Page 79 of A Trial of Two Worlds
“Good. Thank you,” I said.
“Thank you, Champion,” Fjorda answered with a nod of his head as we approached theOpal.
A long rope ladder was draped over the side, and I reached up and began the climb to the top of the railing. I swung my leg over and landed on the deck, with Fjorda following close behind.
“We set sail for Niamh Bay!” Fjorda announced to his crew. “The champion has won the final trial. The Heart of Valdor is all but ours! Our world is on the brink of freedom!”
Cheers erupted amongst the crew of High Fae, followed by a booming horn blasting across the seas. Thelong white sails were released from their ties, and the wind filled the sheets, carrying the ship out to the open sea.
“Oh, by the way,” Fjorda said, “it seems you’re not the only shifter sailing with us on the journey this time around.” He tilted his head toward the opposite side of the deck.
“I see,” I said. “Thanks.”
The captain gave me a nod as he turned to oversee his crew.
I smiled as I marched across the decking, leaning over the railing as we gazed across the disappearing landscape. The scars along his arms gleamed in the rays of the setting sun. His hazel eyes were set firmly on the shoreline as his black hair stirred in the winds. Turning to look at him, a familiar magic churned in the air, like a key turning in a lock, and something just clicked.
“Alpha.” Shaw’s deep voice boomed over the splash and spray from the churning waters below.
“Beta,” I replied.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Daxton Aegaeon
“Wake up!”
I didn’t even bother flinching at the command. I was exhausted. Beaten down to a shell of my former self. Fuck, I just wanted to close my eyes and dream about anything other than this shit hole.
“Gods above…Males.”
The scolding annoyance was almost enough to make me laugh, but those joyful feelings didn’t exist here. I didn’t dare allow those emotions to enter my mind, for I knew Anjani and Rhett would only use them against me.
“Please, Daxton!”
The plea caused me to turn over, followed by a faint recognition of who the voice belonged to.
“Good, you’re still in there.”
Barely.
“Zola?” I rasped. “What—”
“Daxton,” Zola interjected. “She’s coming!”
She?
My eyes snapped open at the mention of her, at the mere hope of what Zola wasinsinuating.
“You’d better be right,” I groaned as the chains clinked against my efforts to rise from the cold stone floor.
“I value my position as spymaster in your realm,” she sneered from the shadows. “Have you known me to ever be wrong in such matters?”
I sucked in a pained breath, cursing the iron chains that counteracted my healing abilities. “Not yet.” I gritted my teeth as I moved to steady myself. “But this would be one hell of a way to tell me you’ve found another job title.”
“Those chains will be gone soon,” Zola encouraged. “Do you have enough magic stored away for the escape?”
I sat upright near the bars of my cell, clutching my eyes tightly. “As much as I could manage,” I replied, struggling to brush my matted hair from my face, disgusted with myself at the state I was in.
