Snake Heart (Chains of Honor #2) -Lindsay Buroker Page 0,3

against the railing.

He had been expecting the Nurians, but were Turgonians after him too? Yanko had accepted that his bodyguard was probably a spy for the Turgonian government, and knew that he might have to fight him for the lodestone someday, but what could he do? Without Dak’s help, Yanko would not have a chance of finding the lodestone. He couldn’t even read the Kyattese texts Dak was using for research.

“It could be Turgonians,” Dak said, his single eye pointed toward the tube. The device disappeared beneath the surface as he finished the statement, leaving nothing but the waves behind. “It could also be the Kyattese.”

“Which do you think is more likely?” Yanko watched his face carefully, positive that Dak had reported in to his embassy when they had been on Kyatt.

As usual, Dak’s face gave away little, and Yanko shifted uneasily when that one eye turned to regard him. Standing nearly six and a half feet tall, with broad shoulders and muscular arms, Dak would have been intimidating even without any battle wounds, but several scars and the missing eye left little doubt that he was a veteran soldier. Why he didn’t bother wearing an eye patch, Yanko did not know, but meeting the man’s gaze always made him uncomfortable. Maybe that was why Dak didn’t bother.

“The Kyattese have been known to be secretive about their past,” Dak said, “which isn’t as peaceful as they would like the modern world to believe. They may not wish anyone to find evidence of their past failures. Or they may want to keep their lost continent to themselves, if such a thing truly exists.” He sniffed, as if he believed that unlikely. For someone who felt that way, he was spending a lot of hours in the cabin researching the lodestone.

“How would the Kyattese have come to know of my quest?” Yanko asked quietly, moving away from the smuggler with the spyglass. “Would Mela have told others?”

Dak snorted. “Maybe, maybe not, but what you’re up to isn’t much of a secret anymore, not with the authorities from multiple nations on your heels.”

Yanko grimaced. He did not know if Dak was trying to direct him away from the idea that the Turgonians were following him, but maybe it didn’t matter. Whether it was the Kyattese or the Turgonians, Yanko had to ensure that he found the lodestone first.

A boom sounded from one of the aft cannons, and Yanko jumped. The projectile lofted away and splashed into the water near where the periscope had poked up. Minark jogged into sight and stopped beside the artilleryman. The second aft cannon fired from Yanko’s other side.

Out in the water, the periscope did not reappear. Yanko sensed startled fish diving toward coral on the ocean floor, and one scared octopus plastered itself to the side of the Falcon’s Flight. He also sensed the humans traveling away from the schooner. The cannonballs had not splashed down near the underwater boat.

“That’ll teach those Turgonians not to spy on us,” Minark said, tossing a glower in Dak’s direction.

“Kyattese,” Dak said.

“What?”

“Kyattese spies. Or scientists, more likely.”

“How can you tell?”

Yanko wondered that, too, since a moment ago, Dak had not been certain.

Dak narrowed his eye at the captain. “If you had fired at my people, they would have fired back and sunk your ship.” Dak stalked toward a pair of rowboats that could be lowered for transport, passing Minark as he went. “There’s a cove on the north side of the island. Anchor there so we can row ashore.”

“I don’t care for taking orders from your bodyguard, White Fox,” Minark growled at Yanko.

Yanko shrugged. “He’s the one with the maps.”

“Maybe not for long,” Minark muttered under his breath, stalking off.

Chapter 2

The sun was warm, the salty breeze pleasant, and yet Yanko had an uneasy feeling as he and Dak rowed through the cove. Adobe buildings lined a black sand beach and perched upon rocky outcroppings that cupped the sheltered hollow. Shutters banged in the breeze, the only movement. Neither animal nor human voices arose from the village, and the fishing boats tied to the single pier with enough slack to rise and fall with the tide did not look like they had been used for a while.

Using his mental powers, Yanko searched the palm and koa trees behind the dwellings. He did not detect anyone out there. Even the animal life was scant, with nothing larger than rats lurking near the beach.

“Those don’t look like ruins where treasures would be buried,” Minark