“I can put up a shield.” He nodded, and I went down, trying to be quiet. When I reached the second level down and opened the door, I saw movement at the end of the hall and threw my hands up. Sebastian prowled out of one of the rooms at the far end.
There is no one here left alive.
As he moved forward, I saw the bloody paw prints he left behind. I expected to feel something, but there was only the need to find Rand and Olen and get off this ship—though I was relieved I didn’t have to see the carnage the big cat had probably left in his wake.
“That leaves one more level.” I turned around and went back to the stairs, hugging the wall to brush past Dorn and Arella. “Let’s go.”
Cracking open the door to the last level, I heard voices echoing toward us from somewhere at the far end. This area was more spacious than the two upper levels. Cautiously, we spread out, each of us making our way around bolted down tables and chairs in what must be a mess hall.
The voices became louder, sounding desperate, and I could make out some of the words now.
“We’re not going back empty handed. You’re trapped down here, out of bullets, and your fishy friend there doesn’t look so good. Give us the fish-man and we’ll let you go.”
Was the king injured? The language Rand used to respond to their demand shocked me. At the same time, pride bloomed in my chest. Even cornered, he wasn’t going down without a fight.
Arella grabbed my arm. “The king, he has been too long out of the water. He will be weakening by now.”
I didn’t know how everything was laid out ahead of us, or exactly where Rand and Olen were. It sounded like whoever was speaking wanted Olen alive, so that was something, at least. If I went in, magick blazing, would they simply shoot the men anyway?
Follow me.
Turning, I expected to see Sebastian charging down the hall. Instead, he was in his house cat form, trotting casually past us. Arella looked confused, as did Dorn. I trusted Sebastian with my life. A familiar, even one not a witch’s own, would never allow a First witch to come to harm if he or she could help it. Besides, Zara’s life and those of their kits were at stake if anything happened to me. I followed him, motioning to my companions.
When he got to the open doorway at the end of the hall, he sat down and yawned. Then he laid down. The voices coming from the room went silent.
“Sal, does this ship have a cat?”
“What? I don’t know. Why?”
“There’s a cat laying outside the door.”
Sebastian rolled onto his back, batting at the air above him playfully.
“Forget the damn cat! Eyes forward, man. That fish-man might not look so good, but that doesn’t mean he ain’t dangerous. You saw the damage that little one did to Russ.”
“I know, I know. Are cats supposed to be good luck on a ship? Even black cats?”
“Yeah, cats take care of the mice and crap. Wait, did you say black? How big is it?”
Sebastian rolled back to his belly and sprang through the doorway, shifting mid leap. There was a scream, a sickening crunch, shots fired, and then sounds of fighting. I ran for the door, throwing my shield up as I entered the room. Sebastian had one man down on the floor while another tried to fend Rand’s fists off, his gun thrown to the far side of what appeared to be some sort of stockroom. An unmoving body lay in a pool of spreading blood against a shelving unit. My feet skidded to a halt and I stood there, not sure what to do.
“Hey, beautiful.” Rand caught the man’s arm, twisted, and drove him to the ground with a knee in back. “Would you mind looking around for something to tie this guy up with? I’m out of zip ties.”
Arella pushed past me and ran for Olen, who was pulling himself to his feet. His coloring looked off and his breathing was labored. “He needs the water. Come, my love.” She pulled him out of the room, only pausing for Olen to hand me Spellbreaker. Dorn started to follow them, but hesitated.
“Go. We’ll wrap this up.” I began searching the bins on the shelves for something suitable for tying a man up with. I almost whooped in victory as I pulled out a package of heavy duty zip ties. I pulled several out and handed them to Rand to secure the man’s arms. As I bent down, I caught a whiff of myself and backed away quickly. Trixie’s impromptu ocean water shower may have gotten some of the worst of the smell off, but I still reeked—I could only imagine what my hair and the rest of me looked like. With a sigh, I decided I was too tired to care. Right now, I just wanted to get off this ship, get those children back home, and sleep for a week.
Rand jerked the man up to his feet. Sebastian sat a few feet
