A Web of Steam & Puppet Strings (Sevastyan #1)

Chapter Eighteen

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The pieces of me laid disassembled as I stared up at the sky. The stars went out like bulbs as the dome paled and the knife edge of wind faded until I couldn't feel a thing.

Nothing.

It was strange to want anything anymore.

Even if I'd remained standing on the ship and resisted like Aris, I would have been sucked into the prison anyway. I would have ended up here, on the ground, convulsing with shivers until my body went still, breathing hard until no mist left my lips. The pounding of my heart eased. The world stopped turning.

When my eyelids eased shut, there was no opening them again.

My body gave out to sleep.

Even as the sun cracked the navy sky and bleached the world, I couldn't wake up. Frozen in sleep. I didn't think I'd ever thaw again.

Footsteps.

Distant footsteps.

I couldn't be sure whether or not my brain tricked me. I couldn't be sure if I'd open my eyes and find myself drifting deeper into the ocean with arms and legs of lead and Isidora watching me from the ship, her grin distorted by the waves. Watching me as I was sinking and sinking.

Sinking and sinking.

Something shifted my body. Maybe the hands of the soldiers that had dragged me to the ship. But I couldn't feel the skin of their fingers or the leather of their belts or the stiff cotton of their uniforms. All I could feel was pressure. Something collected me up off the ground and gripped me tight. Movement. Like the ship as it rocked and groaned with the waves, sturdy and made for harpooning hurricanes.

The ship carried me. It carried me and carried me until I blacked out again.

When I came to, it was slow, like watching rivulets form on ice and dribble steadily downward. A groan left me, my throat raw. A warm weight pinned me, but the heat burned. Like sitting in a bath of scalding water, it burned.

The muddled voices around me took shape and formed words that I understood. I shifted, but instantly regretted the amount of pain that shot through my leg. A face filled my vision, eyes wide with hours of worry. "Sev. Are you waking up? Good, because I'd like to knock you out with my fist."

It took me a moment to fully understand that Eliza shared the cot with me, her body pressed against mine, the blankets engulfing us.

Her body. Her curves. Pressed against me.

I couldn't muster more than a hoarse, "W-What?"

Her face twisted up with anger hotter than the fire in her flesh. "You gave us a bloody freight, you dolt!"

The process of blinking took more effort than I cared to give. Leaving the Chambers during the night was only a blur, but I remembered being in full control. I remembered moving without thinking. I remembered wanting out.

But even if the words of the steel wall hadn't stopped me, what would I have done when I saw what was on the other side?

Would I have kept going?

My vocal chords grinded. "What...happened?"

Aris spoke up. "You went outside. Temperature must've been right freezing. You came back with hypothermia, shockingly."