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“Livia!” Deep like the thunder overhead, my father called for me, then threw his axe.
The curved edge sliced into the spine of the guard. He grunted and slumped to his knees. I coughed blood and wasted no time before slamming my dagger through the back of his neck.
With only one axe, Valen Ferus turned to fury. Arion tripped overcurses when my father chased the prince with jagged barbs of rock that burst through the beach.
Fire aimed at our folk from the elven magic was extinguished by the screams of witches. Sirens hummed melodic, heart-wrenching songs. Tait roared at Aleksi and my father to fill their ears. They swung blades, stuffing sand and sea weeds to battle their own draw to the sirens. Elven, caught in their silken voices, stumbled, entranced, toward the sea.
Over the din of screams and clotting storm clouds, I caught sight of a pale face in the mists. Fione. The sea witch took in the battle with horror, then rushed into the trees.
I smiled, adjusted my grip on my blade, and sprinted for the wood.
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
THE SERPENT
One hand clungto the thick rope. The other held my cutlass out to my side, the curved edge aimed at Larsson’s ship. The sight of the grappling hooks spurred his crew into action. Ropes wrapped around wrists, and his men leapt off their rails much the same as us.
My swing had me aimed at a bastard with hair to his damn waist and a thick leather jerkin over his chest.
The fool wasn’t a man of the sea. Both his hands clung to the rope, and his eyes went wide and hopeless when he took note of the blade in my grip. One swift swipe, and his innards spilled over the Ever Sea.
My boots struck the rail of Larsson’s ship, leg protesting. Blades awaited. Blood called. To board a ship meant preparing to strike before you took a bleeding step on deck.
A gilded sword swiped at my neck. I met it with my blade and kicked the sod’s knee in the same motion. When the man fell, my blade met his heart.
Purpose burned in my chest, a balance between bloodlust and passion, rage and hope.
I had two objectives in this battle: kill Larsson Bonekeeper and find my queen.
Bodies collided on the deck, and blades clashed in a frenzy. I strained to peer over heads, searching for Larsson. A wild swing from a knife nearly landed in the crook of my neck. I dodged and sliced through the man’s belly.
Across the deck, Gavyn boarded, eyes black with the same wild heat pounding through my veins. Before one of the elven could strike, Gavyn impaled the bastard through the underside of his chin.
He disappeared into the rainfall on deck, only to take shape behind the brute at the helm. Gavyn winked through the helmsman’s cry of fright, then trapped his face in his palms, snapping his neck in a single twist.
Celine and Stormbringer whooped when the elven folk backpedaled toward the center masts. Stormbringer closed his eyes, almost peaceful, and hummed his song. In the same moment, Celine and her false wooden teeth drove into the neck of one of the elven.
At her back, a man approached, blade at the ready. Before he had an opportunity to strike, he was thrown back by a rogue burst of wind that snapped one of the sails free from the rigging.
Celine lifted her gaze, blood dribbling down her chin, and beamed at Stormbringer. “Finn!”
“Woman,” he shouted back, slicing through the chest of another guard. “Where you go, there I go.”
A blade hissed through the air at my back. I spun around with just enough time to lift my cutlass.
A burly man with shocking pale eyes sliced a second blade close to my middle. I spun away, cutting at his knees. He dodged. I lunged. The damn guard earned a hit to my shoulder, but at the sight of my blood, he took a step back.
I dipped my fingers into the wound on my shoulder. “Ah, you’ve heard.”
Before he could flee, I cupped a hand around the back of hishead and slammed my bloodied palm over his mouth until black veins skirted up his throat and his body shook violently.
I let him drop and took hold of the cutlass that had slipped from my hand.
Overhead, the darkened sky burst in flashes of silver stars.
Elven not crossing blades shouted their stun, even a little despair, when the sky ignited over their isle.
A smile bloomed over my face.Well done, love.
