Page 73 of By the Flames of Her Fury

The air was light under my feet as I stepped into nothingness. Then cold water enveloped me, rushing around my body in an icy grip. The most beautiful creature I’d ever seen smiled back at me as I plunged deeper, colder, darker. Her skin caught the moonlight filtering in from above, flawless and luminous, as if carved from pearl. Raven hair drifted around her in a dark halo. A slender neck led down to full breasts and a bare waist, where her skin shifted into scales. A silver tail gleamed like molten starlight with every swipe, and when she lifted a taloned finger to my chin, her tail wrapped soothingly around my legs.

I took a breath, and saltwater flooded my lungs. A small part of me flinched in panic, but when the creature smiled, all thoughts fled my mind, along with the burning in my lungs.

“I know the kingdom that you seek.” Her melodic song echoed through the water. “But you shall never find it, my sweet one. My precious.” A long nail ran along my jaw and down my chest, her tail pulling me closer. “You belong to the sea now.”

I nodded, entranced by her voice. What kingdom? What did I seek? None of that mattered.

When her gaze met mine, something prodded at the back of my mind. Her eyes were a deep, beautiful purple, amethysts against pale skin.

But…that wasn’t right. The eyes I remembered were brilliant gold, like the sun.

This was wrong. I shouldn’t be here.

Everything snapped into place.

My chest burned. I gasped for air, and water rushed down my throat. Lungs bursting, my head felt light as my vision darkened. I tried to thrust myself up, but the second I moved, the woman’s face contorted into a vicious monster. Purple eyes shifted to a sharp, glaring red. Her nails dug into my chest, almost hard enough to break the skin. She bared her fangs and lunged for my head.

A shining sword arched through the water. The creature opened her mouth in a gurgling shriek as the blade tore across her shoulder. The force knocked her backward, loosening her grip on me, her red blood ribboning in the water.

Darkness pressed in on the edges of my vision. My eyes fluttered as a familiar hand seized my arms and wrenched me upward. We broke the surface in a surge of cold water. I choked in the fresh air, my chest convulsing as Vera gripped my shoulder with one hand and her sword with the other.

“Just breathe,” Vera commanded. “Everett, look at me. You just need to breathe.”

Golden eyes pierced mine. I took another ragged breath and nodded, my entire body shivering with cold. Behind me, the water churned. Still catching my breath, I whirled to find the creature whipping toward us, her otherworldly beauty now cold fury. Red eyes locked on me with hunger. Vera waded around me to put herself between the two of us. She leveled the sword at the creature’s neck, nostrils flaring.

“Touch him again,” she said, voice low, “and I will end you.”

The sea went still. The creature bobbed in the waves, assessing her opponent with lethal calm. And then that same inhuman voice hummed around us. “You are untouched by my magic, golden one. Such a curious little thing.”

Vera’s arm flexed. “Leave us alone. We haven’t done anything to you.”

“I am the guardian of the deep,” the creature crooned, drawing closer as blood from her wound mingled with the foam. “It has been such a long time since sailors have wandered to these shores.” Her eyes gleamed back at me. “And I am so very hungry.”

Vera raised the sword higher, and the creature merely cackled. “My, my. Such a brave warrior.” She crossed to us in the blink of an eye, taloned fingers closing around Vera’s throat. “But do you think you are brave enough to defy the Fates?”

Before I could reach Vera, the creature shoved her back at me. With a flip of her silver tail, she arched across the waves like a shooting star, crashing beneath the tide and out of sight.

Vera and I swam back to the ship, and the others helped us climb the rope ladders. Tessa grabbed my good arm and hauled me to the deck. “Do I get to slap you this time?”

I coughed up more water, shooting her a glare in between breaths. “What was that thing?”

“Odessa thinks it was a siren. Another myth, apparently. Sent by the Fates to guard the lost kingdom,” Tessa responded.

“I’m getting tired of these guardians,” I muttered.

“That’s the least of our worries,” Kieran said from behind Tessa, staring at something behind me. I turned, instinctively grabbing Vera’s wrist.

The ship rushed into the approaching shoreline of the small island, rocks like jagged teeth rising from the water. Our keel screeched against the shallow bottom. Wood shuddered beneath us, the ship giving its final breath as we were all tossed to and fro on the main deck.

“Get back! Get back!” Starke’s voice cried over the storm.

I weaved my fingers through Vera’s and pulled her as far back toward the stern as we could go, with the others close on our heels. “Hold on,” I said, putting her body between mine and the nearest rail.

The broken bow charged headfirst into the rocky escarpment. Wood crunched. Pieces of the ship went flying, scraping the exposed skin at my cheeks and arms. The shattered half of the ship collapsed onto the shore, parts of it floating away in the waves. All that was left standing was the aft—a thirty-foot space of splintered edges and crushed planks.

When the ship stopped moving, I let go of the rail, making sure Vera was untouched. My legs were unsteady as we stumbled over the destroyed deck and onto the shore. Behind us, something wrenched at the remaining half of the ship.

“Move!” Starke barked. “Get away from the water!”