of opponent he’d been waiting for, but how best to go about it? A duel on boats would be no fun. No real footing, not for the kind of power he’d be throwing around. Maybe he could spoil the man’s ship and send him running to shore?
Den was still thinking over his options when he felt something brush against his spirit. He froze, taking in the feel of it. It was a wizard’s will, a familiar one. He focused on the pressure, trying to place it, and found himself facing the shore. Den leaned out over the railing. A man was standing on the beach. This far, his face wasn’t clear, but Den didn’t need to see his face. That stance was unmistakable.
Pure joy flooded through him. He’d thought he was lucky to find the swordsman, but here was a fight Den had been waiting on for decades. He glanced back at the Oseran boats. They were coming around again, the swordsman riding the prow of the flagship with his sword out. Shaking his head, Den turned away. The swordsman could wait. If he was good enough to split a palace ship, then these idiots wouldn’t be able to touch him. He’d still be around later. Meanwhile, he was going to deal with some unfinished business.
Den turned to the panicking captain and grabbed him by the shoulder, lifting him clear off the deck and holding him there until he was sure he had the man’s undivided attention.
“I need a boat.”
The captain’s face went pale with terror. “The Empress said—”
“The Empress and I have a deal.” Den tightened his grip. “I get to kill whomever I want. Now give me a boat.”
“Fine!” the captain cried. “Just put me down!”
Den dropped him, and the captain collapsed in a heap. His officers rushed forward, but the captain waved them away. “Give the Empress’s champion a boat,” he gasped, clutching his shoulder. “Let him do as he likes.”
The officers looked at Den, and then one ran off toward the lifeboats. Den nodded to the captain and turned to follow. He stepped into the boat and sat down, waiting impatiently as a crew lowered him down the long drop from the deck to the sea. The moment he hit the water, Den opened his spirit.
“Take me to the shore,” he said, stomping on the boards.
The boat gave a terrified creak and obeyed, shooting across the water as fast as it could go.
“Sire!” one of Josef’s rowers shouted. “There’s a boat headed for the shore!”
Josef looked over his shoulder. They were circling to avoid the arrows, waiting for their chance to strike the next palace ship. Now was the perfect moment for the enemy to counter.
“I’d hoped we’d have a bit longer,” he said. “How big a boat?”
The captain grabbed the glass from his neck and peered through it. “Looks like a lifeboat, sire. I see one man.”
Josef held out his hand and the captain handed the glass over. Sure enough, a rowboat with one occupant was rushing toward the shore faster than their runners. Josef scowled. The sailor looked normal enough. Huge, certainly, and a fighter, but he didn’t seem to have a weapon. The man’s face was in profile, but he looked familiar, somehow. Josef was trying to place him when he heard Nico suck in a breath.
“That’s Den the Warlord.”
“The traitor?” the captain said, squinting at the tiny boat. “Impossible. He’d be an old man by now if he’s still alive at all.”
“It has to be Den,” Nico said with absolute certainty. “He’s the only person whose soul could look like that.”
Josef had no idea what she meant, but he was too preoccupied to care. “Captain, turn us around. Den the Warlord killed five thousand men in one night when he defected. We can’t let him land.”
“No,” Nico said.
Josef looked at her in surprise, but Nico just clenched her fists.
“You’re the only one who can sink the palace ships,” she said. “And that’s the only thing keeping the fleet at bay. If you leave now, the fleet will cross the shallows before the tide and this whole mission is for nothing.”
“It won’t matter if Den’s already finished the job,” Josef growled. “Turn us around.”
“No,” Nico said again.
Josef jerked at the determination in her voice. “Nico…”
“You’re king now,” Nico went on. “Your duty is here.” She looked back at the shore. “I’ll stop Den.”
“Nico, no,” Josef said. “Den’s the highest bounty in Council history and maybe the best fighter in the world. I have to—”
“You can’t make it there fast enough,” Nico said, her voice firm. “I can. Or don’t you think I can win?”
Josef set his mouth in a stubborn line. “It’s not that I think you can’t win,” he said. “It’s what I think you’ll have to do to get there.”
“I already won my hardest fight,” she said, lifting her chin. “Stay and be king, Josef. It’s what you promised. Besides, it’s my turn to do something for you.”
Josef clenched the Heart’s hilt. “This isn’t some damn give-and-take, Nico. You don’t owe me this.”
“You’re right,” Nico said. “I don’t. It’s my choice to fight for you, and that’s what I’m going to do.”
Josef turned with a curse. “Fine,” he growled, running his free hand through his wet hair. “Just promise me you won’t do anything stupid.”
“I’ll do what I have to,” Nico said, sliding into the mast’s shadow. “Same as you.”
“Nico!” Josef’s arm shot out, but his fingers caught nothing but air. He was too late. She was gone.
The boat rocked as he lurched toward the shore, but he couldn’t see anything from this angle. He cursed again, louder this time, slamming the Heart’s pommel against the boat so hard they nearly tipped.
“Sire?” the captain said nervously when the worst of the boat’s rocking had passed. “Are we going back?”
Josef closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Nico was a survivor. If she decided to win, she would win. She would survive and come back to him, no matter what. Josef held that truth in his mind as tight as he held the Heart and he forced himself to let the anger, and the fear at its root, go. Slowly, the battle calm settled over his mind again. When he was sure he could trust himself, Josef straightened up and turned to face the captain.
“Our job hasn’t changed,” he said. “But we’re fighting on two fronts now. Nico will hold the beach, so it’s up to us to hold the water. Now bring us around, and let’s hit another ship.”
“Aye, sire,” the captain said. “Full speed!”
The men shouted to the other boats as the Oseran fleet shot forward. Josef stepped back onto the prow, Heart in his hand, but when he tried to clear his mind in preparation for the next strike, all he could see was Nico vanishing into the dark.
The Heart jerked angrily in his hands, and Josef pushed the vision away, pouring himself into the present as the runners raced toward their next target.
CHAPTER
21
Nico stepped out of the shadows and onto the small crescent of sand beneath the storm wall. Tesset was already there, standing with his boots in the surf as he watched the lone boat that was just now entering the bay’s mouth.
“You should not have come,” he said without looking. “This man is mine.”
“And this island is Josef’s,” Nico said, moving to stand beside him. “I have no interest in interrupting your fight, but I cannot let Den past this beach.”
Tesset laughed softly. “What did the swordsman do to deserve such devotion? Save your life?”
“Countless times,” Nico said. “But that’s not why.” She raised her arms, pushing back her hood. “He believed in me, even when there was nothing to believe in.”
“You are a strange creature, daughter of the demon,” he said, shaking his head. “I am glad I met you.”
“And I you,” Nico said, walking back up the beach. “Fight well, Tesset.”
Tesset nodded, but his eyes never left the man standing in the boat that cut across the bay on its own
