Burian twisted, hands outstretched as he searched for something to grab hold and pull himself away.
Kye let him rotate, acutely watching every move. When Burian had fully turned, he wrapped his arms around the pirate’s throat, muscles hard as he slowly began to crush Burien’s airway.
Footsteps shuffled across the berth, stopping as whoever it was gazed into the cabin. Aleksei suddenly bounded over the threshold, his fist cracking into Kye’s jaw.
Burian crashed to the floor. “’Leksei,” he croaked airlessly.
Kye reared his foot, stomping sideways into Burian’s head.
The light in the pirate’s eyes shuttered and went blank.
Snarling, Aleksei’s hand flew to the dagger at his belt.
Everything in me snapped to life, and I raised a heavy hand in the air.
Droplets gathered like a rolling avalanche. A current of mist wound through the room. I sent it curving around Aleksei’s cheek.
Above us, the deck morphed into a cacophony of noise as the pirates readied for land.
Aleksei flinched as the liquid caressed his shoulder. Hand frozen at his hip, he locked eyes with me. I flicked my wrist, driving the mist into his mouth. It churned in the air, a tumbling cloud raging down his throat.
The pirate wrenched himself away. He backed into the wall as the mist swirled and thickened, forcing his lips apart.
At my feet, Burian stirred.
Kye kicked him again, and the man fell onto his elbow. He moaned, legs and arms undulating as he writhed on the floor, then lifted his gaze to me.
Kye attempted another kick, but Burian evaded it as he grasped either side of my waist and hauled himself up. I thrust my knee into his chest, all my focus spent on Aleksei.
Gurgling, Aleksei slid wide-eyed to the floor, water filling his stomach and lungs with such force it trickled from his nose.
Burian punched me.
The soft tissue lining my inner mouth sliced open as it met with my teeth. Vertebrae cracked in my neck, forced off-kilter as my face whipped to one side. A flash of lights sent the world into blinding brilliance devoid of shape or color, until the view of Burian snapped back into place, face distorted with fury. He reeled his arm back, ready to strike again.
I braced for it, determined not to lose my grip on the watery mist that raged down Aleksei’s throat. Inches away, the slowly-drowning man staggered toward me, his body convulsing. He stopped in front of my legs, gaping wide.
The assaulting water built to a steady gush, a deluge rushing from his nostrils.
A wet scream erupted from his lips.
His eyes rolled into the back of his head.
Burian faltered, hearing Aleksei’s panic. He swung his gaze over his shoulder. And all three of us watched as Kye leaned into his chains to grab the knife from Aleksei’s hand—and sliced him across the throat.
Aleksei’s scream silenced as his neck burst in a stream of crimson.
His hand wrapped around his collar, crumpling to the floor.
I didn’t wait for Burian to react.
Palm hard against his chest, my nails dug into the flesh under his shirt.
The water in his body seemed ready before I called it.
His heart thundered under my hand, as I forced his blood to heat. To simmer and boil. Snapping his gaze back to me, Burian wrapped his fingers around my forearm.
He froze, eyes dropping to assess the budding warmth in his chest.
