Court of Sunder (Age of Angels #2) - Milana Jacks Page 0,8

body, especially not how certain girly parts of me fluttered as his violet eyes stared into mine.

During his time in the keep, his hair had grown, and, now wet, it stuck to his forehead. His beard covered the bottom of his handsome face, but I’d seen what he looked like shaved, his strong, prominent jaw and that mouth many of us in the regiment wished to kiss. I moved the hair away from his forehead.

“Again. Deep breath.” He inhaled as if to show me how.

I shook my head. “Can’t we swim?”

“You’re too slow.”

“Actually, I’m a fast swimmer.”

A quirk of his lips. “Not fast enough. We have more than half a day to reach Sunder’s waters, and you won’t make it. Deep breath.”

The fear of going underwater again got the better of me. “No, don’t.”

“Soldier, you can follow my orders, or I’ll swim on my own.”

I narrowed my eyes. “You sound pissy. I remind you that I didn’t intend to be a burden during your escape and that you kidnapped me.”

“One more word of defiance. I dare you, mortal.”

I spun away. “Don’t ‘mortal’ me, angel.”

“Archangel,” he corrected.

Asshole, I thought. I swam away, slow strokes so I could swim for as long as possible or half a day, whichever was needed. I’d never swum for half a day, but the power he’d channeled through me warmed me up and made my body stronger. Salt water in the eyes wasn’t the most pleasant feeling, and I blinked. It kept burning.

Ahead of me, I spotted land, a beacon of hope.

“Look,” I said, turning, only then realizing I spoke to nobody. He’d left. He’d really left me out here. Fine. Just as well, because I found an island, and I would rest, eat, and sleep. Okay, maybe not sleep.

I moved toward it, keeping my target in sight, blinking to chase away the salt as I swam. One second I saw it, the next I didn’t. Pausing for rest, I searched for the coast. Gone. It was gone! Oh my God. The island had been right there! I couldn’t be that disoriented, could I? With Lord Raphael nowhere to be seen, I started shivering again. I spun in circles, fear threatening to sink me. I spun and spun and finally spotted a gray-and-yellow mountain of land again.

I resumed swimming toward the island, my arms trembling. Before my eyes, it disappeared once more. I spun around in a circle. Nothing but water. I’d freeze out here.

“Lord Raphael,” I called out.

Nothing.

“I’m sorry for disobeying. Come back. Please.” I wasn’t too proud to beg. Nope. Without him, I’d die out here.

He didn’t answer. Oh, but something else did. A massive creature rose out of the water, its broad back rising over the waves, showing clusters of neon-yellow scales over its body. Slowly, ever so slowly, I lay on my back and paddled my feet underwater, backing away from the creature. “Lord Raphael,” I pleaded. “I will never disobey you again. I swear it. Please.” The “island” moved toward me.

“Oh my God.” I paddled faster. “If you save me, Lord, I will be the best soldier ever. All obedience. Zero sass. Come back.”

I bumped into something, and, afraid to turn, I fisted my hands.

A hand came over my mouth and dunked me under. Lord Raphael propelled us forward toward the creature. I couldn’t protest, or I’d lose my breath again. When we reached the massive creature, Raphael flipped us and surged up, then back down and caught the creature’s moving fin. The neon-yellow scales on it lit up, and the creature screeched, trying to shake us off, but the angel hung on to it. Lord Raphael tried to calm me and give me air, but the fin flipped us back and forth, the motion making my belly rise. After I vomited into the water, darkness crept into the corners of my vision. I saw him watching me. I smiled woozily, letting the darkness take me under, somehow knowing, in my soul, he wasn’t gonna let me die.

I awoke in a fit of coughing, turned on my side, and vomited again, lungs burning, stomach up to my throat, trying to expel something that wasn’t there. I gagged and wiped my eyes, finally able to calm down. On my side, I lay there, staring at sand and water and the setting sun. We’d reached the west, the Court of Sunder, Lord Raphael’s territory, and, most importantly, land. Hallelujah.

“You made it,” came from my left, and I turned to see Lord Raphael sitting,