Chapter 21

21

Darkness closed around Reva like a monster from her childhood dreams. She tried to shake off the thoughts as she carefully picked her way through the hold. There was no light to illuminate the way. She had to feel with her hands, keeping her arms out in front of her, praying she found a spot to hide.

Panic tightened her chest and choked her. Her breaths came hard and fast. She couldn’t stop shaking. She could’ve kicked herself for not leaving with Arya .

She banged her shin against something and bit back a cry of pain. Reva bent over and tried to calm her raging emotions. To have a chance, she needed to get herself together. She straightened and held her arms out as she continued walking.

She had always been good at disappearing. It wouldn’t last long once the elves found her gone. Their magic would flush her out quickly enough. Which meant she had the power of surprise on her side. It was a rare gift, and she planned to make the most of it.

Her life should’ve ended years ago, but she had somehow escaped. Only to end up in a remarkably similar situation now. The irony didn’t go unnoticed. If she could save even one soul from having to endure what she had gone through, then she would happily do it. And the elves in the cargo were counting on her—even if they didn’t know it.

She was cautious and systematic, her ears trained to listen for any movement as she found the stairs and slowly made her way up one level at a time until she reached the main deck.

That was when she discovered why none of the elves had been searching for her. They were all on the upper deck. Two of the crew had Jai on his knees, his arms twisted painfully behind his back. The others stood behind him and his captors, their gazes lifted to the helm. Reva had to shift to see who they looked at, but she already knew who it would be. Priya .

The Dark stood at the railing, her hands behind her back as she stared at Jai . “ I thought you were smarter than this.”

He pulled back his lips and glared.

“ Do you have any idea how long it took me to create our perfect life?” she asked.

“ Your life. I had other plans.”

Priya smiled tightly. “ You had the realm at your feet, and now you’ve casually tossed it away. You’ve tossed me away.”

“ You were my friend. My family! I thought of you as my sister,” he stated. “ You hid your true self well, Pri .”

“ If it wasn’t for me, you’d still be back in our old neighborhood, struggling to find work and fill your belly. I was the one who got us out. I was the one who found a way to the riches we coveted. You stayed by my side every step of the way. Not once did you complain or question anything.”

Jai barked out a laugh, his eyes blazing with hatred. “ Aye . I went with you to the Milni gang, but I never would’ve agreed to take elves and enslave them, and you know it. It’s why you had me captured and forced into this. And all the while, I believed you were as much a prisoner as I was. It’s all about to end, though. This is your one chance to leave. But know this, I’ll hunt you down.”

“ Me ?” Priya asked, her eyes wide and an amused smile on her lips. “ I will live long after this. You are another matter. You are right about things ending.”

The instant Reva spotted the bloody dagger in Priya’s hand, she knew whose blood was on it. And she wasn’t the only one.

“ What did you do?” Jai demanded in a tightly leashed voice. Then he bellowed, “ What did you do?”

“ What I should’ve done the first time you smiled at her.”

Reva watched in astonishment as Jai shoved one of the men holding him, knocking them off balance. In a blink, he was on his feet and had wrenched an arm free. Priya was yelling at the crew. White magic shot from Jai’s hand and went into the chest of the other elf holding him. The crew member dropped dead. Reva held her breath as shadows rose to swallow him.

Before he escaped, the crew pounced. Reva watched in horror as they pummeled Jai with fists and magic until he lay motionless on the deck.

“ Get him up,” Priya barked, coming down the steps.

The sight of Jai’s bloodied face and body was almost too much for Reva . They hauled him to his knees, his body sagging and head lolling.

Priya stalked to him and grabbed a fistful of his hair before roughly yanking his head back to look into his face. Her lips curled in distaste. “ What a waste.”

Disgust filled her expression as she released him and stepped back.

Reva looked from the bloodied blade in Priya’s hand to Jai . Did she stay hidden in hopes of making an escape? Reva sat back against a wall. There was no escape. She had two options. She could wait to be found and returned to her cell, or…she could use her advantage while she had it to go overboard. Death by whatever was in the river was preferable to what awaited her.

Her decision made, Reva peered over the stairs again. Everyone had their backs to her. Even Priya . Reva quickly and silently crept to the top of the stairs and darted to the side to duck behind a barrel. Priya prattled on about everything Jai had given up by choosing Arya . She didn’t know how Jai hadn’t seen Priya’s jealousy. Reva slipped behind another set of barrels closer to the stairs, leading to the helm.

She managed to creep up to the helm during Priya’s lengthy and unpleasant criticism of Arya . Reva felt great sadness at what could have been between Jai and Arya . But Priya had ruined whatever happiness the couple might have found. Heat from anger flushed Reva’s skin. She went to the great wheel and removed the strips of leather keeping the ship on course.

She looked through the railing and found Jai’s eyes open, and his gaze locked on her. His lips curved into a barely there grin. Then he gave a subtle jerk of his chin, urging her to go. She lifted a hand in farewell and stood.

“ See you in the next life,” Reva said.

Everyone turned to her. Priya shouted, but Reva was already running to the edge. She jumped, her foot landing solidly on the railing as she launched herself over the side. She felt shadows reach for her, but she was already plummeting to the water.

She crossed her arms over her chest and sucked in a breath a second before she plunged into the dark depths. Unknown monsters lurked there, waiting for a meal, but Reva allowed herself to keep sinking. Priya would expect her to head to shore. Which was why she planned to swim behind the ship and go to the other side of the river. Hopefully , causing the ship to go off course would keep their attention on that and not her.

When she began to rise, Reva tucked her body to roll and dove deeper. It would be easy for her to be seen in the glowing water, but the elves couldn’t use their shadows in the river. Her lungs began to burn as she swam behind the ship. The currents were swift and kept her in their flow. But she swam with everything she had.

She imagined that every beast in the river had zeroed in on her and was headed her way. It would be easy to give in to the fear, but she kept her movements concise as she swam. The need for air clashed with the ache in her muscles.

Reva chanced a look below her and saw something big and dangerous-looking swimming beneath her. She stopped fighting the currents. What would she do if she got to shore anyway? It wasn’t as if she could use shadows to return to The Crossing . She couldn’t trust anyone even if she did make it out of the river.

It might be easier to give up. She could let the flow take her. It might drag her under, drowning her before she became a meal for one of the threats in the deep. But that wasn’t who she was. She had always been a fighter, and she wouldn’t die now without a fight.

Reva’s head broke the surface, and she gulped in mouthfuls of air to reinflate her starved lungs. She found the ship far downstream and sailing quickly away. She started after it for a moment, wondering what would become of Jai , before she caught a glimpse of that dark shape beneath her starting to swim again.

No one was more surprised than her when she made it to shore without being eaten or found. She was gasping for breath when she dragged herself out of the water on her hands and knees.