Draevyn crossed his arms. “Insane or not, if she can help, she’s worth the risk.”
“Aye,” Esmyra and Jak said in unison, grins forming as they glanced at one another.
Draevyn could only hope they were right.
CHAPTER 48
Esmyra
Days had passed since Esmyra bore her back to Draevyn and Jak, both seeming as if the sight of those black veins carved a hole through their hearts. She still felt the weight of that moment every time Draevyn’s hand trembled as he held her waist, and every time her first mate’s pity-filled gaze lingered too long.
The days on the ship blurred together, a strange rhythm of routine and restlessness as they sailed for Terrana. The sea had given them golden sunrises that spilled light across the waves and small islands crowned with trees so vibrant they seemed unreal the closer they got to the woodland kingdom.
She stood at the bow most nights, letting the salt air and the steady rocking of the ship envelope her. It was almost enough to make her forget they were being hunted by both Azarian and Atlas.
Almost.
Every league closer to Terrana felt like the air grew heavier as her anticipation tangled with the dread of being caught before she could be freed.
But one thing was certain, and it was that Draevyn had been acting strange since that night. Esmyra had finally felt like everything could fall back into place, but after they discovered the markings on her back, it was like he retreated into himself.
He was still protective—more than ever, it seemed. No matter where she moved on the deck, he was there, a silent shadow lingering just close enough to reach her if anything happened. It should have comforted her, the way he hovered, the way his presence wrapped around her like the warmth of a cloak. But nothing felt the same anymore.
Gone was the heat that used to burn in those whiskey eyes whenever they met hers. The smoldering desire, the teasing glint, the unspoken challenge that used to set her heart racing… It had all been swallowed by something colder. Now, when she caught his gaze, all she saw was worry.
Draevyn no longer looked at Esmyra like she was the fierce, untouchable force he’d chased across the sea. Instead, he watched her like a fragile thing he had to shield from the world, or a burden he had to carry.
She had never been a burden before. She had never needed saving, and he’d known that better than anyone. Helovedher for it. That was the core of who they were—two forces colliding, never bending nor breaking. But the velsinyte made her vulnerable, and it had changed something in him.
And after searching for familiarity and nearly giving up hope, maybe that was what scared her most—that once she finally found it, it was ripped away yet again.
A shout cut through the air. “Land! Terrana’s ahead!”
Esmyra’s head jerked up to the crow’s nest, where Jak stood silhouetted against the sunlit sky, one arm raised as he pointed toward the murky outline of the coast ahead. Even from this distance, she could see his grin.
A moment later, he leapt from the nest, catching a line of rope with one hand. The crew laughed as he swung out over the deck and between the sails. The rope sang against the wind, until he released it and dropped down to the deck with the grace of someone who’d done it a hundred times.
Her lips curved despite herself.Show-off.
Draevyn barely spared him a glance, though she saw the edge of asmirk flicker on his face as he turned to face her. Jak strode to him, exchanging a few words, and the ship adjusted its course, gliding toward the shadowed coastline.
As they crept closer, Esmyra leaned over the rail. The woodland kingdom stretched ahead, shrouded in mist, but this part of its shoreline was unlike any she’d seen.
The Terrana she’d made port in over the last several centuries had grown out of the forest itself rather than been built upon it. Vast, towering trees stretched high enough to pierce the clouds, their canopies forming a cathedral of living green above. She recalled how the sunlight would filter through the leaves in scattered patterns, bathing everything in shifting emerald hues. And how the kingdom’s architecture blended seamlessly with nature, carved directly into the trunks of colossal trees or built high among their branches, connected by rope bridges and wooden walkways.
But the coastline she stared at now wasvastlydifferent. Great trees rose from the water’s edge, but their roots were tangled and exposed, twisting down into the murky water. Thick vines hung from their branches, swaying in the breeze. And the closer they got to the land, the more humid the air grew, heavy with the scent of wet earth.
There was no sign of life whatsoever.
Draevyn stepped up to her, gazing out at the view. He placed his hand on hers, tightening them around the railing.
“It’s beautiful,” she murmured under her breath. “In a haunting kind of way.”
“Much like you, I have a feeling this beauty bites back.” Draevyn winked at her and she playfully rolled her eyes.
The ship had come to a steady drift near the swampy shoreline as the crew gathered at the center of the deck.
Esmyra stood alongside Draevyn and Jak, the three of them commanding the crew’s full attention.
