Page 40 of The Powers of Nyx

“Look kids, it’s a real-life pirate ship!” Thea pointed at the boat, rolling her eyes when not one—but all five supes—sighed. “Shut it, we have to make this magical. For the kids.”

I snorted. “Sure.Notfor your own enjoyment.”

“Shut it you,” she growled, before pulling me into a crushing hug. My bones ached at the force of her hold, but I melted into her anyway and wrapped my arms around her. “Don’t ever leave me again. As a matter of fact, I’ll even come to that stupid academy with you.”

I chuckled. “I missed you, too.”

“Sure, you did. While you were getting dicked down, I’m certain you were thinking about me.”

“Always,” I murmured. “Now, stop crushing me to death. I didn’t survive being attacked three times to die by cuddles.”

Thea groaned but she finally released me. It didn’t matter, because I had three sets of arms around me as soon as she did, and I was pulled into a giant cuddle pile.

“If you’re almost done, we have a very limited amount of time left to get on this damned boat,” Hawk called.

Ugh. Him and his arrogance. Could have left that behind. I barely held back from giving him the middle finger, but Thea didn’t bother hiding it as she sent him a glare and gave him two. The half-Fae only rolled his eyes at that.

I sighed, running my hands over Maisie’s hair. “You guys ready?”

Eloise glanced back at the ferry-pirate ship. “Do we have much of a choice?”

No, you don’t. I didn’t say that aloud, and only motioned for them to start walking down the pier. As everyone fell in around us, I chanced a glance out at sea.

There were no bobbing heads to see us off, no mermaids to promise us safe travels.

Just us, the team, and a pirate ship.

What could go wrong?

14

IVY

EVERYTHINGcould go wrong, I realised as soon as we stepped aboard the ship.

That wasn’t exactly true. But it also wasn’t a fantastic thought, either. The ferry-pirate ship wasn’t really kid friendly, and nothing about it met any of my expectations. Then again, I’d expected an entirely different kind of boat.

“Welcome,” a long-bearded Fae man drawled, whipping out a hand as we gathered on the main deck of the ship, “to theRift.”

I looked around warily as the others formed a circle around Thea, the kids, and me. Maeve took up position in front of us, becoming a sort of shield between me and the captain, with Hawk close by. Adrian and Elias stood behind me, both intimidating forces I trusted with our lives. Rowan stood off to the side between me and the platform leading up to the deck, almost like he was preparing to fight off anyone who tried to come aboard.

He probably was.

Thea nudged my shoulder with a smirk. “Sounds like a cruise director,” she muttered.

I covered my mouth with my hand to keep from laughing aloud. Maeve prodded the bond in warning. Likely reminding me about being professional and Queenly, neither of which I wanted to be right now. I could go for a hot meal, a decompress session with my best friend, read my baby sisters a good nightstory, and then either sleep for a month, or have the brains fucked out of me.

In that order.

Both Adrian and Elias chuckled at that specific thought. My cheeks warmed with embarrassment, but I refocused my gaze on the pirate-Fae captain again and refused to acknowledge either of them.

The male’s eyes, which were a liquid silver, narrowed on me, but he swept down in a bow before rising with a flourish. Somehow, his long, inky-blue beard managed to be saved from scraping the ground, each curl perfectly placed. It looked almost like glass, or plastic, as it rested against his chest.

“For those new to this, I will explain the magic briefly—and it is safe for young ears.” He winked down at the girls. This kind of production might have had them giggling and blushing before Kerry’s death, but they remained glued to my side, clutching the fabric of my shirt. The Fae male shrugged and clapped his hands.

Suddenly, a wave of strangely familiar magic brushed over me like a strong wind, almost knocking me to the ground. The children gasped with fear, hiding their faces in my stomach and chest, as the boat rocked with the force of a large wave hitting the hull. I tugged the girls into my sides and felt Elias’s warm presence at my back, caging them into my body as the ship moved away from the dock.

Holy shit.The urge to go to the side and watch it move gripped me, but I remained glued to my place.