part0030

Ash littered the surface of the ocean. Drying blood caked under Kelia’s fingernails and in her hair. When she finished this mission to kill the Queen, she would come to hate the smell of blood.

Drew set sail for Sangre. Kelia continued to stare ahead of them, holding onto the bannister for dear life.

She had not wanted to kill Horace. Horace had been a good friend…until he wasn’t anymore. He had taught her how to tie a knot and climb a mast. He had taught her how to remain still in a crow’s nest and not get bored.

But he was going to take Drew away from her.

She would always be grateful for Horace’s warmth and acceptance while it had lasted, but Drew was her heart. He could be cruel and unflinching, cold and indifferent, but she loved him more than she loved being alive, and she would do anything for him.

And she knew he would do the same, and more, for her.

Kelia continued to pick the blood from her hands, but it was futile, however. It was as though her hands were stained crimson.

The day passed in silence. Rain continued to fall. At night, she would crawl into bed with Drew and he would hold her. When day came back, they would pull away and continue in silence.

She wasn’t sure why they had fallen apart so soon after they had fallen together. Perhaps it was because he had been short with her. Perhaps it was because he had said cruel things. Or perhaps it was because she had not listened to him yet again, and went after Horace herself.

Because of her pride.

It had been one of the first things Drew talked about. Her pride. Her emotions. Now, she showed nothing, just like he wanted, and she wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

After the third morning, Kelia woke early and paced the deck. Today. It would be today. She could see the beginnings of the island ahead of them. She could smell the scent of impending death lingering before them.

“Are you ready for this?” he asked.

Kelia looked down at her hands and scoffed. “You’ve seen what I have done, and you still ask me such a question?” she asked. “Tell me, will you ever trust me, or should I stop holding out hope.”

Drew opened his mouth as if to respond but stopped himself. After another moment of silence, he said, “We will speak later. It’s time to prepare.”

She should not have been surprised, and yet, she was. Hours passed, and Drew did not speak to her.

As the island loomed closer, Kelia’s her heart leaped into her throat at the sight of the Shadows on the shore. When she spotted the Queen among them, dressed in red, she could not help but stare.

All they needed to do was kill her.

How easy it sounded.

It was one thing, one thing that needed to be done, and then…

Had anybody actually thought about what would happen without the Queen? Who would Shadows answer to? How much weight did the East India Company hold?

In the end, it wouldn’t not matter. Right now, they had to focus on getting through this battle.

The sense of dread was impossible to ignore. Like marching toward one’s death. There was little hope they would survive this.

They had help of witches, magic, and Sirens. They had inside knowledge on how the Queen managed her men. But they were still outnumbered.

“Are you all right?” Drew asked, coming to stand beside her.

“I thought now was not the appropriate time to talk,” she said, arching her eyebrow.

From the corner of her eye, she saw him crack a smile. “As much as I appreciate your dry sense of humor, I wanted to be serious for a moment. You did something that I’m sure you had not prepared for. And I just wanted to tell you—”

“I don’t want to hear anything, Drew,” she murmured, ripping her gaze from the Queen so she could look at him herself. Her eyes sculpted his high cheekbones, his sharp jaw, his deep eyes, his straight nose. She wished she could hold that image of him in her mind when she died, so she would never be forced away from him. “What I was forced to do was terrible, but it’s the price to pay for whatever it is we’re fighting for.”

“You know what we’re fighting for,” Drew said.

“I know I’m here because of you. Not in a way where I blame you for the predicament we are in. Rather, if someone harms you, I feel that same harm and I also feel a desire to do harm. I want the Queen gone because she threatens us. Because she threatens you.”

“We’re fighting for freedom,” Drew said. “You are a Shadow now, too. You fall under the same rules I do. The Sirens want their freedom. I want mine. You ought to want yours as well.”

“Drew,” Kelia said, cutting him off with an edge to her voice. “I want what you want. I want to be with you without worrying about someone close to us betraying you or me because the Queen is upset that you are happy without her. That I, in turn, make you happy in a way she cannot. That is what I am fighting for. You are my freedom. If I don’t have you, all of this has been for nothing.”

Drew swept her into his arms for a long kiss, and Kelia kissed him back, even though her mind screamed at the foolishness of doing something so physically intimate in front of the Queen.

Perhaps that was why he was doing such a thing in the first place. Perhaps, under normal circumstances, she would not be pleased to be used in order to get a reaction out of someone who was supposed to be irrelevant, but she realized there was a chance that this might be the last time she kissed him at all.

Drew pulled away and stared down at her. “I do believe in you, you know,” he said quietly. “I get scared for you, yes, because you are my everything. But I would not be here with you at my side to fight the Queen if I did not believe in you. When you doubt that, remember where you are.”

The long, arduous training Drew put her through that resulted in him being cold and indifferent, and even at times mean, suddenly made sense to her. He had been doing it this way in order to separate himself, to separate his feelings for her.

At that moment, a big, fat drop of water hit her cheek. Black rain clouds huddled overhead, casting dark shadows across the ship’s deck. The ocean surrounding them had a black tint to it, as though even the ocean was shrouded in darkness.

Despite this, Kelia had never before felt so comfortable in her entire life, knowing she was about to embark on on an adventure that would require fighting, surviving, and death. It was as though she finally understood what it meant to be a Shadow.

“Are you ready, my love?” Drew asked. He did not pull away from her, not even as the rain began to pour down harder and harder until they were soaked.

“Ready for the fight?” Kelia asked.

“For the end,” he said, looking down at her hands, which he held in his own. “I probably should have told you before, I do not think I’ll survive this, darling.”

Kelia swallowed. “You lie.”

“You know I wouldn’t lie to you,” he said. “Hide things, certainly. But lie?”

“Then why are we even here? If you have already accepted defeat? What is the point?”

He gripped her chin and tilted her head back before releasing her. He swept the back of his fingers across her cheek, and she could not help but lean into his touch.

“Because I believe you will survive this. And I would gladly give up my life if it meant saving yours.”

“It does not have to be one or the other,” Kelia said. “You’re Drew Knight. You better be the last Shadow standing."

“Besides me,” she amended.

Clearly, neither of them thought they would survive this, but both were doing this to save the other. Maybe that would be what gave them a chance.

Despite the fact that the Queen was at least a half a day away, if not more, Kelia could hear the Queen’s voice clear as the rain on the ship. It must have been part of the magic she had someone conjure for her.

“Good to see you, Katrina,” Drew said, pulling away from Kelia and pushing her behind him. It was as though he did not want the Queen to even see Kelia at all. “You look angry, as usual.”

“If I am angry, you are the reason, Drew Knight.” She stepped forward. From where Kelia stood, she could see the waves crashing into the shore and sliding upward. Still, the water refused to come close to the Queen’s feet, as though it, too, did not even want to touch her. “I have been searching for you for an entire century. No one leaves me. I am your Queen.”

“I am a blood scallywag,” Drew corrected. Kelia knew he did not like to be told what to do, especially by someone he did not respect and who was not important. “I have no queen. I am ruled by no one save for myself. Your Shadows are nothing more than cattle, moving along in whatever way you push them. They do not love you. They fear you.”

“I do not want their love,” the Queen said with a dismissive shrug. “I only want yours.”

“You will never have it. You never had it to begin with.” He paused, waiting for her to respond. When she did not, he continued. “Love is not something you can force on someone, Katrina. And by acting selfish, by turning me into a beast so I would stay with you forever, you guaranteed that you would never possess my heart. You were so insecure, so scared I would run off and leave you in tears, that you took from me the only thing I had ever loved: my freedom. And now, I shall take away the only thing you have ever loved.”

“You plan to kill yourself?” the Queen asked, scoffing.

“You never loved me,” Drew said, wrinkling his nose. “You fool. Are you so blind as to not see what you truly love? It is your power that I will take away."

The ocean filled the tense silence between them. Kelia peeked over Drew’s shoulder to look at the Queen’s face. She was paler than Kelia remembered. Angry, judging by the pinched look on her pretty face. But there was also worry.

The Queen paced the shore, the water moving out of the way of her every step. The only water that came close to her at all was the rain falling gently from the sky.

“I will kill her, you know,” the Queen finally said.

“Not if I kill you first,” Drew replied.

The Queen looked offended and even hurt that Drew would utter such words. Kelia wanted to rip into her, to choke the life out of her. How else would she understand that Drew wanted absolutely nothing to do with her anymore, that Drew would not care if the Queen was dead, that he would have no problem killing her himself?

The Queen shook her head. “You leave me no other choice, Drew Knight.”

She turned to the Shadows behind her and nodded.

And then, the war began.

Shadows emerged from the island. The wind changed directions in a snap. Fire fell from the sky with the rain. Sirens came up from the water and pulled Shadows into the sea in hopes to distract them before killing them. Bethany made her appearance on her boat a few minutes into it, bringing even more Sirens so the numbers did not look so pitiful.

Somehow, Kelia and Drew got separated. Kelia did not know if Drew chose to leave the ship or if he was forced to, but all that mattered was that he was not here and she did not know where he was.

Shadows started to overtake the ship. Kelia positioned herself near Wendy, trying to protect her. She managed to take down two Shadows at one time, dodging attacks and using more than just her hands.

Drew’s cruel and unforgiving training was the reason, and Kelia knew that without a doubt. As much as it pained her to admit it, his cold, harsh direction helped her react instead of think.

A third Shadow managed to get past her and reached Wendy, but Kelia leapt forward and took the blow. Instead of knocking Wendy over and putting the witch in a vulnerable position, the Shadow now had Kelia to contend with.

This one was much more powerful than she anticipated.

The Shadow was nearly as fast as Drew. He knocked Kelia down by tripping her backward and then pounced on top of her, knocking the wind from her lungs. He sprung up and kicked her head with his boot.

Kelia grunted as her head snapped back and hit the deck behind her. Her vision spotted and blurred.

As the Shadow kicked her ribs, she curled her body into the fetal position. Another kick, and she was spitting up blood.

Do something , a small voice inside of her head insisted. You are going to die if you do not pick yourself up .

Blood flew out of her mouth and was immediately washed away by the rain. She groaned as she tried to stand up. Her muscles ached. Was she not supposed to heal quickly? What was taking so damn long?

The Shadow jumped behind her and wrapped his arm around her throat.

“I wish I could kill you now and be done with you,” he whispered against the side of her throat. “But the Queen wants you. And I will do my duty and take you to her.”

Before Kelia could react, fangs pierced her skin and ripped into the flesh on her shoulder. She screamed, and the spots only got darker. It seemed the effort was only to injure her, not drink from her.

Without warning, the Shadow flipped her onto his back and raced off the ship. Kelia was in a state of both pain and shock, and she could not see how he was doing this or where he was going.

A door slammed closed, and the Shadow bounced as if bounding down stairs. Moments later, she was thrown into a heap on the floor.