The three pirates all exchanged a glance as smirks climbed their lips.
“I know you think you know her and all,” Jak started, shoving ablade back into his belt. “But there ain’t no way in any hell that woman is sitting inside some run-down shack waiting to be rescued.”
Oh, I know.He was just hoping she would listen to him for once.
“I’m aware,” Draevyn grumbled. “Which is why I need you to find her as soon as possible and get her out of here.”
“We ain’t letting them take our fucking island,” Ren spat.
Draevyn dragged a hand through his hair and huffed out a breath. “Don’t pirates have an ‘every man for himself’ code?”
“Not when it comes to shit like this, mate,” Jak answered, crossing his arms.
“We fight,” Riven chimed in. “Esmi would want to fight. I would bet she’s out here as we speak.”
Draevyn stepped forward. “No. Werun.We get the others, and Jak will help Esmyra.”
Jak studied him for a breath. “You wantmeto get her?”
Draevyn gave a stiff nod. “You know this place far better than I do.” He stepped up to him, his voice lowering. “And as much as it pains me to say this… You’re the only one I trust to jump in front of a bullet meant for her, other than myself.”
Something in Jak’s stare softened as he looked Draevyn up and down. “Aye. You’re finally starting to get it, Phoenix.” He turned to Ren and Riven. “You heard him. Spread out. Get who you can back to the ship.”
They took off into a sprint, leaving Jak and Draevyn alone in the alleyway. The two men turned toward the narrow opening that led back out into the streets, where chaos still reigned.
“Your brother isn’t going to stop,” Jak broke the silence. “Not until she’s dead.”
“Or himself,” Draevyn admitted. “That’s why I need to find him first and try to stop this.”
“And if he harms her unprovoked?” Jak’s voice darkened.
The silence was deafening, pressing against him on all sides as the tension in the air grew unbearably thick.
“Then I’ll kill him myself,” Draevyn said.
Nausea climbed his throat as he said it, nearly making him sick. But he meant every word, and it was why it was so important to get through to Atlas.
Without saying anything else, they both stormed out of the alleyway and back into the madness.
CHAPTER 34
Esmyra
Esmyra crouched behind the rotting boards of the shack, fingers twitching with restrained energy.
Wait here,Draevyn had said. It was adorable, really. Thinking she would do such a thing.
But she wanted to try. For him. For the man who seemingly had done everything in his power to do right by her since the moment they met but was torn away and manipulated by forces neither of them could’ve guessed.
Every scream outside, however, cracked something inside her, and every crash of metal stirred the storm in her blood. Even Kae seemed to have turned restless within her.
Esmyra wasn’t built for hiding, the siren wasn’t meant to be caged, and Kaelypso wasn’t made to kneel and cower before any man.
With a deep breath, she shoved the door open and took her first steps into the chaos.
The isle was a hellscape—soldiers pouring through the streets, dragging innocents from taverns and homes, swords flashing. Pirates and citizens alike fought back, ill-matched, but wild with defiance.
Esmyra was about to intervene, her magic stirring in her chest, but then a man stepped forward, stalking toward a group of the soldiers.She stopped in her tracks as he lifted a hand, and the earth beneath their boots trembled.
