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"Quite an advantage, no? But the First and Second Arht of what the Darkling had said toto an end His answer had been to turn the Fold into a weapon But what if Grisha power could be transformed by bird, at the sailors and Squallers working side by side, at Tolya and Tauns It wasn’t impossible

He’s a privateer, I reminded myself And he’d stoop to war profiteer in a second Sturuns could just as easily be used by Ravka’s eneht shining off the port bow The great lighthouse at Alkhem Bay We were close now If I cranedtowers of Os Kervo’s harbor

Sturmhond did not make directly for it but tacked southwest I assu made me queasy I decided to keep my eyes shut for that, no hthouse beam Just how far south did Sturmhond intend to take us? He’d said he wanted to reach the coast before dawn, and that couldn’t be hts drifted, lost to the stars around us and the clouds scudding across the wide sky The night wind bit into h the thin fabric of ulped back a scream We weren’t over the water anyed on Mal’s sleeve and gestured frantically to the countryside below us, painted in moonlit shades of black and silver

"Stur?"

"You said you were taking us to Os Kervo--" Mal yelled

"I said I was taking you to oing to land?"

"Not to worry," said Sturmhond "I have a lovely little lake in mind"

"How little?" I squeaked But then I saw that Mal was cli out of the cockpit, his face furious "Mal, sit down!"

"You lying, thieving--"

"I’d stay where you are I don’t think you want to be jostling around e enter the Fold"

Mal froze Sturan to whistle that same off-key little tune It was snatched away by the wind

"You can’t be serious," I said

"Not on a regular basis, no," said Sturmhond "There’s a rifle secured beneath your seat, Oretsev You rab it Just in case"

"You can’t take this thing into the Fold!" Mal bellowed

"Why not? Fro with the one person who can guarantee safe passage"

I clenchedfear from my mind "Maybe I’ll just let the volcra have you and your crew for a late-night snack!"

Sturmhond kept one hand on the wheel and consulted his timepiece "More of an early breakfast We really are behind schedule Besides," he said, "it’s a long way down Even for a Sun Sulanced at Mal and knew his furybeneath us at a terrifying pace I stood up, trying to get a sense for where ere

"Saints," I swore

Behind us lay stars,He was really going to do it He was taking us into the Fold

"Gunners, at your stations," Sturoing to kill you!" I shouted "Turn this thing around right now!"

"Wish I could oblige I’m afraid if you want to kill me, you’ll just have to wait until we land Ready?"

"No!" I shrieked

But the next ht ever known--a perfect, deep, unnatural blackness that seerip We were in the Fold

Chapter 8

THE MOMENT WE entered the Unsea, I knew soainst the deck and threw up ht around the Hu to let a flock of volcra bring us down only to prove a point

With the power of both aht I tested its edges carefully, sensing none of the wild disruption that had overco was very wrong The Fold felt different I told ination, but it seemed like the darkness had a texture I could ales of the wound at an to itch and pull, as if the flesh were restless

I’d been on the Unsea twice before, and both tier, like a vulnerable interloper in a dangerous, unnatural world that did not wantout tome I knew it made no sense The Fold was a dead and eht Like calls to like

I was being ridiculous I clearedthe power pulse war around ," Mal said beside me "Listen"

Over the rush of the wind, I heard a cry echo through the Fold, and then the steady pounding of volcra wings They’d found us quickly, drawn by the ss beat the air around the circle of light I’d created, pushing the darkness back at us in fluttering ripples With crossings of the Fold at a standstill, they’d been too long without food Appetite ht bloo them closer"

"What? Why?" I asked The volcra were pure predators They weren’t to be toyed with

"They hunt us," he said, raising his voice so everyone could hear him "Maybe it’s time we hunted them"