Even when he dared a glance at Lessia again—watching as the wyverns circled her and Ydren,protecting the two of them as they fought for their lives—he realized they were severely outnumbered.
More ships kept sailing in, and he didn’t doubt the vessels carried nearly the entire Oakgards’ population, because the men and women he fought right now… they weren’t young male or female soldiers.
No, the woman with fear rounding her green eyes as one of Loche’s soldiers buried a sword in her throat was no fighter. Her eyes darted around as she grasped at her broken skin, trying to stop the blood that would drain the life out of her any moment now, and Kerym didn’t know how, but he could tell she was searching for a child, probably one of her own.
Still, they were desperate. And desperation? It would take these Fae a long way.
Kerym was about to take another step onto the brow when something hard slammed into his chest, driving his breath from him. He realized it was part of a mast as it took several humans with it, sending them into the sea, as it shoved Kerym backward until it pinned him against the quarterdeck wall.
As the remaining humans kept fighting, Kerym caught the glittering brown eyes of a tall Fae with long black hair tumbling down his back and his hand on what must be the other part of the mast that now threatened to crush Kerym’s chest.
Kerym couldn’t help it. He grinned at the Oakgards’ Fae, who seemed too fucking pleased with himself, eliciting a snarl in response.
The wood pressed harder against his body, making his bones creak, but as Kerym placed his hands on it… he could feel it. Somehow, he could sense the essence of this wood. Taste the magic that the Fae was pulling from it. Almost see the flickers, the life that this wood, this tree, had once carried. How it had sacrificed itself for the Fae to travel, to explore—to find new worlds and new magic.
But right now?
The wood was angry.
Kerym choked down a shocked laugh as he felt the primal ripples move from the wood up through his arm. It didn’t want to be used in this way. This… the pain and the fear that the Fae had warped from what had once been a proud tree?
It wasn’t what the magic—the life within the wood—wanted.
“Kerym! No!” Pellie’s scream sliced through the air a second before her dagger flew toward the Fae standing on the ship opposite them, controlling the wood he planned to break Kerym with.
The male’s lips curled up as he ducked under the silver blade.
“Kerym!” There was panic in her tone as she started sprinting his way, and he quickly snapped, “Stop! You do not take another step, beautiful.”
“No,” she sobbed as her sister thankfully had the mind to stop her getting in between Kerym and whoever the fucking Oakgards’ Fae was who seemed almost entertained by Pellie’s terror. “Please! Please! Don’t do this.”
“Bet…” Kerym sucked in whatever air he could as the wood grated against his ribs. “Bet you wished you’d told me you loved me right about now.”
“Kerym,” Pellie screamed, fighting her sister’s arms around her chest. “Please! I do! I do love you! I love you! Do you hear that?”
If this Fae didn’t kill him, Pellie woulddefinitely do it after this, but Kerym couldn’t stop himself from rasping, “I would have come with you, you know. I… I would have followed you anywhere.”
“Come, then!” she cried. “Please! I’m sorry… Please… just come with me.”
“Well…” Kerym threw a quick glance at the Fae, watching his fingers fold around the mast, probably preparing to crack through his rib cage, judging from the increasing pressure. “Can’t deny you now, can I?”
He winked at Pellie, watching the lips he planned to never leave alone part as his own fingers wrapped around the wood.
It was surprisingly easy to shove the large piece off him—sending it flying toward the Oakgards’ male. With a sharp crack, it drove right through the dark-haired Fae’s chest, making him tumble down into the waters as blood spurted around him.
Kerym sprinted forward and placed his hand on the wooden brow. With another snap that echoed over the sea, the magic in it had it break apart, the cracks weaving back toward the Oakgards’ ship until the Fae there started running, noticing before the humans surrounding Kerym that their ship would soon be no longer.
He didn’t stop to watch. Instead, Kerym spun and with long leaps reached the redheaded witch, pulling her into his arms as he crashed his mouth against hers, savoring the soft sigh escaping into his mouth.
He thought his heart probably had never beat so wildly as when he pulled back and smiled at her. “I love you, too, you know.”
Pellie shared a look with her sister, who rolled her eyes. But as more tears leaked down the former’s cheeks,she threw her arms around Kerym’s neck and kissed him again, her lips hot and needy before they moved to his ear. “I am going to have to punish you for that when I get my magic back.”
Kerym grinned at her. “I think I like the sound of that.”
Then he kissed her once more before declaring, “We need to find the others. I have a feeling I will be quite useful in this war after all.”
Chapter 43
