Vengeance (The Prince's Games Book 1) by Rebecca Grey (electric book reader TXT) 📕

I'll convince you my life is worth sparing before the end of our time together."

"That is highly unlikely." I roll my eyes.

Juilliard puts out his cigarette against the wooden boards of the ship, leaving a gray ash mark against it. He strolls between Marcello and I, placing his hands in front of him. "Now play nice, the boat is ready."

The boat? Are we not already on a fucking boat? I spin slowly away from them, realizing that the boat has come to drifting still a way away from the shore. These bastards put down the anchors and are sending us to the shore in... in what?

"Judging by the look on your face, lovely, I'll explain." Marcello pats Juilliard on the back and turns me around to face the other edge of the boat. His fingers skim over my shoulders, making me growl in annoyance. He pulls his hands away, hovering but no longer touching and I walk with him to the other edge. Hedda and Juilliard follow behind soundlessly. Soundlessly, except for the noise of Hedda breaking the stale bread with her teeth. "I'm not willing to potentially damage my ship on this rocky shoreline. You can't see it under the waters, but I know large ships such as this one can’t pull up to its shore without scraping along the ragged boulders below the water. So we are taking a much shallower boat."

"We?"

"Our team. You, Juilliard, Hedda."

I nod as if I understand. I don't. Why do we need all of us to go fetch two people? Seems unnecessary, but okay. When we stop at the railing, I lean over the ledge. A ladder has been attached to the wood and thrown over the side of the ship to hang down into the smallest boat I've seen. That's supposed to get us to shore.

"That's capable of holding all four of us?" I deadpan.

"It'll be fine! Juilliard will go first." Marcello claps his hands together.

"Why me? Why not the girl?" His friend snaps and I can't help but give him a sly, smug smile.

"That's right, go on down the ladder and be the good little sidekick you are." The boat rocks below in the waves, water splashing over its edges. It's already moments from sinking, I swear. Better the cranky Elf than the cranky Human.

"If I'm a sidekick, then so are you." Juilliard frowns and stomps to the edge, lifting himself over until his boots roughly hit the ladder and it knocks against the side of the ship. "And just so we are clear, Hybrids are just as likely to drown as a Purist. I can't breathe underwater."

I take a step forward, placing my hands between his on the railing. I keep my voice low, even though I know everyone here can hear what I say. "Does the water scare you, Juilliard?"

"No."

My mouth lifts as my grin grows. In one swift movement, I push my palms against Juilliard's firm chest and mockingly push him. His mouth opens into a wide O and he lets out a yelp as he starts to fall but rushes to grab the rope of the ladder and pull himself back up to the edge of the boat. He bares his teeth in a menacing growl that makes something inside me shrink back. I stand firm, still smiling like a fool. It truly is the little things in life.

"You're evil," Juilliard sneers.

"What a compliment, especially coming from creatures as cruel as yourself."

"Alright, that's enough. We're supposed to be a team. Juilliard, down you go." Marcello slips his arm between me and his friend, ushering me back just a step. Juilliard watches me as he lowers. "You next," he adds when Juilliard's feet hit the boat.

"Me? What if he tries to toss me into the ocean?" I exclaim.

"Well then, I'll tell you to try swimming and get back into the damn boat." His large hand gestures at the ladder and I stare down at the ropes. "You did this to yourself. Maybe you should think about being nicer."

I swallow and smack his hand away from me. The rope is prickly with strands that look like they'll leave splinters in my skin. I hold them tightly, just in case Juilliard does try something as I swing myself over. Conveniently, or not so conveniently, I've left out the fact that I don't know how to swim. It's not like I had much time for recreational activities like that. If a job was posted that required it, and there rarely ever was, I didn’t pick it. For this very reason.

I may have taunted Juilliard for not feeling easy about the tiny boat, but it's my own skills, or lack thereof, that I should be worried about. On the last rung of the ladder, I extend a leg to feel for the boat behind me. The ocean brings it to and from the side of the ship, constantly moving.

My grip on the ropes grow sore by the sharp pricks of the hairs that shoot off it and my hands are clammy, making it wet. You're just stepping onto a boat, Nilsa. Put your damn foot down. Hands clasp around my waist and I scream. Marcello and Hedda lean over the ship’s edge, both of them laughing and watching.

"Relax, I'm fucking helping you! Let go of the rope," Juilliard hisses.

"Don't you drop me or toss me to the waves. You sleep far too heavy to piss me off like that," I threaten.

"I'm not near as nefarious as you are." He sighs. "Now let go."

The skin is stretched tight over my knuckles. I stare at my own grip. Let go, you can do it. Let go. Trust. You can do that this one time. I lift one finger then the next until finally my weight falls into Juilliard's grip and he lowers me next to him.

"I'll