Hunt on Dark Waters by Katee Robert

Author:Katee Robert [Robert, Katee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Random House UK
Published: 2023-11-07T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

Bowen

I NEVER HAVE BEEN A MAN WHO QUESTIONS HIS PURPOSE. When I woke up on the deck of the Crimson Hag, I might as well have been a newborn for all the history I brought with me. Ezra became something of a father to me, and the Cŵn Annwn Council my gods. Never to be questioned, always to be followed with a devotion that was more than earned. Or so I thought.

Nowhere in that worldview is there room for lies.

I still don’t understand why the villagers here didn’t report the deaths. Once a beast takes a human life, theirs is forfeit. Except …

“What are you thinking about so fiercely over there?” Evelyn trails a single finger over my chest. She’s draped half on top of me, her body loose and sleepy.

“I didn’t realize you were awake.” True to our word, we had sex for hours before passing out sometime in the dead of night. Judging by the angle of light coming through the windows, it’s close to midmorning.

She snuggles closer until I put my arm around her. It’s very, very cute. “That’s not an answer.”

I want nothing more than to roll her onto her back and lose myself in the pleasure of her company for a few more hours. Even if I do, these thoughts will still be waiting on the other side.

I sigh. “When humanoid people end up in Threshold, they’re given the same choice we gave you. It doesn’t matter how they got here or what kind of person they are. They can join or die.”

Evelyn’s finger stills. “Yes?”

“Those we deem monsters don’t get a choice. Every time we’re called in, it’s after a death has occurred … or so I thought. What if we’ve been butchering them simply for the sin of wandering where they shouldn’t?”

She props her chin on my chest, her green eyes serious. “Would it matter?”

The question stings. “Of course it would matter.”

“But it doesn’t matter for the human-adjacent trespassers. Why would it matter for those you decide are monsters?”

She’s not doing anything but echoing my own thoughts, and I still have to fight the ingrained urge to argue. It was so easy to do when I thought my position was unassailable. When I thought I was right. “It matters.”

“Your laws have never been fair, Bowen.” She kisses my chest and gives me a sad smile. “I think I understand a little better where you’re coming from. Your ship was your family. They’re all you’ve ever known.”

Her sympathy grates. It feels too much like pity. “Ezra, the last captain, was essentially a father to me. But I’m too aware of the power imbalance between me and the crew. I don’t know if ‘family’ is the right term.”

“For what it’s worth, I’m glad you had him. It’s awful to be lost and adrift in the world without someone to anchor you.” Her expression goes contemplative. “But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t perpetuating a corrupt system. In theory, laws are supposed to keep the peace and be fair, but I’ve never found either to be true.

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