Snake Heart (Chains of Honor #2) -Lindsay Buroker Page 0,91
they would get the lodestone when he dropped to his death.
Are you offering a better deal? Yanko found himself asking, both because his hands wouldn’t support his weight indefinitely and because this was, however unlikely it seemed, a chance to get away from Dak and make sure the Turgonians didn’t get to the new-old continent first.
Same deal as before. Come with me, and I’ll teach you what I know. You will have to stop helping to destroy my ships, though. I might start to take that as a sign that you’re an ungrateful son.
What about the lodestone?
It goes to the people who hired me, unless the Nurians want to pay more.
That does nothing to improve our family’s standing in the eyes of the Great Chief. Nor would it help him earn the exoneration he needed after the crimes he’d committed when fleeing Red Sky.
The Great Chief can lick the barrel of my pistol.
“Can you reach it now?” Dak called. “How far did you let yourself fall, Yanko?”
“Too far,” Yanko muttered. He had fallen too far.
He looked up toward the shaft, then down toward the rocks. Days ago—had it truly only been that long?—Dak had said a man always had a choice and that to pretend he didn’t was to make himself a victim. But what was he supposed to do when neither of his choices put him in a better position? When either would be a betrayal to his people. His family. His honor.
“Puntak, puntak,” came a familiar cry from off to the side. Kei flapped toward Yanko, his calls quite cheerful.
Yanko wished he could manage some return cheer for the parrot. While he was relieved that Kei had escaped death on the Prey Stalker, he wanted nothing more than to shoo the bird away, lest he settle on Yanko’s shoulder and the added weight broke the small nub that he hung from.
Not now, friend parrot, he whispered into the bird’s mind, then added an image of Arayevo and Lakeo and where they could be found, promising they would share seeds.
Kei soared past, his wingtip brushing the back of Yanko’s head, then flapped toward the top of the cliff. Good. The parrot should be safe up there. Yanko wished he could be safe somewhere.
Something twitched in the shaft above him. Somehow Dak had extended the rope, and the tip dangled within sight. Another couple of feet, and it would be within reach. If Yanko could give himself a magical boost, he might be able to grab it now.
Someone else’s magic raised the hairs on his neck. Expecting an attack from Pey Lu, Yanko wrapped a shield around himself, similar to what he had used to keep cannonballs from striking the lifeboat. He didn’t think to shield the nub from which he hung.
Between one eye blink and the next, it snapped, and he plummeted toward the rocks.
Chapter 20
With his heart trying to leap out of his throat, Yanko focused on channeling the wind rushing past him and creating a platform under his flailing feet. He definitely did not focus on the sharp rocks jutting upward below or how quickly he descended toward them. The wind gathered, as he commanded it to, and his robe flared outward like a sail to further slow his fall. The latter was luck—though it might be a source of embarrassment when he landed, since the pirates down there had a good view of his smallclothes.
A second wave of wind came up under him, halting his fall completely. It took him a moment to realize that Pey Lu was helping him. Again.
Even though she did not speak to him while he was falling, the words ungrateful son echoed in his mind. She’d said them in jest, or at least with her usual dry humor, but wasn’t there always a kernel of truth in a joke?
He wished he could be grateful for her help and tutelage, but didn’t she see that he was betraying his people whenever he worked with her?
When Yanko landed, one foot on one pointy rock and the other on another, he found six pistols aimed at his chest. Gramon and five other pirates were ready to shoot him. Eager to shoot him, their cold, hard eyes said.
Pey Lu’s pistol was in her holster, and she stood with her hands on her hips, her face difficult to read as she gazed at him. He felt her rake over him with her senses, then her gaze shifted to the pocket that held the artifact.