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CHAPTER FIFTEEN
The island really did float. Once we'd cleared the Revenge, once my arms got so sore I could barely move 'em, I drew the oars back into the boat and drifted along the choppy water, shivering from the cold, from my injuries, from the distracting knot of fear coiling in my stomach. Up ahead the island hovered above the sea, chunks of smooth black stone tapering into points beneath the gray beaches and the trees. In the distance, you could just make out the other islands through the haze drifting off the water.
"Hey." I shook Naji's shoulder. He was curled up on the net and didn't move. "E'mko and his twelve dancing seahorses, you better not be dead."
He stirred, moaning a little. His breath blew out in a white cloud.
"That spell of yours have any way for us to get on land?"
That must have gotten his attention. He sat up, pushed his hair back away from his face. "We're here," he said.
"Of course we're here," I said. "We just got kicked off the Ayel's Revenge for it." I frowned at him.
His expression glazed over as he stared at the island. The sight of the damn thing made me dizzy, so I stared at Naji even though I wanted to throttle him.
"Vaguely. I vaguely remember…" He dug his hand into his good eye. "I can't seem to keep my thoughts straight."
"Oh fantastic." Figures I'd get stuck with a blood magician who'd driven himself insane.
Or maybe it was the island, working its magic like in the stories. Changing him, making him forget himself and who he was. I studied the angles of his face, looking for some sign that his bones were pushing out of his skin. He looked gaunter than usual, but maybe it was because of the spell. I hoped it was because of the spell.
"It's cold," he said, and his voice sounded small, like a kid's.
"Not a whole lot I can do about it." We drifted along, the water pushing us toward the island, like it was a normal island and there was a tide to pull us ashore. Part of me wanted to look back, catch a glimpse of the Revenge as she sailed away. But I didn't. Water slapped up along the side of the rowboat, spraying us with a cold fine mist. Naji moaned and rubbed his head, and I was still dizzy myself.
The rowboat jerked up, her bow clearing the water in an arc of gray water drops, and then slammed back down.
"What the hell was that?" I shouted. I yanked the oars in even though it didn't do much more than make me feel more vulnerable, the two of us sitting there in the open ocean like that. Naji slumped down, his eyes wide, and mumbled something about being weak.
"Shut up," I said. I didn't hear nothing unusual: just the howl of the wind, the rush of the waves.
The boat jolted again, knocking me forward into Naji's lap. I bit down on my tongue to keep from screaming.
"Ana
"We need to get on land." At least on land any enemies couldn't lurk beneath the depths. "Is it safe to row?"
"Don't… I don't really know."
"Kaol!" I shoved the oars into the water and pushed us toward the island. We weren't far, almost to the line of shadow the island cast onto the water. I tried to lift the oars up but the left one wouldn't move. I shrieked and let go, and it slid into the ocean without a sound.
I yanked the other oar into my lap and sat very still, heart racing. We floated underneath the island. Dark as night down there, although the ocean water gleamed silver. The boat bumped up against a hunk of low-hanging stone. It was too smooth to be any use for climbing, and besides which, it would only take me to the underside of the island. I didn't have time to try to make some kind of rope throw.
The boat tilted again. Naji gripped the sides and his eyes gleamed like the water.
I had an idea.
"How weak are you? Can you do anything?"
"What?"
"Your shadow thing," I said. "Can you take me with you?"
He didn't answer.
"Naji?"
"Under normal circumstances, I could."
"Naji! There's something in the water!"
Naji didn't answer, and I glared at him in the dark.
"Maybe somebody shouldn't have used up all their energy blowing a brigantine off course. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you?"
"It wasn't just the magic," he said darkly.
"Yeah, you put me in a spot of trouble with that wind. Damn near killed me."
"It nearly killed me as well."
"Well, I imagine we're both going to die if we don't get on land." My whole body was tense, waiting for the boat to rock again, but the water stayed as smooth and still as a mirror. "Do your thing."
"My thing?"
"Damn it, Naji! The shadow thing. We're in shadow now. There's shadows up there – have to be, all them trees. So do whatever it is you do to get both of us out of this boat and on that bloody island."
Silence. I sucked in a deep breath. I could barely make out his outline in the silvery shadow of the island.
"This might hurt me," he said.
"I don't care."
He didn't say nothing. I shoved the pistol into the waistband of my pants. Nothing happened.
"Well?" I said.
"You have to touch me," he said. "Well, not just… We need to… Come here."
And then he reached out his arm and drew me into him. His touch surprised me, and suddenly I wasn't cold anymore.
"We need to be close," he said. "As close as possible."
I slid across the boat, pressing up against his body. He didn't have his armor on and I could feel him, the muscles in his chest and his arms. He smelled like magic and sweat and the sea, but there was something else beneath all that, something sweet and warm, like honey, and just for a moment I didn't feel afraid anymore.
I was furious at him, and I was terrified, but I didn't want him to stop touching me.