by Amy Braun
“Don’t know about you,” he prompted with a grin, “but I could go for a spar right now.”
What he really wanted was a distraction. Truth be told, I wanted the same thing. I nodded, hoping it would work, and doubting it all the same.
***
“You need to attack,” Riley repeated.
I held the wooden training sword in front of me, which was feeling ten times heavier in my tired hands. I’d been training with Riley for almost an hour, and hadn’t landed a single strike yet.
“There will be fights where you can’t run,” he said. “You’re going to have to attack your enemies sooner or later. With Hellions, you will have no choice but to destroy them to defend yourself.”
“Thought that was your job,” grumbled Sawyer.
I shot a dark look across the deck of the Dauntless Wanderer to the crates where he was sitting. Gemma decided she didn’t need to do her duties as the master gunner and rigger. Instead, she leaned against the wall by the cabin door and cleaned her nails with a dagger while she waited for Nash to finish tending Abby. Moira had fussed and complained, but Nash finally managed to convince her that even she needed to rest and eat something. She finally relented and left the ship, letting Nash walk into the captain’s cabin to greet my sister.
“I asked him to teach me,” I reminded the captain. “Not you.”
Sawyer frowned and blinked. “You’re not learning the right method.”
“How would you know? You don’t want me learning at all. You’d rather have me stay here prettying up your ship instead of actually helping the crew.”
Gemma stopped cleaning her nails and grinned. Sawyer narrowed his eyes and scowled. He almost looked hurt. I turned to Riley, who looked cautiously between the young captain and me.
“That isn’t true,” he told me gently.
I ignored Sawyer. I was tired, sore, cranky, and doing a terrible job. I wanted to get this over with.
“Again,” I insisted.
Riley took a step back. He balanced on the balls of his feet and raised the sword. I did the same, waiting for his attack.
It came a second later, with Riley rushing in and moving like a blur. He swung the sword at my head. I ducked reflexively, stepping back to gain distance. Riley continued to move forward, lashing out with his foot. I twisted away, barely raising my sword in time to block his next swing. He pushed down, moving my arms down to the side and exposing my chest. His sword returned the way it came, swiping close to my throat.
I flinched and jumped back, swinging the sword in an almost drunken attempt to block his attacks.
Riley intentionally fought like a Hellion. While the Hellions hadn’t been seen in months, the threat remained as long as the Breach was open. If they attacked again, Riley made it clear that he might not be able to protect me. I had to defend myself.
I fought to survive in the underground, and learned how to run aboveground. Fighting hand to hand wasn’t my greatest skill, but I needed to learn if I wanted to survive to finish what my parents started.
I hadn’t shown much improvement in three months.
Riley lunged with the sword, aiming for my stomach. I pivoted away, seeing Riley’s open side. I darted forward, lifting my sword to tap it against his ribs–
The hard tip of a wooden blade prodded into my back. I froze in place, looking over my shoulder to see where I’d been tagged.
“The time you spent attacking me could have been used to disarm me,” Riley pointed out.
I scowled and leaned back, moving away from Riley and trying to think of another tactic.
“Can I offer a suggestion?”
We both looked at Sawyer, who hopped off the crate and started walking toward us. “You’re good, Riley. Definite soldier material. And you’re right about some fights being unwinnable. But Claire is small, and making her fight like a soldier is going to get her killed.”
While I gave Sawyer a pointed glare, Riley flipped the training sword until the pointed tip tapped against the Dauntless’ deck. “What’s your solution, then?”
Sawyer’s tawny eyes locked on mine, sending a warm shiver through me when he smirked and said, “Speed.”
He stood beside me, so close his chest nearly touched my shoulder. After our last barbed discussion about Davin and my safety, I was surprised he wanted to be anywhere near me. “The soldier taught you the basics, and you’ve almost mastered them. Now you just need to integrate the rest of what you know into the fight.”
I blinked, confused at what he was telling me.
“I’ve seen you fight before. You’re a scrapper. You know how to be quick, sneaky, and fight dirty. That’s exactly what you need to do here.” He leaned in close, whispering while his tawny eyes took on a mischievous glint that made my heart flutter. “Throw out jabs. Trip him. Scream to startle him. Don’t focus on mechanics and style. Fight like it will be your last chance. Because in real life, it very well could be.”
I frowned, but thought on Sawyer’s words. Unlike him and Riley, I hadn’t learned how to wield a sword as a child. Luck had been my only skill when I’d previously fought Hellions. But I did know how to evade capture. I glanced at Gemma, who had a knowing look on her face. When she fought, she was a riot of motion. Jumping, kicking, weaving, screaming, doing things I couldn’t understand or keep up with. Yet she confused her opponents, often defeating them. If she was caught and Nash couldn’t get to her, she struggled and found a way out.
Gemma nodded at me with a small smile. Taking a slightly more confident breath, I turned back to Riley and lifted the sword.
Sawyer’s hands curled around my shoulders. I tensed, my heart skipping a beat.
“Relax,” he said, his voice weaving into my hair. I tried to follow his instructions, but he made coherent thoughts difficult when he slipped his hands to my waist, just above my hips.
“Center your weight,” he continued, nudging his foot against mine and pushing them outward. “Keep your feet light,” Sawyer instructed. “Always be ready to move, and never stop.”
He leaned in again, so close that his chest brushed my back. “You surprised me at the tavern. Now surprise him.”
I didn’t reply as he stepped back slowly, but took his advice when Riley struck. I met his block, then swept his sword away and moved around him. Riley followed me, swinging the sword at my side again. I blocked him and suddenly rushed forward, lightly driving my fist into his stomach. He grunted, but wasn’t hurt, and lashed the sword at my head again. I dropped into a crouch, letting the wooden blade cut through the open air above my head. Staying in the crouch, I lunged and grabbed Riley’s legs.
He grunted when his back hit the deck, and I scrambled forward, about to put the sword to his neck–
Riley grabbed my wrists at the last second. He hooked my ankle and pulled me off balance, forcing my spine onto the deck, and trapping me. I twisted and wiggled, but Riley was too strong. He squeezed my wrist, making me drop the sword in surrender. I was completely helpless.
“Sawyer forgot to mention that you should never scrap against anyone bigger than you,” advised Riley. “Speed and tricks are excellent, but if you’re pinned by someone with more weight and muscle than you, you’re going to lose. And trust me, I’ve never seen a small Hellion.”
His eyes were blue fires, more intense than I’d ever seen them. I nodded my understanding and he pushed off of me. He gently took my hand and lifted me to my feet, checking over the wrist he squeezed to ensure it wasn’t hurt.
“You are improving, Claire,” he encouraged. “We’ll find a middle ground for you. When the Hellions do come back, you’ll be ready.”
The smile he offered was kind and warm, and brought a flush to my cheeks. I felt another set of eyes on me, and caught Sawyer glaring at us. The longer I looked at him, the more I realized it wasn’t me he was angry at, but Riley. His knuckles were clenched tight, and he looked seconds away from hitting something. Riley tensed beside me.
I was about to tell
Sawyer that I was fine, I wasn’t hurt at all and that I’d taken his advice to heart, when a scream came from the cabin.
Everyone froze. It took another second to recognize the screams weren’t just coming from Abby, but Nash as well.
Gemma was the first one to reach the door. She threw it open and rushed inside, skidding to a stop after only a couple feet. I bumped into her back and peered over her shoulder, blinking twice at what I saw.
Nash, the stocky, muscled marauder I’d seen fight three men at once, who preferred to fight with fists and brass knuckles rather than swords, who would never hurt anyone innocent, was struggling for his life against my sister.
She must have jumped on him, causing the screams we heard, and was dragging her nails down his face. He grimaced and shouted, holding her small waist and trying to pry her off his shoulders. Her legs were locked around his chest, keeping her dangerously close. She wrenched and slapped at him, screaming like a wild animal.
But it wasn’t a scream of fear or pain. It was pure, undiluted rage. Something I never, ever, thought Abby capable of.
Gemma and I ran forward, me taking my sister’s waist and Gemma grabbing her wrists and pulling them away from Nash. Abby shrieked furiously, losing her grip on his chest. She thrashed her arms, one of them slipping out of Gemma’s hand, then coming back down in a violent arch. Gemma yelped and pulled her hand to her chest, hiding the three long, red streaks of blood on her forearm. Nash darted between us, blocking his lover from my raving sister.
Trapped in my arms, Abby kicked and screamed. “Abby!” I cried. “Stop! Abigail!”
I felt her nails dig into my forearms and pull at the skin. I cried out, the sharp pain making me lose hold of her. Sawyer was beside me in an instant, catching Abby when she slipped from my grasp.
He moved quickly, shoving Abby down on the bed and holding down her wrists as Riley had done to me only moments ago. I stood by Sawyer’s side to make sure he didn’t hurt her. And that she didn’t hurt him.
“Abby, stop–”
Her head whipped from side to side so intensely I thought she would snap her own neck. Something flashed through her eyes when she opened them again, but I couldn’t tell what it was. Riley gasped.
The Sky Guard’s son pushed past me. “Hold her down,” he hissed, getting to his knees beside Sawyer and me.
I hesitated, unable to tear my eyes away from what I was seeing.
“Do it, Claire!”
Riley’s shout jolted me, and I found myself complying. Sawyer moved one of his hands from Abby’s arm, allowing Riley to replace it. He grabbed her face and held her head steady. I was about to protest when his fingers dug in, until I saw her eyes.
The pinkness I saw just hours before was darkening, staining her irises blood red.
I started shaking. I was unable to breathe. Riley nudged me out of my place, both he and Sawyer struggling to contain a child half their size.
I didn’t know what to do, had no idea what was happening. My chest felt like it was caving in, and my stomach was in knots. My eyes were blurring.
“Abigail, you will stop!”
Riley’s booming voice trembled the walls, silencing everything, including Abby.
My sister stared at the soldier and the pirate, lucidity slipping over her again. I raced forward, shoving Sawyer and Riley aside. Abby tilted when she was released, collapsing into my arms and sobbing. I hugged her tight, feeling her cold, frail body and the tremors made of either chills or tears.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered. “I didn’t–didn’t want to–but I was scared and hungry and he told me–”
Abby’s rant tuned into another series of wracking sobs. I cradled her, barely holding back my own tears. A gentle hand found my shoulder. I didn’t look at its owner, but Sawyer sounded close when he spoke gently.
“Who told you, Abby?”
She cringed and tightened her back. It didn’t look like she was going to answer, and Sawyer wouldn’t press for one.
“Vesper,” she whispered.
Riley sucked in a breath behind me. He and Abby were the only ones who knew what the Vesper really was. All the rest of us knew was that the ruling King of the Hellions was ill, and likely hiding in the Breach feeding on the blood the Hellions stole from the people of Westraven and Aon beyond.
I didn’t know much about him, or what he was capable of, but from the fear in Riley’s eyes and the whimpering cries of my sister, his power must have incredible reach.
“I can see him,” she continued, confirming my dread. Her voice barely above a breath. “He watches me from the dark, and he wants me to be like him. He has a crown of broken bones, he wears bloody rags, his teeth are knives, his claws are meat hooks, and his eyes…”
Abby shuddered and cried again. “He says I’ll be one of them! He promised!” She pulled back and looked at me. “He says his legion is hungry, and they’ll rip apart the sky to feed again!”
I hugged my sister, shushing her and smoothing her hair, trying to relax her. But my hands were trembling. My heart was pounding. I couldn’t think through the fearful haze warping my mind. I looked at the crew of the Dauntless Wanderer, desperate for answers or help. They all looked at me with confused, lost, and sad expressions.
All but Riley, who couldn’t even meet my gaze.
Chapter 3
“Tell me everything you know about the Vesper,” I demanded, staring at Riley with barely controlled anxiety.
Fear for my sister’s life cut through the peace and calm I’d felt just an hour ago. Now I was awake and alert, and desperate to do something.
Riley stared at me from across the deck of the Dauntless. I was the one asking the questions, but Sawyer was standing at my side. Gemma and Nash, neither of whom was seriously wounded despite what the blood on their faces and arms suggested, had roused Moira from her sleep to tell her what happened. Moira was a whirlwind of distress and barreled into the room, almost knocking Nash and Gemma down when they followed her into the cabin to watch Abby as she fitfully slept. I was reluctant to leave her for even a second, especially when the red tinges in her eyes hadn’t faded, but I needed answers. I didn’t think Riley would lie to me, but I did think he knew more than he let on.
“They were careful when they spoke around me, so there isn’t much I can tell you–”
“I don’t care. I need to know what’s going on. I need to know what he’s doing to Abby.”
Riley held my gaze for a long time, as though he wanted me to drop the subject. I refused. Even if I did let it go, Sawyer was right beside me. He wanted answers, and he wouldn’t take Riley’s physical well-being into account when he got them.
Seeing that he couldn’t escape this conversation, Riley sighed in defeat.
“Like I said, they were careful when they spoke around me. But they had looser tongues when they thought I was sleeping. Some of the Hellions thought they could practice their Aonian,” He stalked over to the crates near the starboard side of the deck and settled onto one. He hunched over, resting his elbows on his knees. He was the picture of defeat.
“The Vesper was the first of his kind in a place they called Hellnore. It must be the world beyond the Breach. I don’t know how he was made, but they way the Hellions speak of him, you’d think he was a god.” He shrugged limply. “Maybe he is. The point is that anyone who encounters him is unwaveringly loyal.” He lifted his eyes. “There’s nothing you can do to change that.”
