“Why haven’t you mentioned her?”
Kaelypso was silent for a moment before admitting, “I wanted to make sure you had your closure before we went searching for mine. I never knew if she survived the fall.”
The dragon shifted, and Esmyra held still as Levaia slowly coiled her massive body around her. Not tightly or constraining but with a careful, almost mothering grace. The way one might protect something fragile.
Power emanated from the beast, coursing just beneath its skin. It was raw and wild, just as Esmyra had once been.
Just as she longed to be again.
The creature leaned forward, lowering its massive head, and gently pressed the tip of its snout to the crown of hers. Her eyes fluttered shut,warmth flooding her.
“I can’t stay here.” Her voice was barely above a whisper as her heart pounded. “It’s not even a matter of pretending this would be enough anymore. Syrena…Naerysais trying to kill me.”
“Actually, she’s trying to killme,” Kaelypso corrected.
“Well, we’re one in the same, aren’t we?”
An odd sensation fluttered through her, as if she felt Kaelypso blush at her words. “You’re finally starting to get it, Blackwood.”
Blackwood. Not Aeress. The name choice meant more to Esmyra than she was willing to admit.
Levaia stared at her for a long, unblinking moment. Then, with a slow exhale that sent a ripple across the water’s surface, it began to move. Its long, coiling body swept past her, silent as it cut through the shallows. Esmyra watched it go, following the sleek shimmer of its tail as it glided out of the harbor.But then Levaia halted, gazing out at the ocean before turning to face her once more.
“She’s urging us to leave,” Kaelypso translated the movement.
Esmyra let out a trembling breath. “But where?”
“Anywhere but here,” Kaelypso answered.
Esmyra nodded softly as her gaze remained out toward the sea.
Behind her, the kingdom loomed with merlights glittering over its castle. No longer would she pretend Maerinys was her real home. She was never meant to stay here. Her soul had abandoned that path the day Cyrus brought her aboardThe Night Wraith.
Esmyra wasn’t sure if there was anything left to yearn after in this life. All she had ever known was the seas and the life she led ruling it. So, she would start there. She would go back to where it all began, where every pirate earned their scars and name.
I need to get to Anchorage Cove.
Then, without sound or warning, Levaia pulled away, slipping back toward the open sea. Its body moved like a dark ribbon through water, vanishing beneath the waves with a final flick of its tail.
Esmyra remained in the shallows long after the ripples faded, staring at the expanse of the empty sea beyond.
And for the first time in weeks… she felt a sliver of hope.
CHAPTER 29
Draevyn
Draevyn’s ship,Valor, groaned as it dropped anchor, chains rattling through the dark water. Mist clung to the wooden piers of Anchorage Cove like a ghost as the scent of salt, ale, and rotting fish plagued the air.
Oh, yeah. We’re in the right place.Draevyn and his crew hated it here when they first made port all those months ago, the night he and Esmyra crossed paths. It was filthy, grimy, and full of nothing but the realm’s most violent scum.
And now he was likely considered one of them.
The mighty had certainly fallen, but he didn’t truly feel that way in his heart. If anything, he felt more alive. He wasn’t sure if it was from the thrill of everything he’d done since he crossed paths with his Wildfire, or because, deep down, he knew this was where he belonged.
It had taken them nearly a week to get to Anchorage Cove with the sad excuse of a crew they had left. The journey had been long, tense, and riddled with near mutinies.
From the moment they’d sailed out of Lephyrin’s waters and set a course, the ship had become a powder keg barely held together. Two crews—what remained of his men and the shattered survivors of Esmyra’s—were forced to sail underone flag.
