Children of Blood and Bone - Tomi Adeyemi Page 0,154

scream, the darkness never comes. I taste my own blood—

“Zél?”

Amari’s face swims through the blackness. I squeeze her hand so hard her knuckles crack. I open my mouth to apologize, but I can’t form the words. A sob threatens to creep up my throat.

Amari puts her other hand around me and turns to Roën. “Can we avoid them?”

Roën pulls a collapsible telescope from his pocket and presses it against his eye. “That one’s easy, but not the fleet behind it.”

He hands me the telescope, but Amari comes to my rescue and snatches it away. Her body goes rigid as she takes in the sight.

“Skies,” she curses. “Father’s battleships.”

Saran’s cold eyes flash into my mind and I whip around, gripping the wooden ledge of Roën’s boat to stare out at the sea.

I wouldn’t be doing my job as king if I didn’t remind you what you are.

“How many?” I manage to croak, but that isn’t what I want to ask.

How many of his lieutenants are on the ships?

How many wait to scar me again?

“At least a dozen,” Amari answers.

“Let’s take another path,” Tzain offers.

“Don’t be foolish.” The mischievous glint in Roën’s gray eyes reignites. “Let’s take the closest ship.”

“No,” Amari objects. “That will give us away.”

“They’re in our way. And by the looks of it, they’re headed to this island, too. What better way to get there than on one of their own warships?”

I stare at the colossal vessels in the crashing sea. Where’s Inan? If Saran’s aboard one of those ships, is Inan with him?

The thought is too hard to speak out loud. I lift up another silent prayer. If any god above cares for me, I’ll never have to face Inan again.

“Let’s do it.” Dozens of faces turn to me, but I keep my gaze on the sea. “If all those ships are headed to the island, we have to be smarter, efficient.”

“Exactly.” Roën tilts his head in my direction. “Käto, head for the nearest ship.”

As the boat speeds up, my heart beats with enough force to break free of my rib cage. How will I face Saran again? What good will I be without my magic?

I grab my staff with shaking hands and flick to expand it.

“What’re you doing?”

I look up to find Roën at my side.

“We need to take the warship.”

“Love, that’s not how this works. You hired us for a job. Sit back and let us do it.”

Amari and I glance at each other before turning to the monstrous battleship.

“You really believe you can accomplish this without our help?” Amari asks.

“Taking it is easy. The only question is how fast we can do it.”

He gives a hand signal to two men. They withdraw a crossbow with a hook and rope. Roën raises a fist, presumably to release the arrows, but pauses and turns to me. “What’s your limit?”

“What?”

“What are we allowed to do? Personally, I prefer a clean throat slit, but with the sea, drowning could be efficient, too.”

The ease with which he speaks of ending human life sends a chill through my skin. It’s the calm of a man who fears nothing. The calm that sits in Saran’s eyes. Though I can’t sense the spirits of the dead right now, I don’t want to imagine how many spirits would swarm around Roën.

“No killing.” The order surprises me, but as soon as it leaves my lips, it feels right. So much blood has already been spilled. Whether we win or lose tomorrow, these soldiers don’t need to die.

“You’re no fun,” Roën groans before turning to his men. “You heard her—take them out, but keep them breathing.”

A few mercenaries grumble and my heart shivers; how often is death their first answer? Before I get a chance to ask, Roën flicks out two sharp fingers.

The crossbow releases and hooks through the wooden hull of the ship.

Roën’s biggest man ties the end of the rope around his massive frame to keep it secure.

The mercenary Roën calls Käto rises from the boat’s steering wheel and makes his way to the newly taut rope.

“Pardon,” Käto mutters in Orïshan as he brushes past. Though a mask obscures much of his face, he shares Roën’s coloring and angular eyes. But where Roën has been brash and taunting, Käto has only been cordial and serious.

Käto reaches the other side of the boat and pulls on the rope to test its hold; satisfied, he jumps on and wraps his legs around it. My lips part in surprise as he shimmies up with the speed of