The Kinder Poison by Natalie Mae

Author:Natalie Mae [Mae, Natalie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781984835215
Google: E9a1DwAAQBAJ
Amazon: 1984835211
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 2020-06-15T23:00:00+00:00

XVI

HE’S a prince, I remind myself. He’s a prince, and once they recognize that, everything will be fine.

The men stalk closer, a collection of varying skin tones and muscles, and tighten their circle. The fortune-teller takes one look at them and hurries to finish packing her boat. The fishing boats are taking note, too, shoving their planks onto the shore, pushing out into the river.

The old woman waddles past me with a heavy jar. “We should go, too.”

“Who are they?” I ask, not moving.

“Bounty hunters. If you leave them alone, they’ll leave you.”

This does not make me feel better. I remember the Mestrah asking Kasta what he’d do if he met bandits who wanted to hold him for ransom, and the sinking feeling in my chest pulls tighter as Jet jerks his hood back, and the men only smile in response. Surely they’ll just talk. Surely the Stormshrike will remember what Jet did to him—what Jet’s power could do to all of them—and back off.

“Make haste, girl!” the woman says. I shake myself and lift the last of her baskets, following her to the canoe. The river water swirls around my feet, cool and tempting. I place the basket beside the others at the front and pause in gripping the thick river reeds that bind its sides.

The armored men have put some kind of strange metal device over their ears. One of them lurches for Melia.

“No,” I breathe as he yanks Melia to his chest, locking a knife close to her throat. The metal must be blocking Jet’s magic. There’s no way he would have let them near her otherwise.

“Hurry!” the woman says.

The man holding Melia shrieks as she turns her head and throws something into his face. He releases her, and Jet draws his dagger, and the circle of men converge—

“Girl, I am not waiting around to be leftovers,” the woman snaps. “Get in, or I’m leaving you!”

I clench the reeds, tensing to get in. But can I go? How can I go? If Jet had left me with Sakira, he and Melia wouldn’t be here. If they’d insisted on visiting the western cities and not cared how long it would take me to get home, they wouldn’t be here. If they did not feel compelled to escort me through town to ensure this very thing didn’t happen to me, they wouldn’t be here.

They can handle themselves, the logical part of my mind argues. They could have encountered this anywhere, with or without you. Go!

But it doesn’t look like they’re handling themselves. The men have captured Melia again, and one drags her toward the buildings while another binds her hands. Jet holds five more at bay with his dagger and sword. Without his magic, it will take only one lucky strike, and he’ll be theirs.

But if I don’t take this boat, who knows how long it will be before I have another chance to escape. If I have another chance.

He could die, whispers the other part of my brain. And Melia, too.

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