22. Chapter Twenty-Two

The path back to the entrance was drenched in pitch black as that power snuffed out the flame at the end of Rahmi"s torch. Cinders remained, just bright enough for Kalia to spot Rahmi pulling Wright to his feet and draping an arm around his neck. Rahmi hitched the man higher onto his shoulder, and Wright stumbled as he crossed the threshold of the alcove. His legs gave out, and Kalia heard Rahmi curse.

"Get Kalia!" Rahmi barked to Reshef, who lunged forward to yank Kalia from the floor. She felt a heavy hand clutch her wrist, felt the black stone against her cheek as she was pulled into Reshef"s chest, and felt the pressing magic of the prison skate against her bare skin. She could have sworn her mind-magic dimmed for the moment the black stone touched her skin but returned in full force when it was gone.

The passage trembled beneath their feet as they surged toward the first bend. Kalia planted a helpful hand on the stone wall to her left to feel the curve of the alcoves pass by her palm. Cries and shouts sounded from the prisoners as the crumbling rock fell from the ceiling, pledging to trap them inside.

Kalia was pulled through the second bend, and despite the steel wall she had encased her heart in, she knew the pain in the back of her throat and creeping nausea had little to do with how much power she had exuded. She thought back to the woman with the matted hair and rotting teeth and thought back to the man with the milky eyes. If the prison collapsed, if the cave ceased to exist in its anger for their escape, Kalia knew they wouldn"t survive.

"We have to help them," she shouted, and Reshef"s hand squeezed her shoulder. "We can"t leave them here. Rahmi—"

"We don"t have a choice, ruehi," Rahmi said over his shoulder, his voice no more than a grunt against the nearly dead weight of Wright Thackeray. "It"s us or it"s them."

Kalia wouldn"t take that bullshit for an answer. Despite his protests, she stumbled away from Reshef, landing with a sickening thump against the stone floor. Crawling on her hands and knees, she scraped her palms on the crumbled rocks as she made her way toward the nearest alcove. Another groan and a shuffle of bodies sounded behind her before a set of muscled, strong arms wrapped tightly around her waist.

"We don"t have time for this," a voice growled in her ear, the tone familiar in its unyielding nature.

"Let me down," Kalia shot back as the trembling became more violent. She was hoisted into the air, her breath leaving her lungs as her chest thumped heavily against the sharp edge of a shoulder. "We have to help them!" She had to help them. She couldn"t leave them behind to die.

The spiced scent of ship wax and brine filled her nostrils as Rahmi began to run. "We can"t help anyone if we"re dead," he retorted.

The tunnel passage opened with a yawn at the fogged entrance, though it had already begun to close. Kalia pounded on Rahmi"s back, dust and debris from the falling stone catching in her hair. The wide entrance was half the size, and that shimmering became more opaque with every breath. Reshef limped toward the black sand beach with Wright now unconscious in his grip.

The cave tremored more violently than before as they tumbled onto the shore ahead of Rahmi and Kalia, Reshef dumping Wright onto the sand with little regard for his condition.

"Come on!" Reshef shouted. He sprinted forward, re-entering the cave just as the entrance shrank again.

Sweat dripped from his brow, but the entrance held steady just long enough for them to stumble through. Kalia shrieked as they, too, tumbled onto the shore. Reshef jumped through the doorway, now small enough for a man to dive through, before the rock wall snapped shut, entombing those left behind.

Kalia sat up, rubbing the excess sand from her hair as she stared at the wall. Beside her, Reshef had already stood and was quickly pinning the black stone necklace back into place.

"Are they dead?" she asked quietly as Rahmi brushed off the front of his tunic and headed toward Wright, who had awoken long enough to slump against the side of the rowboat. She sucked in a deep breath, focusing on the fresh scent of algae and salt, the last of the stale air leaving her nose. "Did we just kill them all?" Her heart cracked; the first notch in the wall she had erected around herself.

"I don"t know," Rahmi replied, bending to heave Wright into the bottom of the rowboat. "I"m sure we"ll find out one way or the other when the crown does their next check of the prison."

Kalia pushed herself up, shouldering past Reshef, who looked more pale and shaken in the dim light that seeped through the fog. "And when will that be?" she demanded, halting in front of him with her hands firmly on her hips. "Tomorrow? Next week?"

Rahmi shrugged, tossing one of the oars from the boat toward Reshef, who caught it with an unsteady hand. "Whenever the king thinks about it again, I suppose." He held out his hand, offering her assistance in clambering inside. His eyes darkened as she planted her feet further into the sand. "We"re done here. We got who we needed, and now we"re returning to my ship—do not even think about using your magic on me."

Kalia withdrew her power from the impenetrable wall of his mind, sending a seething glare in his direction. "Give me your dagger, then. I"m going back in."

Rahmi threw down the oar in frustration before rounding on Kalia. She didn"t step back but lifted her chin in defiance. A shudder of irritation flashed through Rahmi"s eyes. "And do what?" Rahmi asked, crossing his arms as he stared down at her. "Get them out one by one while hoping whatever guards the prison will be sympathetic to your cause?"

The wind picked up, sending the sand skittering across the toes of Kalia"s boots. Her eyes narrowed onto his, green against brown. "I did what you asked," she retorted through gritted teeth. "You got in, you got out. What I do now is none of your business."

Rahmi"s low, humorless chuckle broke through the sound of the waves lapping at the shore behind him. "You"re going to wait on this beach until the Royal Navy comes along and beg for mercy?" He took another step forward, closing the gap between them. "Get in the boat, ruehi. We aren"t finished yet."

Kalia smirked, shifting her weight to one leg, cocking her hip to the side. "Or what?"

"Out," Rahmi ordered Alaric and Thomas as they entered the captain"s office to see both men bent over the map spread over the desk. They straightened at his sudden appearance, and Alaric opened his mouth to speak, but Rahmi beat him to the reply. "Wright is in the sick berth. He"s been through quite the ordeal and needs some time."

Alaric shut his mouth as he darted his gaze to Kalia, who leered back at him. She had been in an incredibly foul mood since their return trip began. Thomas, to his credit, was already halfway out the door.

"Bring The Mark of Malice around the bay, then guide us through the fog. When we"re through, we"ll get clearance to chart the skies," Rahmi continued.

Alaric curtly nodded in response, and the door shut behind him with a sharp snick.

"Are you going to untie my hands now?" Kalia finally asked, lifting her restrained wrists in front of her. "I"m back on the ship."

She knew where his foul mood extended from. Rahmi wrangled her like a newborn calf with the spare bit of rope at the bottom of the rowboat, then tossed her in to sit beside Wright. Despite his tired appearance and ashen complexion, Reshef still managed to bite his bottom lip to keep from laughing every time he dared to glance toward Kalia as he rowed.

Rahmi leaned against the edge of his desk, which creaked in protest against his weight. "I think I"ll wait a bit," he replied smugly. He removed the dagger from his belt, stabbing the tip of the blade into the wood next to his hip with a rough downward stroke of his hand. "Give us time to get out of the bay, just in case you need to jump from my ship while the island is still in view."

Kalia grated her teeth together. The ship shuddered and shouts from the crew working to raise the anchors came from the other side of the closed door. The fog beyond the port hole on the opposite end of the cabin began to swirl as the sails unfurled. She never took her glare from Rahmi.

"And why would I jump from your ship?" Kalia bit out, stepping forward to close the space between them. "Couldn"t have anything to do with the people you left behind to rot in that—"

Rahmi"s smirk tightened at the corners. "There is no possible way to help them all. There was no room on the rowboat. There is no room in the sick berth. There are not enough supplies on my ship—"

"Just say that you had no interest in helping them," Kalia spat, cutting him off with a scoff that she didn"t bother trying to hide despite his clenched jaw and tight fists. "Just say that you would have rather let them all die, just like you do with the people on this ship."

Her words had him rising to a stand, and he reached out to grasp the knot of the rope he had tied around her wrists, jerking her toward him. "Don"t speak on things you don"t understand," he replied, so close that his breath was like a caress on the heat of her cheek. The tension between them was palpable, so thick that it made the fog outside look like a partially cloudy day over the gorge.

There was a tightness to the corners of her eyes, but she only tilted her chin higher to keep their eye contact. "You"re selfish and cruel—"

Rahmi"s gaze darkened into feral anger for a split second, but he seemed to temper it back. "I don"t think you know how cruel I can be." He lifted a finger to drag along the underside of her jaw, the touch feather-light. "I"ve been patient with you more than my quartermaster would like to see." He yanked her forward even further, their bodies grazing one another. And, still, she didn"t back down.

"No, I"ve been patient with you, captain." Kalia"s nostrils flared as she inhaled sharply at the arrogant quirk of his brow. "You strut around the ship, killing those who defy you, all the while ordering—"

Rahmi"s eyes flicked to her lips long enough for her to register it before he closed the inches between them and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was hard and fast and hungry, punishing and demanding. Kalia reeled her head back, her brow furrowed.

"You talk too much," Rahmi murmured, though he never released the curl of his hand around the knot that still tethered her wrists together. He never stepped back to create the gap that had once been the tense barrier between them and never lifted his gaze from her lips.

Heat bloomed in Kalia"s core, the sensation familiar and thrilling, even though it was him. She could feel her fury punching through her veins and the inferno in her eyes as she glared up at him. An inferno that he welcomed, that he buried within his blaze. Instead of stepping back, as she knew she should have, she lifted onto her toes to scrap her tongue against his bottom lip.

Kalia clamped down on his flesh with her teeth when he opened for her, tasting the blood that pebbled against her tongue. She wanted to hurt him; she wanted to make him regret ever forcing her to step foot on the ship, but most of all, she wanted the release she had a feeling he could give her, even if she would hate herself for it tomorrow.

Rahmi"s other hand shot into her hair as he groaned into her mouth, their tongues a sudden tangle of heat and promise and rage. He whirled on her, roughly pushing her against the nearest wall hard enough to force the air from her lungs, but he swallowed her exhale with the kiss he never broke. Kalia struggled against the rope. She wanted to claw at him, tear at his flesh with her nails, leave marks that only she knew about. She curled her fingers into the waistband of his breeches, the only thing she could reach, and felt the stiffness of his abdominal muscles against her knuckles.

"Tell me to stop," Rahmi said through the blur of their mouths, tongues, and teeth, still dancing in a wildfire that Kalia couldn"t stop even if she wanted to. It wasn"t a plead that slipped from him. No, it was a command.

The anger that he would dare demand an order claimed her, sinking her into immeasurable rage. "No," she seethed out, digging her nails into the bulk of his hip.

"Tell me now," Rahmi growled, but his mouth had already broken from hers and had already licked a path up the column of her throat. His hand untangled from her locks. He didn"t bother being gentle with that either, as he pinned his hips against hers, pulling up on the skirt of her dress.

The satin fabric, usually so soft, painted another trail of fire along her thigh as it lifted, and Kalia felt his fingers needy and insistent against her skin. He slanted a knee in between her thighs, releasing his hold on the rope long enough to haul her into his arms. Kalia wrapped her legs around his waist, catching his lips with hers once more. He spun them again, this time planting her on the desk"s surface, swiping the pile of parchment onto the floor with one casual swing of his arm.

Kalia"s back straightened, her legs parting to allow Rahmi to slide between them. She gasped into his mouth as his hand left her ass, sliding between her thighs to land in the crease of her hip. Another flame blazed in her core as he swiped a thumb against her sex, and she let out an involuntary moan when he pinched her clit. His smirk was punishing as he lowered his mouth to nip at her collarbone, at the skin of her neck, at the shell of her ear.

Her hands were caught between them, pinned between his thigh and her knee, and unable to grasp anything other than the fabric of his breeches.

"I knew you would be wet for me," Rahmi murmured, sliding the tip of his thumb into her entrance, teasing her briefly before moving away again.

Kalia moaned again as his thumb pressed against her clit for the second time, and she resisted the urge to tip back her head in pleasure. She didn"t want him to know— only wanted to feel that intense hatred, tried to pretend it wasn"t him. "You"re only a means to an end for me," she finally said, her tone low and husky. She didn"t like the way it sounded when it came out, but from the way he set another bruising kiss against her mouth, he did. "And when this is over, it never happened."

"Don"t worry, ruehi," Rahmi whispered against the shell of her ear, thrusting a finger into her heat without warning. This time, Kalia did tip back her head, groaning to the ceiling as he curled it against her front wall, keeping that pressure of his thumb against her clit. "You"re just another mistake in the long line of the ones I"ve already made."

Rahmi slowly withdrew his finger before adding a second one, sliding back in to curl against her again. Kalia"s thighs spread impossibly wide, her body trembling from the tension as he expertly teased and licked and nipped, all the while thrusting his fingers deeper inside of her. His other hand slid to her throat, wrapping to tighten around her neck.

Kalia arched her back into his touch, inadvertently opening that bridge between them. Rahmi, to her surprise, had dropped the wall of protection he usually touted. His fingers move faster, her orgasm blooming in her core. Gods, it had been so long since someone else had made her feel this good. And he was responsive to her body, curling his fingers or rubbing her clit or planting open-mouthed kisses on the top of her shoulder in a way that only made her moan louder.

"I bet I could make you come by the filthy things I send down that bond," Rahmi said, and Kalia was flooded with a shot of desire and pleasure so intense that she could feel herself grow wetter with every thrust of his hand. Her hips rolled against him, and she was desperate to touch him, to wrap her hand around his cock, to feel the friction of her palm against his bare skin.

"Make me then." The words were out before she knew she spoke them, and she whimpered as Rahmi applied more pressure to that bundle of nerves between her thighs. "Because I don"t think you can."

Kalia lifted her gaze to Rahmi, who was watching with rapt attention to the view of where his fingers disappeared, sinking inside Kalia"s tight sex. It only fueled her further, only burst open that wildfire building inside of her. Kalia rolled her hips faster, fucking herself on Rahmi"s fingers as her cries spilled into the inches between them. He met her mewls with groans of his own, moving his thumb harder as though determined to, indeed, make Kalia come as hard as he could. His hips thrust against her own, though he was imagining it was his cock taking her instead.

An explosion like a cannon blast flared from Kalia"s core, bursting through her. She panted, crying out in loud and unrestrained moans, as her body flared to life with Rahmi stroking her through it. He wrenched a second one from her with the quick pinch of his thumb and forefinger, barely on the heels of her first. Gods, gods, why did he have to be so fucking good at this? She had half been hoping he would be terrible; then she would have another reason to hate him further.

Rahmi withdrew from her when she finally stopped tipping over the edge, the muscles in her thighs finally ceasing to tremble. Kalia"s release shone against the back of his palm as he tugged on her restraints, letting the rope fall loose to the floor. Her heartbeat regulated to a semblance of normal, and time began to tick again, her brain and body connecting once more after her return to the continent. Kalia surged off the table, readying to grab the waistband of his breeches and tug them over his hard length, but he stopped her with a simple hand to her chest.

Rahmi smirked, lifting his other hand to his lips and sucking her release from her fingers. His eyes fluttered closed as he groaned, as though nothing had ever tasted so sweet. Kalia"s eyes went wide. It may have been one of the more erotic things she had ever experienced.

"I think I"ll take the high ground here, ruehi," he said, bathing her in a gloat she couldn"t escape. "Knowing you can, and will, come for me…I think I"m going to enjoy this very much."