Heart of the Fae (The Otherworld #1)(23)

Sorcha knees went weak. A merrow. A real merrow had been so close she might have touched her. No hag stone had limited her vision, no glamour had hidden her true form.

Breathless, she tangled her hands in her hair and spun towards Manus. “That was a real merrow!”

“I know,” he said with a chuckle.

“No, Manus that was a real merrow!”

“I saw her as well, sweet thing.”

“That was a faerie, without a glamour, and she wasn’t even frightened of me!”

He tilted his head back and boomed with laughter. “Ah, I was right to bring you aboard! I know a faerie lover when I see one. Come with me, Sorcha. I have something special to show you.”

Manus wrapped an arm around her shoulders when she reached him. The weight steadied her against the gentle sway of the ship. It was massive in her eyes. The deck teemed with twenty men, all rushing from one end to the other. White sails snapped in the wind and stretched taut to guide them across the waters.

They stepped up to the bow and stood behind the masthead. Sorcha leaned against the railing to peer at the wooden woman’s face.

“Is this a faerie?”

“It is,” Manus replied. “So we always remember who has given us this gift, and who guides us in safety.”

“You are close with the Fae then?” Few people would admit their ties to magic. Faeries were viewed as a superstition and believing in them to be child’s indulgence.

“No one is close to the Fae. I deliver items for them, and sometimes people. Like yourself.”

“People? What do the Fae want with people?” Sorcha hadn’t heard this particular secret before. She’d read every book there was on the Fae and spoke at length with anyone who had experiences with them. No one had ever said the Fae requested people be brought to them.

“There’s always something here and there. A famous musician, an artisan,” he cast a glance in her direction, “a midwife.”

She stiffened. “How do you know that?”

“I carried you and your things to my room last night. I deserved at the very least a peek at your belongings.”

“That’s a terrible thing to do.”

“You could have been an assassin, sweet thing. I protect my men and my ship.”

Sorcha couldn’t blame him for that. She would’ve done the same thing if a strange man walked into her brothel. It still felt like a violation of privacy.

She tugged at the hag stone around her neck. “What did you look at?”

“Just a few of the journals. As soon as I realized you were a healer, I let the rest be.”

“You didn’t take anything, did you?”

“Of course not.” He looked offended. “I am neither thief nor pirate. What would I have stolen from you that the sea cannot give?”

Sorcha released the breath she held. The sea rolled, shaking the boat with one great lunge. Sorcha held onto the railing and stared into the dark waters where a shadow moved. “What was that?”

“That was what I wanted to show you,” Manus said. “Have you ever heard of a guardian before?”

“Like a surrogate parent?”

“Like the species.”

Sorcha raised a brow. “No.”

He moved to stand behind her, lifting a hand above her shoulder and pointing towards the horizon. “When the Fae mark a ship, it is guided not just by merrows. A guardian is assigned to the boat. They are half woman, half whale. Their twisted features are terrifying. They can rip a man in half just with their hands.”

“You’re joking.”

“I’m not. They guide our ships towards the Otherworld and ensure nothing else comes with us.”

She wanted to shiver, but his hand was on her shoulder. He would know she was frightened. That was exactly what he wanted. Pulling her leg like this was cruel.

“I don’t take kindly to men trying to scare me,” she said. “I don’t believe you.”

“You should. The guardians are a very real threat, and it is my suggestion that you stay away from the water until we get to your destination.”

Sorcha shook her head. “Which is?”

His hand shifted slightly to the left. “Do you see that?”

How could she have missed it? Mist and storm clouds created a wall in the middle of the ocean. A bolt of lightning cracked through the sky and although they were too far to hear the thunder, she swore she could feel it.

“We’re going there? Why?”

“Because that is the only way into the Otherworld,” he said as he walked away.

“Hy-brasil is not in the Otherworld!” Sorcha shouted.

“It’s on the border, darling! And you have to get close enough to see it.”

She wanted to reach out and punch him. Or grab onto his dreads and toss him overboard. Guardian.

Sorcha snorted, but walked away from the railing. The last thing she needed was another scary story in her head. She had grown up with the dullahan, trooping faeries, changeling children, and all other manner of frightening Fae!

Grumbling, she skirted her way past sailors on their hands and knees scrubbing the deck. They were eerily silent in their work. Their eyes followed her all the way back to the captain’s cabin where she shut and locked the door.

Now that the seasickness had subsided, she got a good look at his quarters. And what stunning quarters they were.