Chapter 31: Two Worlds Collide

Troy

I woke with a start, the pain in my arm radiating up through my shoulder and my chest. I blinked against the sun as it beat down on the boat, tall grasses surrounding us as the boat bobbed gently in a small eddy, hidden from view of the main river.

Maeve was sitting with her knees to her chest, her forehead resting on her knees as she slept. Her hair was loose and falling over her, shielding her face.

Myla was limp in Cleo’s arms, her breath coming in short, pained gasps.

I got to my knees, using my good arm to grip the side of the skiff and stand just enough to peer over the top of the grasses, looking out over a wide, swampy area of the river.

How much time had passed? It was full daylight now.

This wasn’t right. None of this looked right.

When I had shifted and ran from the port to the castle the night before, I had followed the river. I hadn’t seen an area like this at all. I remember coming to a fork in the river, where a tributary flowed into the main river that ran through the city.

She must have taken it, and now we were very, very far from the port rocking in the skiff in broad daylight.

Sitting ducks.

I cursed under my breath as I shuffled toward the steering wheel, then back to the engine that hung off the back of the boat that powered the small propeller. I opened the gas cap, hoping to see the clear liquid shimmering in the sunlight, but there was none. The engine was completely dry and no longer running.

I had the strangest feeling I was being watched as I screwed the gas cap back on. The women were still asleep; they must have been so exhausted that none of them could stay awake to steer the drifting skiff. Somehow, we hadn’t run aground on the riverbank.

There wasn’t a bird or creature in the marsh with us; no, it was completely silent. The hair on my arms rose as I crouched again, slowly. holding my breath as the sound of another boat’s engine cut through the silence.

The boat came to a stop just ahead of us, turning and maneuvering through the grasses. I stood, clenching my good hand into a fist and swallowing against the lump of fear in my throat. If these were Poldesse’s men, I couldn’t protect these women. I would kill Maeve myself before I’d let them take her.

“Damn, Troy! You look like shit!” Robbie laughed heartily as he came into view, bumping against our skiff with the nose of his boat. I let out the breath I had been holding.

Maeve jumped to her feet, blinking sleep from her eyes. She lunged forward, half asleep, her fist outstretched as though she was going to throw herself on Robbie to defend us.

I caught her by the waist and pulled her back in our skiff, the action sending a fresh wave of intense pain rippling through my arm and shoulder.

I turned to Robbie, nodding at my arm. “I’ve seen better days, man. It’s really good to see you.” In reality I could have thrown my arms around him and kissed him on the mouth. I’d never been more glad to see anyone. “What the hell are you doing here, though? I was going to try to meet up with the crew at the port-”

Robbie shook his head, cutting his engine. “Cap sent me up this way. This river leads out to the eastern end of Valoria. The Persephone is waiting for us there. Cap sent a boat to the port earlier this morning, and they were turned around. The port’s shut down, Troy. Blocked.”

“Poldesse?”

Robbie nodded. It was not the answer I was hoping for.

I had underestimated Damian. I was not the only spy in the castle.copy right hot novel pub