The Consequences of Coerced Evolution (Book 1 in the Legends of Erosvold)

CHAPTER 15

The boat rocked beneath Evi's feet, and she swayed with it as best as she could to keep her balance. She lifted her arms slightly away from her body and had her palms pointed toward the deck, hoping that would add some more stability to her situation. She thought about sitting down, but there weren't any benches to sit on, and if she sat on the floor, she wouldn't be able to see over the side of the vessel.

Evi was fully aware that she was in Naraka, so—technically—she should be safe. But she was also aware that neutral ground didn't always mean one species couldn't mess with another; they just weren't allowed to kill one another. Despite the fact that she knew what was before her was an illusion, she couldn't help but feel uncomfortable. But it wasn't just worrying about what Conrad would do that had her on edge.

The thought of being this close to her family didn't send warm fuzzies through her system. It went beyond the fact that she had parted from them on bad terms. She could only imagine how they viewed her. She already felt like a huge failure, the last thing she needed was their further rejection and criticisms about her inability to live up to their expectations. And she didn't care what Byron said. Deep down, she was convinced that Kahina would find out about her presence and go out of her way to interact with Evi. Her mother would view it as a teachable moment, which meant she could give Evi a lecture about how amazing she was and how lacking her daughter was.

Nervously, Evi glanced around at her surroundings. The fog made it difficult to see much beyond the sides of the boat, but she figured they weren't missing much. There were probably some cave walls and a whole bunch of water around them. What she was worried about was what they would find once they crossed the river. She did her best to remember the Greek tales she had studied back in the day, but most of it was gone; washed away by alcohol and a desire not to remember. There were faint memories of a three-headed dog, and she really hoped Conrad wasn't going to use that to swallow the three of them whole. They wouldn't die, but she could only imagine what fresh hell they would be sent to.

A chunking sound reverberated through the bow of the boat, and it was tossed toward the port side. Evi had to throw out her leg to keep from falling over, and she slammed into Liam, who bumped into Byron. They became slightly tangled, but used each other to regain their balance and stand upright.

"What was that?" Evi whispered. Memories of the Sand Man and the ice-covered lake ran through her mind.

Another bump followed by a scraping sound.

"I think we're hitting rocks," Byron whispered back. He glanced over the side. The way his forehead wrinkled, Evi assumed he only saw fog and/or darkness.

"Maybe that means we're getting closer to shore," Liam suggested.

The boat thumped into another solid object and was tossed in the opposite direction. Pain radiated through Evi's hip as her body contacted the side of the boat. She slammed her hands onto the railing and clenched. The last thing she wanted was to go overboard. She risked a look back at the boatman. He rhythmically churned his oar back and forth, his gaze locked on something straight ahead. If he noticed what was going on around him, he didn't show any concern. Not that Evi was surprised. He was an illusion of sorts. He couldn't get hurt by anything around him. The three of them on the other hand...

Evi was just about to pull her gaze away from Charon when he abruptly turned and looked at her. From under his hood, two pinpoints of gold light flared, then increased in diameter to the size of quarters. She sucked in a deep breath and attempted to straighten up, but the boat hit another solid object, throwing her back into the side of the boat.

Charon let out a hiss. It started low and growly at first, then increased in volume and pitch until it was a high-pitched shriek. The sound penetrated into Evi's skull, instantly causing a headache and threatening to explode her brain from within. To prevent that from happening, she had to let go of the boat to cover her ears with her hands. As she did, Charon left his post and charged at her.