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“Gods,” I said in a frantic gasp, brushing her hair out of her face—a new compulsion.
Livia’s hands padded over my shoulders, my back, my chest, almost as though she weren’t certain if all this were some wretchedly wonderful dream. I pulled away, just enough to press my forehead to hers, enough to breathe her in.
My palms trapped her face. Tears bled onto her cheeks. My own eyes burned; her face blurred.
“Hello, love.” My voice broke, dry and jagged. I pressed my lips to the side of her head, and whispered, “I promised I’d come for you.”
“Erik.” My name slid over her lips like a fleeting hope, one if uttered too fiercely might dry up and whisk away on the wind.
With my thumb, I traced the perfect curve of her bottom lip. I wanted to taste her, wanted my mouth to leave a dozen marks so no land, no kingdom, no eyes would doubt whose heart she claimed.
The clap of an ember spear pulled me back to the sea. The Ever Ship fired bursts of flashing light, one right after the other, all aimed at our cove. A roar of unbridled rage collided with the boom of the Ever Ship. Shouts and commands were swallowed in the chaos, but there were warriors here. Enemies and blades.
I unsheathed my cutlass and reached for a dagger on my thigh.
Livia tapped my arm. “I have one.”
She yanked a sleek dagger from a braid of grass wrapped around her thigh. A grin played over my mouth when we made our way for the curve of the shore. My feral queen. I would devour her the moment she was off this damn land.
I strangled her fingers with my grip. If my hold ached, Livia made no complaints and kept close to my side. Another blast struck the shoreline. The fiery cinder stone arched in the darkness, then seemed to crack against an unseen wall, falling into the shallow tides.
Closer. Wards were falling.
“Is Fione still building the wards?” I asked. To kill the witch would weaken her lingering spells, it would benefit Tavish and quicken his own ability.
“I don’t know. I trapped her.”
“Where?”
“Fury blocked her behind that wall.” Livia pointed to the bend in the shore.
Distant, but I could make out a dark barrier of mangled roots, tree boughs, and vines.
I cupped the back of Livia’s neck, drawing her mouth close to mine. “You, Songbird, are the most vicious of foes.”
The ground shuddered. Livia drew in a sharp breath, lips parted when she looked to the sea as if she knew. If Valen’s fury magic was bending the soil of this isle, Tavish was shattering the wards.
“Time to go, love.” I threaded our fingers together.
“She cannot leave.”
I wheeled around, one hand on Livia’s waist, and shoved her behind me. Gull-fletched arrows aimed at our hearts. Archers looked nowhere but me. In the center was a woman, dressed in a sullen ebony gown. Her eyes were dull, like a dying star. Lost, empty.
“Skadi,” Livia’s whisper was warm against my neck. “Skadi, what was done to you?”
I leveled the point of my blade at the woman. “It’ll take more than a few arrows to stop us.”
“Arrows will not stop you.” The woman laced her fingers, staring through me like she could see into my soul. “I’ve already shown her—the isle will not release her.”
Livia’s eyes were wet. “I can’t leave. I-I’ve tried.” Her breaths came in sharp, frantic gasps.
“Songbird, listen to me.” When I shifted, the bowstrings stretched and groaned as archers readied to fire. I paid them no mind and trapped Livia’s face in my palms. “We’ll find a way.”
“Go.” Livia pushed against my chest. “You must go, Erik. They’ll kill you.”
My lip curled. I tangled my hand in her hair, holding her in place against my body. “I am not leaving you.Neverask me again.”
“I will not see Natthaven attacked.” The woman took note of the blasts of the ship. “We’ll fall into the mists.”
