When only a few Umbra were left, they grew desperate. Some attacked with greater ferocity, others jumped. Moments of broken pleas and wild eyes, shadows flickering. One Umbra scrambled up the side of the ship and dropped into the sea below. Fire scorched him before he hit the water, ash drifting to the surface.
Lightning flashed overhead. Luella’s storm raged. The force of the rain grew punishing.
Water pooled on the deck, mingling with blood and sending it dripping in rivulets down the sides. Az’s boots tracked over severed limbs and broken bodies.
There was one Umbra left.
The night was quiet now.
The remaining Umbra was a male. He stood by the quarterdeck with a sword dropped at his side, grip loose. Blood coated every bit of him, making it hard to discern anything about his features, except for those shadowed eyes—even his hair was clumped with red.
Together, they walked forward. Graves led, Tharen and Az directly behind him, with Bastian following, all while the onyx dragon circled.
The Umbra tipped his chin up as they approached. "I am not scared of you." He smiled. His voice was hard. "If you kill me, you will never know where she is."
Az’s steps faltered.
It was Graves who spoke. "Where is she? You’ve taken her?"
"Of course. She’s long gone now. She was here—for only a breath." The Umbra’s tone was tinged with mania. He knew he was going to die.
"Where?" Graves demanded. One word, so deadly.
Az could not form words. Couldn’t even get his lips to move.
"Where else?" The Umbra appeared to be enjoying stringing them along, each word said torturously slow. "To her home."
Everything stopped.
"She’s in Luna?" Tharen asked, stepping forward, bloodied twin swords dragging against the gore on the ground. The tip of one blade brushed the Umbra’s boot, and he jumped.
"The one place you can never find her. It would be suicide, and you all know it." He laughed. "But go—go to Luna. Anddie trying. The Tenebrae is anxious to have her. He’s preparing a wedding." He gave a lecherous smile. "I wonder if he’ll let me have her once he’s done. She’ll be ruined after the wedding night, but the Umbra live on scraps. I want to make her scream?—"
A silver blade flashed. Blood sprayed. Az barely had time to turn his head and save his mouth from the thick splatter of blood. He felt hot warmth drip down his collar.
He turned back and watched as Graves pulled away his dagger, then dropped the blade. He’d slit the Umbra’s throat. A bloody smile curved beneath his chin.
"Fucking try to talk about her again," Graves rasped, voice shaking.
As the body dropped, Az fell to his knees, the world tilting. The deck swayed beneath him, the sea roiling.
"She’s gone," Az whispered.
No. This wasn’t real. It wasn’t. She wasn’t gone.
The things he’d done for her. The monster he’d become. He stared at his bloodied hands. He still felt the way the spine had slipped free so easily.
It had all been for nothing. She wasn’t even here. She had never been here.
The sound of slamming made him jerk his head up.
"Check below deck—she could be bound," Bastian choked out. He blinked furiously, stumbling. He coughed into his hand, and Az saw red on his palm.
"Tharen, with me," Graves said, storming to the door of the captain’s quarters.
They both came out with grim looks of shock on their faces.
"Move!" Tharen snapped, shoving past Graves. "If she’s here, we’ll find her."
