Page 53 of Ever Dark Academy, Vol. 7

Still. Why hadn’t she said anything?

Shame.

Fear.

Regret.

Betrayal.

It was all bad and complicated.

And he had no time to think about it now. Because he needed to get out of here. His body ached in ways he hadn’t experienced in who knew how long. Khos was making soft growling sounds as it was muzzled.

It’s okay, Khos. One moment, he soothed the Dire Wolf.

In the confusion and chaos, he hoped that no one was looking at him at that moment. The bindings were meant to hold a humanoid form. There was some magic to them, but he was an Immortal and stronger than most. Even now when he was hurting and battered, he was able to reach for his animal forms. He shifted into a snake. Not one of the gigantic pythons that could crush even something as large and unwieldy as Legion. No, just a slender cobra that easily slithered out from the bonds that fell uselessly around them.

“I’ve got him!” Someone shouted.

“So do I!” Another called with a wild laugh.

For a moment, Ryder thought they meant him and his long, sinuous form coiled tightly. But then there was a scream of agony. His snake’s head whipped towards the sound. Marinus was a foot off the ground. The weapon had fallen from his hands. His arms and legs were unnaturally stretched out to either side. With a feeling of helpless horror, he watched as Marinus was literally ripped apart.

Blood rained down onto the ground as the last agonized shriek left the Mer. The power of the Ashyr Bloodline. Ryder felt his stomach nearly revolt, but his snake form seemed incapable of vomiting so that was something.

“We got him!” Someone let out a triumphant hoot.

“Get the rest!” Dani commanded.

What have you done, Dani? Marinus wasn’t just some ordinary Mer. What have you done?

The other Mers did not run away at the loss of their leader. They let out howls of unspeakable rage and grief. One of them leaped upon a Vampire with a bone knife and slit the Vampire’s throat clean down to the vertebrae before snapping it back. There was a hideous ripping sound as the head came clean off and rich, hot blood poured out onto the ground.

“Michela!” Dani cried.

A lioness leaped and took down the triumphant Mer. Natasha bit into the Mer’s throat. A geyser of blood exploded, covering her and filling her mouth. There was a terrible cracking of bones as the Mer shuddered and then went still.

I have to get out of here!

Khos was whining piteously as the smell of blood and sounds of death were all around him and he was unable to fight or flee. He immediately shifted back into a humanoid form as he wrapped his arms around Khos and rolled them both away from the Mers and the fighting Vampires. Once he had them semi-hidden behind a boulder, he went to work on Khos’ bonds. They burned his hands and he hissed as he wrenched hard to release the Dire Wolf’s paws.

This isn’t working! I need to shift and get out of here!

He wasn’t sure where Grayson was. His attempt at touching his beloved’s mind was fractured from the pain and the violence. But Grayson was not some newbie to fighting or gore. He would keep his head. What he feared was that Grayson would act in such a way as to reveal himself to protect Ryder and Khos. He had to ensure that didn’t happen.

As the wires began to snap in his hands, he took a quick glance up above the boulder to see what was happening. Two more of the Ashyr Vampires had gone down, but even more of the Mer had. There were only half a dozen Mer left. His eyes landed upon Marinus’ corpse.

The Mer royal was staring up sightlessly into the night sky. There were rumors that the Mer had come from someplace out there. Someplace impossibly dark and deep where monsters dwelt. A particular monster was their maker and their god who was said to reside in the depths of every ocean at the same time. Would it have heard the death cries of this favored son of the ocean?

Dani, what have you done?

He told himself that Dani was strong, but not as strong as Grayson and not even as strong now as she would be in the future. The Mers, too, had a certain resistance to Vampire gifts. They were stronger, faster, and many other things than humans, for example, that gave them a greater ability to fight against Vampires. But still, Dani could have found a way to do this that wouldn’t have led to bloodshed, to death, to this.

There will be consequences for all of us for this.

He reminded himself that all of this had already happened and the future didn’t seem especially marred by the Mers’ revenge. But the Mers, like Vampires, lived forever. Time did not have the same meaning to immortal beings as it did to mortals. They could simply be waiting to strike. Maybe they were waiting until Daemon returned to have their revenge on him.

Yet another thing that we have to deal with because of this blasted War!