Chapter 31

CHAPTER 31

Evelyn

I’VE DONE A LOT OF FOOLISH THINGS SINCE ARRIVING AT Threshold, but this has to top the list. I can’t take Lizzie in a fair fight, and I probably can’t even take her in a dirty fight. She’s too fucking powerful.

And the worst part is that she’s never looked better than she does right now.

Back in our realm, the only time she let down her hair, figuratively and otherwise, was in bed. The rest of the time she was perfectly polished and put together. Not so right now. She’s wearing tight leather breeches and a shirt that clings to her lean form. Her dark hair, normally pulled back from her face, whips around her in the wind coming off the sea.

“This ends here.”

She shrugs off her rifle and tosses it to the ground next to her. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t skin you alive and carve you up into little pieces.”

Fear shorts out what little logical thought I have. It’s the only explanation for running my mouth at a time like this. “Oh, I don’t know, maybe because I was the best sex you’ve ever had. Maybe because the main reason you’re so pissed right now is because I left you, instead of the other way around. How about that?”

She makes a sound like an angry teakettle and then her power is in my blood, freezing me in place as she stalks closer. She stops a few inches away and her dark gaze flicks over my shoulder to where Bowen is yelling something incomprehensible. “Maybe I won’t kill you. Perhaps I’ll just finish the job I started with that little worm. And then you can live the rest of your life knowing that you’re the reason he’s dead. You have too much heart for that not to eat you alive.”

I have no idea why she hasn’t killed me yet. It doesn’t make any fucking sense, and my bravado once again has me speaking without thinking. “Oh, baby, are you jealous? It’s not like you wanted to keep me when you had me.”

She grabs my chin, her grip so tight that I make a pained sound before I can stop myself. She doesn’t relent. Of course she doesn’t relent; Lizzie has never been one to show mercy. Her nails prick my skin. “Where are my jewels, Evelyn?”

Right. She hasn’t killed me because she still needs me around. Her vengeance matters less to her than retrieving the things I stole. There’s absolutely no reason for that to sting as much as it does. It’s nothing more than I expected. But, damn it, it does sting. “Did the missing heirlooms anger Mommy dearest? Poor thing. Always dancing to her tune. I should’ve known that being in another realm entirely wouldn’t be enough to break the leash she has on you.”

Lizzie gives me a shake that makes my spine scream in protest. “Always. So. Difficult.”

Honestly, it’s kind of amazing that she hasn’t broken my jaw with her hand. I know she’s capable of it. Her hold hurts, but it’s not doing permanent damage. I’m a fool for letting that knowledge feed my bravado. “What can I say? You bring out my perverse side. You used to like that about me.”

She snarls in my face, more animalistic than I’ve ever seen her. “I will fucking rip your heart out and eat it, Evelyn. Don’t test me.”

I almost point out that she’s very nearly quoting one of my favorite movies, but she’s distracted and I’m not going to get another chance like this again. I slice my nail across my palm and slap it to my chest. She barely has a chance to tense when I snap out the words to trigger the spell.

It’s the same one I used the first day on the Crimson Hag and again back on the island that contained my portal home. My magic hits her in the center of her body and sends her hurtling away. She takes a bit of my skin with her, her claws scratching my face in the process. It’s not going to be enough to kill her, and fool that I am, even with the threat of her right in front of me, I can’t bring myself to summon fire.

I don’t know what the fuck is wrong with me. Normally I’m not one to let something like being sentimental color my actions. But this is Lizzie, and she … “You were going to let your mother kill me! You didn’t even give me a way out! And now you’re pissed that I found an escape and took a little something with me to survive? Fuck you very much, Lizzie!”

Nearly fifty feet away, she staggers to her feet. She’s bleeding from several long cuts on her arms and face. I watched in horror as she draws the blood from her skin and forms it into a knife. Within seconds, the cuts themselves vanish, courtesy of her accelerated healing.

I am so fucked.

I draw Bowen’s dagger from its sheath at my hip. Bunny made sure I had plenty of self-defense training, but in the years since she passed, I’ve forgotten to practice more often than I’ve remembered. A good thief doesn’t need to defend themselves; they’re there and gone before anyone knows the valuables are missing. The last fight I had was a drunken brawl in a bar, and very few people are actually trying to kill each other in drunken brawls. It’s just a bit of fun to let off some steam.

I can’t say the same for this fight. If I don’t win, she’ll kill Bowen. That, I can’t allow. I take a breath and brace myself, and then she’s on me.

Fast. Lizzie is so fucking fast. I barely manage to deflect her strikes, and even then, I am nearly certain she’s pulling her punches. I’m not this good. It’s just reality. She could have killed me several times over, and I’m starting to think her holding back has nothing to do with keeping me alive to find her jewels.

Which doesn’t make any fucking sense. She didn’t care about my life when I was in her bed. Why the hell would she care about it now? “You were going to let me die,” I repeat. My breath is fire in my lungs. Gods, I would’ve thought my stamina would be better after all the time working on the ship, but I’ve never been a match for Lizzie. No human is.

“You really believe I was going to let you die?” She slips under my guard and draws a shallow, fiery line over my stomach. “Why do you think I was there to catch you stealing my family heirlooms, Evelyn? Because I came back to get you out!”

“Don’t lie to me!” I stumble back. “You were in that room for the jewels. Not for me.”

Bowen is still banging on the shield, which is draining my magical reserves faster than I would like. I can’t keep this up indefinitely. If I hit her with fire, it might be enough to override her healing magic. Again, I hesitate even as the little voice in the back of my mind screams at me to finish this.

“I knew you’d get out. You’re too smart not to.” Her eyes are glowing crimson. “I didn’t think you’d steal from me in the process.”

I shuffle back a few more steps and give a half-hearted stab. Suddenly I’m not so sure I’m right. She was in that room when I went through the portal, and even if she was there for her family heirlooms, that meant she went back to her bedroom.

It means she went back for me.

“Why didn’t you just fucking say that, Lizzie? For someone who normally acts like they’re charged by the word, you sure as shit have a lot to say today.”

She gives another of those snarls that make my skin prickle in terror. She’s losing her temper in a way I’ve never seen. Normally, when Lizzie is angry, she goes cold. There’s nothing cold about her now—she’s all frenzy. She comes at me far faster than I can meet, leaving a trail of tiny cuts in her wake. “You are the most aggravating person I’ve ever met. Impulsive, reckless, and downright suicidal at times.”

“You sure did like the things I do with my tongue, though.”

She hisses. “The jewels. Where the fuck are my jewels? Don’t make me torture you, Evelyn. I’ll do it.”

That’s the thing … I’m starting to think she won’t. She could have ended this fight dozens of times since it started. Gods, she could have ended it before it started if she’d used her magic on me. She didn’t. I might be bleeding from a dozen places, but they’re nothing a quick bandage can’t fix. Even my jaw is only slightly sore. She’s been holding back. She doesn’t want to kill me any more than I want to kill her.

The trick is getting her to admit it.

I slap my bleeding hand to my chest again, triggering the second attack. It’s the last one I have of this nature. She curses as she goes spinning into the air. This time, she hits a tree hard enough to make me wince. It doesn’t matter. She’ll be fine.

She limps to her feet, her hair matted to her face with blood. “I’m going to fucking kill you.” She charges me.

“No, you’re not.” I drop my dagger to the ground and spread my arms. My body is shaking from the fight and the use of magic and Bowen’s renewed attack on my shield, but I manage to keep my feet as she skids to a stop in front of me.

She lifts her blood dagger, expression murderous. “I’m not bluffing.”

“Neither am I.” I move slowly and grip the front of my already gaping shirt, tugging until one of the buttons pops. “Here’s a nice open target for you.”

She grabs the back of my neck and drags me to her blade, forcing me closer until it pierces my skin over my heart. “I’m very good at finding things, Evelyn.” She speaks softly, intimately. “I found you twice in as many weeks. You don’t think I can find my family heirlooms without you? Don’t tempt me.”

She’s still threatening instead of killing. I’m right. At least, I hope I’m right. “How long do you think you can avoid the C?n Annwn in the search of yours? The fact that you managed to do it this long is a small miracle.”

She curses and shoves me down. I land on my ass hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs. I’m slightly gratified when Lizzie drops down next to me. She throws her blood blade to the ground, and it shifts back to liquid almost instantly. “There’s nothing to keep me from killing my way through the lot of them. It might be fun.”

I snort. This is the Lizzie I know. I’m still not entirely certain the threat has passed, but if she’s willing to talk, I’ll do my best not to incite her further. Probably. “You would take a lot of them down before they finally cut you to pieces, but it’s a game of numbers, and you don’t have the advantage. Not to mention, this whole damn realm is water. Your chance of stealing a ship and remaining undetected is almost nonexistent.” I watch her out of the corner of my eye. “But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

“Just tell me where, Evelyn.”

At this point, there’s no advantage in keeping the information from her. “You know, if you’d ask questions instead of coming through the portal ready to blow our heads off, we could have saved a lot of time and energy. I didn’t even mean to steal them. I was just so angry at you, and you know how comforting I find stealing when I’m upset.”

She lifts a brow, the imperious expression on her face all the more horrifying because she’s covered in blood. “It’s a terrible coping skill.”

“I’m not arguing that.” I very carefully don’t look over my shoulder to where Bowen has gone quiet. Thank the gods he has the wherewithal to realize we’re poised on the knife’s edge. One wrong move starts the fight again. “Your jewels are on the Crimson Hag. They tossed me off the crew after I interfered with them killing a dragon. I didn’t have a chance to collect my things in the process.”

She exhales a soft curse. “That’s convenient. How do I know you’re not lying?”

“Easy.” I almost slump against her shoulder before I remember we aren’t not-girlfriends anymore, and she’s been definitely trying to kill me for the last couple weeks. “You know how much shit I took. Do you really think I have it hidden on my body?”

“It would be simpler if you did.” She pinches the bridge of her nose. “I guess it’s time to steal a ship, then.”

I blink. “That is a huge leap of logic. How the fuck are you going to get anywhere? And did you forget about the entire realm of hostile motherfuckers who don’t take kindly to trespassers?” A tug on my magic makes me turn my head to find Bowen leaning with one arm braced over his head against the shield. His expression is thunderous, and it’s aimed directly at me. Fuck.

“If I let him out, do you think you can resist the urge to attempt to murder him?”

“Evelyn, I am still fighting the urge to murder you. I make no promises.”

Not the most optimistic statement, but I don’t think it’s going to get better. I take in a slow breath and concentrate on breaking the circle. In seconds, Bowen is at my side. His hands clench as if he wants to grab me and drag me away from Lizzie, to put as much distance between us as possible.

Instead, he drops down next to me. “If you ever do that again, I’m going to put you over my knee and paddle your ass until it’s purple.”

Lizzie lets out a musical laugh. “Oh, you’re obviously new to this. Adorable.” Her tone says that she finds him anything but.

If I don’t rein this in, we’re going to end up in a bloodbath. Again. “You can’t just go around stealing ships, Lizzie. Someone will report it to the C?n Annwn, and then this only ends with your death.”

“Perhaps.” She shrugs a single shoulder. “But if the ship I steal is one of the C?n Annwn ships with those distinctive crimson sails …”

“Hard to sell it as one of ours—theirs—without a crew,” Bowen rumbles.

“Don’t need much of a crew. With the amount of magic seeped into those boards, I’d wager those fucking ships practically sail themselves—at least long enough to get me where I need to go.” She pushes to her feet, and my pride doesn’t hate the fact that she stumbles a little. “There’s one of the crimson-sailed motherfuckers just off the coast right now. The gossip says they had a rough go of it fighting some mermaids. I just need to kill enough of the crew for the rest of them to agree to work with me. Simple.”

She pauses and looks at us. “Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Are you coming or what?”