Page 177 of A Sea of Fate and Starfire

Naiads poured in, winding through the palms and boulders. Nori and Olinne, Sindri and Pheolix. Juile Naiads, Venusian Naiads. My heart skipped as I recognized Xiane from Paria, standing among them.

“Ah,” Thaan said, gaze lifting from the bloodless trunk of his arm to scan the hundreds of faces edging through the leaves. “So it’s war you want.”

His drones rocked forward on a silent order, surging toward the Naiads. Countless more crawled from the corners of the island, sweeping over the rocks and branches.

Our Naiads flew to meet them.

A storm rose on its heels, sweeping arms of chaos through Neris Island. Not only wind and rain and beams of light. Mortal souls, crashing into one another like titans made of steel and flesh and water born from blood.

Death danced between our bodies, glimmers of silver bottling breath and heart, collecting souls to send over the sea in the night sky.

I pulled Kye to his feet under the screeching cyclone, reaching for his twin blades, fitting one into his fist. He sagged against me, and I pulled his arm over my head.

Thaan stretched a hand toward Kazimir’s chest. The Rivean gave a soft grunt. Then crumpled to the island floor. Thaan sent him away with an angry wave, Kazimir’s body rolling through ardent undergrowth and out of sight.

Screams, shouts, feral words, pleas for mercy.

Wind cut through my hair, rain burned in my eyes. The world was thick with muted color, and I was left dizzy within it. Thrown to the depths, unaware of which direction might mean escape.

Someone ripped Kye from me. He was there one moment, gone the next, devoured by a tempest beyond my control.

Kye! I screamed. If he answered, it was too loud to hear, even in my own head.

Sharp eyes of ice and bone leaned into mine.

Every drop of my blood silenced into stillness. Weight dropped over my chest, a heaviness I couldn’t breathe against. My arms and legs went limp, and I fell numbly to the grass, staring into the face that would snuff life from my bones.

“Selena,” Thaan’s voice said. Talons dug into my chest. His hold over my heart pulsed, granting me a beat before he stopped it again. My right arm lost feeling, the world blending into shifting mud. “Now.”

And she came. Emerged from the wind like she’d been borne from mist, knife ready in her hand.

“Do it,” Thaan sneered through his teeth. My heart lurched, my pulse small yet agonizing. Like I was being ripped in two.

I couldn’t breathe. But I held my breath.

Her eyes were thick, swimming with tears and regret and voiceless apology.

“It’s okay,” I mouthed, my lungs empty. I knew what it was like, having him inside my head. I knew she answered to his every whim, whether it was in her heart or not.

“DO IT,” Thaan bellowed against his own screaming rain.

And she obeyed. She slid her knife between ribs, piercing heart and body and mortal life.

But she didn’t pierce mine.

77

Maren

The wind died. The rain thinned. All around, the fighting slowed, heads turning toward us. Thaan gazed at the hilt protruding from between his fourth and fifth ribs, with a sense of distant and slowly descending disbelief. His talons left my chest.

He struck, snatching Selena by the neck as he stood, her feet dangling just over the ground. “You can’t,” he ground out. “You couldn’t have. I’m your master.”

“Oh, but she did,” cooed a smooth, silky voice, a wisp of shadow. I opened my bleary eyes, watching a curling strand of smoke hover over Thaan’s shoulder. “She made a vow to herself, some twenty-five years ago, that she would end your life. An oath that predates the one she made to you. Why do you think I came to help you tonight, with no payment at all?” He tittered, amused, before disappearing through the cool night air.

Selena said nothing. Throat tight, she pulled her hand from her pocket, unfolding it for us to see. Blood ran from her hand, draining between her fingers like crimson streams escaping a dam. In the center of her palm, two vibrant crystals lay bloodied and broken.

“No,” Thaan breathed, hand roaming to find the knife still wedged in his ribs.