Rebel in the Deep (Crimson Sails #3) Read Online Katee Robert

Categories Genre: Alpha Male, Fantasy/Sci-fi, Paranormal Tags Authors: Series: Crimson Sails Series by Katee Robert
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Total pages in book: 100
Estimated words: 93948 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
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A sliver of fear goes through me. “They’re spending too much magic.”

Instead of arguing, Bastian tenses. “Has Nox used an amplification circle before? Surely they know that it drains your magic faster than normal.”

Since I didn’t fucking know that, I highly doubt Nox does. We’re not witches or sorcerers to rely on ritual to accomplish our aims. Elemental magic is as instinctive as my shifting forms. The worry inside me turns to something that’s almost like terror. “They’ll die.”

Bastian moves before I can, slithering out of my grip and giving me a light push. “Go. I can handle this. Get them out of that fucking circle.”

Even though I should argue, I don’t. His fear amplifies mine. “If you fall, I will find whatever underworld you go to and drag you back. Do you understand me?”

He hooks the back of my neck and tows me down for a quick kiss. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Now go!”

I go. But only after ensuring he’s looped his arm through the rope. It’s not as strong as I am, and I should stay to ensure he’s okay, but the fog is still increasing, and even through the storm, I can see how waxy Nox’s complexion is. That little fool is drawing too much. Again. I don’t trust their crew to know their captain’s limits. Nox is too damn good at ignoring best practices and concern, at playing at being untouchable. Their crew won’t anticipate how close they are to the kind of burnout that results in death…but I will.

I make it halfway down the rigging before impatience takes hold of me and I jump the rest of the way. It’s a fall that would break a human’s bones, but I land easily and roll forward to eat up my momentum. And then I’m sprinting up the stairs and shoving my way through the thick magic coursing through the amplification circle. Evelyn tries to get in my way, but I dodge around her. “Get the wave going. Now!”

Bowen frowns but obeys. Concentration and tension roll through him, and the ship dips as the water rushes out from underneath us and rises in a massive wave from our wake. Higher and higher until surely it must be taller than Bastian’s position in the crow’s nest. In the back of my mind, I wonder why we don’t just try to drown our pursuers and be done with all this, but there will be space for questions after we survive this.

Nox is only going to survive this if I pull them out of this godsdamned circle. I loop them around the waist, my fear a live thing inside me when they don’t resist. Nox has been fighting since the moment they first drew breath. I would stake my life on it. And yet they’re almost perfectly limp as I sweep them into my arms and jump out of the amplification circle. The moment we leave it—or, more accurately, the moment Nox’s magic stops sustaining it—the circle dissolves, the rain plastering the chalk in foamy, milky rivulets over the deck.

Nox’s head lolls on their shoulders, and they blink up at me. “I wasn’t finished.”

“You almost killed yourself, you bloody fool.”

They blink again, slower this time. “You’re being very dramatic right now.”

“After we survive this, I’m going to tie you to your damned bed until you get some rest and refill your reserves properly.”

“Kinky.” But the word has none of their customary charm and flirtation. Instead, it’s slurred and almost undefinable. At this point, they’re lucky I don’t kill them myself.

I turn, not entirely certain of my plan, but I stop short when I see a perfect replica of the Audacity rise out of the fog next to us. And I do mean perfect. Bastian has re-created the crewmen rushing about on deck. I see my doppelgänger arguing with Nox’s twin. He’s even replicated the mended tear in the mainsail.

I knew Bastian was powerful. I knew glamour was powerful. I’ve seen him use it to influence people, to protect those who cannot protect themselves, but I’ve never seen him use it like this. And he doesn’t even have an amplification circle in play. “Holy shit.”

Nox cracks their eyes open and curses softly under their breath. “At least he accurately portrayed how sexy I am.”

“Of course he did. He still loves you,” I say absently, my mind awash with the impossibility of this display of power. As Bowen’s wave carries us skimming faster and faster forward, the glamoured version of our ship angles northwest while we cut to the east. I’m having a hard time gauging if the phantom ship is moving at accurate speeds or not, but with magic in play, who’s to say what’s accurate and what isn’t? The storm and fog and waves further obscure the details. Surely this will work. It has to work.


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