Looping the hooks of his daggers around my sword, he shoved it from his throat and above his head. Their tips burrowed into the wood, pinning my weapon beneath them. Propelled forward because of my unwillingness to release my hold, my nose brushed against his as I fell inches from his face. Breath hitching, I caught myself before our lips could connect, my left palm slapping against the deck.
He bit his bottom lip, his enraging smirk returning as he whispered against my skin. “I’m sorry, what was it that you were going to say,mylittle siren?”
Baring my teeth, I snarled. “I will carve your fucking heart from your chest, you self-righteousfuck.”
“Is that a promise?” he crooned, pressing his hips up against me. “Because if it is, I’m intrigued how you plan to partake in such an animalistic display when you’ve lost control of your weapon.”
“Have I?” The whisper fled me as I adjusted my weight, freeing the blade I’d returned to its sheath on my side.
With one toss I flipped the hilt into my palm while I simultaneously let go of the hilt of the sword to shift my focus. My hands overlapped on the new weapon, and I drove it into his chest, blood and muscle squelching upon its arrival. With an inch burrowed into his flesh, I urged it even deeper before he let go of one of his daggers to capture my wrists.
“Gods, you’re a fuckinghindrance.” He grunted in pain, resisting me with the arm he’d pulled away. “But I happen to enjoy the fight; it makes this whole engagement far more fun.”
The dull rasp registered far too late, a sharpened agony erupting up my side. His blade pierced my flesh, consuming every inch of muscle and organ that stood in its way. A gasp of affliction tumbled from me before I could swallow it, and his crimson glare darkened as he rotated his wrist slightly, which I mirrored.
Ignoring the pain threatening to devour me and the billowing hunger in his irises, I twisted the dagger back and forth into his skin. The wound in his chest widened with my carving, the warmth of his lineage brushing against the side of my hand. A slew of curses rolled from his throat with a growl, and the subtle whimper that joined it sparked the fuse of my motivation.
I shifted my hips to the left with a vigor that removed his weapon from my side, while I let go of the steel I’d buried in his chest. The forced extraction on my end pulled a yelp from my lips as I landed onthe rain-soaked wood once again, every inch of my body protesting against me.
Brushing off the growing circle of crimson that stained my shirt, I rolled and shoved myself upright. My heels dug into the deck as I spun and lifted my leg, driving my booted foot into the hilt of the dagger still nestled in Caspian’s skin.
“FUCK!”he shouted, fingers coiling around my ankle as he yanked me toward him before shoving me away with an intensity that sent me stumbling.
Barely keeping myself upright, my injured side collided with the main mast, stars consuming my vision as a sharp iron tang flooded the back of my throat. The tandem snap of bone confirmed what I already knew—my ribs were broken.
I struggled to level my breathing, my sight fading in and out of focus as I palmed my leaking wound. With the feeling in my fingertips vanishing with each second, I knew I didn’t have long until I fell unconscious.
A hand closed around my neck before I could encourage myself to take another step. Those crimson eyes taunted me as Caspian ripped me off the ground, the fingers on his unoccupied arm sinking into the gaping hole in my side.
I tried to scream, but even its talons couldn’t pry themselves from my throat with the pressure he applied. Kicking my legs, my nails tore into his forearms, carving into his flesh with every intention of drawing blood.
But it was useless.
Jaw feathering, his brows hooded his glare as his fingertips sank into tendon while his other hand worked itself deeper into my wound. “I’m not typically one to harm women; in fact, it goes against everythingIbelieve in. But, since you’ve elected to execute most of my crew, my morals have been suffocated. You will take your last breath on this fucking ship,Rohen Levitte,and I willbaskin watching that light leave your sinful gaze.”
Itwasn’t supposed to end this way, though it made sense in a sort of wrapped-around,fuckedup way.
My existence had always been a sick joke, ever since I was sold to Malrik, as if I werebornwithout any autonomy. Every year, I endured his abuse and served him without argument, which had only earned mockery, a reminder that, as a woman in this life, I would never amount to anything. It was a fact that Caspian had only proven further: strength and brute force, a countercurrent to anything I’d ever accomplish.
Oh, you pitiful bitch, pull yourself together. Every tribulation has prepared you to kill, to devour. Your life has merely shown you all the ways men will cower beneath your ruthlessness.
My internal monologue proved sufficient as I swung myself forward, my foot driving into Caspian’s groin without remorse. Instinctively, he released me, his grunt mixing with my gasp as I devoured every ounce of air he’d robbed me of. My ass met the wood at the same time Caspian’s knees did, and I didn’t waste another second.
Allowing the scream to tear itself from my lips, I forced myself to stand. I glanced between my bloodied weapons littering the ground and the gunwale of the ship, the decision clearing in my mind. With my palm pressed into my side, I limped toward the ledge I’d already stumbled from once before.
Caspian’s shout erupted from behind me. “Going to toss yourself overboard with some idiotic belief you’ll survive Ellira’s waters?” He laughed, the pain still prevalent in his timbre. “Have fun drowning, bitch.”
Curling my fingers around the lip, I glanced over my shoulder at the same time another lightning strike tore from the sky. With my lips curling into a sinister smile, I offered him the vow I would live by until the day I took my last breath.
“Lucky enough for me, Caspian Vayne, I know how toswim.While you continue to hide on this ship because of your inability to tread Ellira’s waters, know that I will not stop searching every fucking inch of it for you. And the next time we cross paths, whether on land or sea, I willkillyou.”
And with that, I jumped overboard, allowing the chilling ocean to usher me wherever it pleased. If I truly were a Daughter of Ellira, she wouldn’t let me die.
This was her test, and the final one I would offer the gods if they wished to win back my faithfulness.
CHAPTER 26
Siren Song
