She shouted and twisted, pounding her fists against his back as she kicked her legs. “Put me down, you bastard!”
“You’ll thank me later!” he boomed as he bolted for the opening.
Jak appeared at his side, picked up a musket of one of Lephyrin’s fallen soldiers, and began shooting down the guards who tried to block their path. “Get her back to the ship!”
“No shit,” Draevyn answered as he ran. “Your job is to get everyone else there!”
“Aye,” Jak agreed, and then took off in a run.
Esmyra kept cursing Draevyn, clawing at his back, but he only tightened his hold. They tore through the castle doors and into the night, the air outside cool and sharp against the heat of his flames.
Bodies were piled everywhere, nearly everyone outside of the castle walls already dead or well on their way there.
Draevyn rushed toward the forest the crew had hid in.
The woods swallowed them the instant they burst through the tree line, branches clawing at his arms as he tore through the undergrowth in a dead sprint.
“Draevyn, put me down or you’ll end up with a spine full of venom!”
I love when she threatens me.He didn’t even try to hide his laugh.
“Not happening,” he yelled back. “You take care of anyone behind us; I’ll handle the front.”
She went still for half a heartbeat, and then he felt her shift her weight, twisting just enough to look back over his shoulder. “Ugh. Fine.”
Someone lunged from the trees then—a stray elven soldier with his blade raised. Draevyn didn’t even break stride as he lifted his hand in the male’s direction, his body instantly igniting in flames. The male turned to ash as he hit the ground, sending embers drifting in the air.
“Holy hells,” Esmyra screeched. “It’s about time the Phoenix showed up.”
“Well, it turns out, the little push I needed to be that monster was for you to be put in danger,” he admitted.
Behind them, another guard burst from the shadows, sprinting silently toward them.
Esmyra didn’t hesitate. “Oh,finally. My turn.”
Her hand snapped back and she ripped a dagger from her hip. Draevyn peered over his shoulder as the blade flashed in the moonlight, sailing through the trees before striking the soldier clean in the throat.
“Nice throw,” he shouted.
“Well, I had a decent teacher I suppose,” she admitted, yanking another dagger from her belt and gripping it tight.
“Decent?!” he gasped with a half laugh, and he didn’t miss the subtle one that left her too.
They pressed on, his boots pounding against the forest floor as her daggers whistled death to anyone foolish enough to give chase. Eventually, the members of their crew caught up, all of them bolting through the trees as fast as their feet would carry them. The chaos of the castle was far behind them now, but the tension stayed sharp, every shadow a potential threat.
The trees suddenly thinned, moonlight spilling across the jagged edge of the world. Draevyn skidded to a stop so fast the ground tore beneath his boots, nearly pitching both of them over the cliff that appeared out of nowhere. Esmyra let out a screech at the sudden halt, as gravel and dirt cascaded down into the abyss below.
And then the crew followed suit, everyone abruptly stopping at the cliff’s edge.
For a breathless moment, all he heard was the roar of waves smashing against the rocks far below. His chest heaved, and he slowly lifted his gaze to find his ship,Valor, sitting within the mist. Its sails were dark against the starlit sky, rocking gently in the open sea.
“We’re surrounded,” Sam warned, eyes darting to the line of Maerinysean soldiers advancing with spears raised.
“Just hand over our goddess, and we’ll be on our way,” one ofthem shouted with a sly grin. “Queen Syrena isveryworried about her.”
“Go fuck yourself,” Esmyra snapped at them, lip curling back.
Draevyn stepped up to the edge, staring at the impossible drop, and then at the ship waiting beyond. Hope flared within his chest. They had her now, and they were so close to freedom he could practically taste it.
