“How are we supposed to get any rest when Fiona is in the palace and Ryker is on the city streets?” I mutter.
“That’s kind of the nature of air support,” Kye says. “Lots of exciting flying, and lots of waiting.”
I unstrap myself and stand, raking a hand back through my hair. My careful braids have unwound into messy waves, flying into my face as I stalk away from the cockpit and toward the hull. If I need to do something, I can check in on Gliss. At least then I’ll have a task ahead of me.
I’ve almost made it there when I feel the strange sensation that someone’s watching me. I pause in the corridor, the hair on my arms standing on end…and then it feels like something skitters up my spine, a long-legged insect settling at the base of my skull.
This isn’t a new feeling, but itisan unwelcome one.
Because this is Lamia’s presence, crawling across my skin and making me tremble. It must be our proximity to the palace, where the Hunt is closing in on her as we speak–as long as things are still going according to plan.
“Hey, Ner,” Kye’s voice says over comms. “Just wanted to let you know we got a report from the surface. Nothing from Fi, but Ryker’s landing party has breached the palace walls. They’re heading in to rendezvous with the Hunt at the throne room.”
“Oh, thank Yrsa,” I mutter, then activate my comm to respond. “Thank you, Kye!”
“See you back here in a bit,” he says, and the line terminates.
But that haunting feeling remains.
I keep walking down the corridor, my footsteps echoing around me. Every so often, I catch a glimpse of the dark abyss outside, bioluminescent jellyfish the only light in the shadows.
I’m almost startled by every step, wanting to turn tail and run back to the cockpit. With most of our crew joining the landing party, only Gliss is down here, and she’s nowhere to be found.
Something is wrong.
Something isverywrong.
“Nereus,” a sing-song voice calls out, mocking.
I whip around, the voice sending a stab of horror through my chest. She’s here. OhGods, she’s here, she has to be.
Lamia.
“Where are you?” I shout.
“I’m on the planet,” she says. “And you’ll never get rid of me.”
A stabbing pain rockets through my skull, bouncing off bone. I fall to my knees, clutching my head. “How…I’m Elixir bonded. You can’t.”
“You’ve had a drop of Elixir,” she says. “I’ve hadgallons. And I don’t need to read or control your mind to lock you in.”
I try to move my hands—to get back to my feet—but I find that it’s impossible. I can’t even get my voice to work properly, the only sound that comes out a gurgling croak.
And it hurts so very badly.
“I know you can’t talk, so you’ll just have to listen,” she says in my head, her voice raspy and menacing. “I have guests in my throne room, and I think they’d like to hear from you.”
“Fiona,” I manage to wrench out between gritted teeth, hoping thatsomeonecan hear me and sense my distress.
“Why did you leave me, Nereus?” Lamia’s voice echoes, taunting me. “I tried to keep you perfectly happy here, in your fine clothes and your pretty, gilded room. And you took my favorite toy with you.”
“Don’t talk about him that way,” I growl. She’s talking aboutKye. That I even have the power to speak against her is a testament only to how much I care for him. “He’s…not…yours.”
“But he will be again soon,” she says. “And Homeworld willalwaysbe mine. And I’ll put you back in your cage, where you belong.”
She pauses.
“Looks like someone’s come to see me.”