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"I owe the High Prince?—"
I sucked in a sharp breath. I had to stop saying that. Yakobba hated it. After what he'd just done, I had to stop saying it.
"Captain Ashthorn saved my life. I won't allow anyone to be the first to see him." I looked at him again. "Not even you."
Engèli grinned, the smile reaching his ears.
"Aye, Ayella. If you say so." Engèli's eyes twinkled with knowing. "Well, if he wakes up or not, we need to sail this dawn. Kianga will grab your things, then if I have to drag the captain out myself, I will."
"You won't be dragging anything."
Engèli and I whipped.
High Prince Yakobba floated behind us looking more rested than he'd been in dawns. The camp fell silent. Everyone watched him. The pirate prince only had eyes for one angel. Flushing, I ignored the stares, and Engèli's low chuckling, to float up to the prince.
"Captain Ashthorn."
Yakobba's light eyes bored into mine. He didn't blink. Didn't breathe. Just stared, trailing my float until I stopped in front of him, looking up into his eyes. "Thank you."
I didn't know how to begin, fumbling for words like I did when I was a youngling. I felt foolish, but I was so overwhelmed. By now, everyone knew the story and all of its details, save a few Engèli purposefully left out. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have gotten out alive. I would have been taken by the Konda King. No. By the Fallen.
The prince saved me, and it did something to me. Something changed. Even Kianga felt it. She was still snippy with Engèli, but it was all playful. Her bark was gone. And so was mine.
How was I supposed to keep him from the Atlanthyst Stone now? How would I sway him? Did I even want to anymore? Rot. I felt myself swaying under the heat. Without thinking, the pirate prince spread his wings, lifting them to shield me from the sôlsunes. My hearts swelled.
"Thank you, Yakobba," I blinked up at him. "For safe passage. Defending me from the Serène. Saving me from the..." I couldn't say it. My shoulders quivered at the thought of scales, claws, and large, golden eyes.
A ringed finger lifted my chin. When my eyes met Yakobba's, his were dancing.
"Between you and me," he whispered. "I would do it all over again."
He winked, and my knees wobbled.
My chest squeezed. He brushed a few strands of my hair from my face, pushing them back behind my ears. Before I could stop myself, I leaned forward and planted a light kiss on his cheek. I pulled back, body chilled, humming with a dizzying feeling.
Yakobba grew impossibly still. His eyes grew molten. Delicious cold swept through my body. A cough sounded somewhere behind us.
Neither of us moved.
Yakobba watched me, unblinking. His limbs were taut with need. It would be impossible sabotaging his quest now. I couldn't for the life of me take my eyes off of him. The Poisoned Wood had changed us. I wanted to know this pirate prince. I wanted to taste him, too.
The taut vein in his neck only proved he desired the same. My lips curled into a sweet, demure smile. His nostrils flared, his eyes dropping to my mouth.
"Thank you," he said, his voice all husky breath. "For watching me."
"Between you and me," I said, leaning forward like we were exchanging secrets. "I'd do it all over again."
I winked at him.
This time the pirate prince grinned, so wide it filled his face. My chest seized to the point of bursting. Blessed seas! He was so burning handsome.
Yakobba looked as if weights had fallen from his shoulders. Like this, he seemed very much the young, mischievous, trouble making prince.
I opened my mouth to say something else when a screech filled the sky.
We all turned around, heads tilted upward. An enormous beast with ivory, feathered wings, a long golden beak, with matching eyes and amber talons, hovered above. The flying creature never landed, and the ayèl never got off, keeping her own wings tucked into her spine.
"Aisha, what in the rot are you doing?" Yakobba snarled.
