already?"

I scoff, folding my arms over my chest, my focus lingers on his back as he disappears into the darkness. A cleared throat draws my gaze. The other crew members are gathered on the opposite side of the campfire, huddled together. All three sets of eyes are fixed on me, and I'm surprised none of them look remotely angry. They'd be well within their right to hate me since I sank their ship and could have been the cause of their drownings, but instead, I find mirth and kindness. I would have preferred their hatred.

I glance at Eris. I flash back to seeing her swimming in her water form and shudder. Sitting across from me is a man I stabbed but didn't kill, a crafty Hydran spy, a quiet scholar with an incessant need to clean his glasses, and off in the jungle is that brute of a leader who seems to love sneaking around in the dark. I'm surrounded by demons and witches, and I wish I could disappear. I glance from one to the next. “Are you magic wielders?”

Nyx bobs his head. The smirk on his face is filled with amusement. “Regeneration.”

Meaning he can heal at an exponential rate. He can even regrow limbs, if needed. No wonder I hadn't killed him.

I glance at the other two. Finn is furiously trying to wipe his spectacles clean for the hundredth time. He slips his glasses on and meets my inquisitive glare.

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