Page 56 of Seaborn and the Seven Seas

She turned to face me. “Nam knew more than she let on. I bet she ate or did something to bleed red.” She slapped the bars. “Hey… assholes. I need help.”

“I believe the same. Nam protected us by not telling us what we were.” My words slurred like I had drunk ale, my body heat spiking higher. I’d never felt this sick before.

Footsteps thumped down the corridor, then a soldier appeared. “What do you need, girl?”

He didn’t sound angry. In fact, he was smiling flirtatiously.

“We need a nursemaid. My sister is sick.”

The soldier’s eyes moved past her to me, taking in the wound, the sweat, the way I was leaning against the wall. Something calculating moved behind his expression.

“What do I get?” he drawled.

Minha leaned her hips against the bar, licking her lips. “Depends on what you bring me.”

A smile spread to his ears. So they had done this dance before. I didn’t know when Minha had learned to negotiate with guards, but watching her work, I had a feeling she’d had plenty of practice since the fisherman’s ship.

“I’ll go get her,” he said, and disappeared back down the corridor.

Minha dropped to her knees beside me, pressing the back of her hand to my forehead.

“You’re burning up, Sis,” she murmured.

“How do you know so much?” I barely heard my own voice, sweat soaking through my suit.

“I was always in Nam’s business more than anyone else. Always asking questions she was tired of answering.”

We shared a weak laugh.

“I miss those days.” I lowered my head to the ground to cool my face. “Even though we were prisoners, I miss our family.”

“I know.” Her voice cracked. “I think about them all the time. But after we get out of here, we’re going after them. Now that we know what we are, we are more dangerous than anyone in that cavern ever let us believe.”

“Yes,” I punched that word with every beat of my heart.

“When I was with the fisherman, I’d thought my life was over.” Minha lay beside me, her voice dropping low.

I understood. Russo had been cruel.

“What did he make you do?” I closed my eyes, then fluttered my eyes open.

“Fish.” She let out a short laugh. “Open shells. Same as always, just different water.” She picked at the hay. “But then Theron’s ship appeared one morning off the starboard side. The fisherman didn’t even protest. It was like he feared him. He took the gemstones and handed me over like I was cargo he was glad to be rid of.”

“And Theron, what was he like with you?”

“Distant. Not unkind. He had to deliver me to the Seelie queen. He didn’t look at me the way he looks at you though.”

I didn’t want to ask what she meant by that, but curiosity always won. “How does he look at me? You’ve never seen us together.”

“I saw him in the front row.” She shrugged. “And I’m very observant.”

“And?” My eyes felt heavy.

“Like you’re a problem he can’t solve.” She pushed a strand behind my ear.

I closed my eyes. Heat radiated from the wound in slow pulses, spreading up through my shoulder and into my chest. Each breath cost more than the last.

“Minha.”