She’d felt it as he stayed away from her because he knew she needed time to realize what was between them.
And now? Now she felt it in every strike and slash of his blades. He believed she was still out there, so Merrick still fought with every last ounce of energy within him.
Her mate snarled and hissed as the foreign Fae tried to find any way around him, and while he didn’t let a single one through, his eyes darted to the side, behind the ships before him and from time to time behind him, and she knew.
He was looking for her. He was always looking for her.
The moment his eyes locked on hers, it was as if the world stilled.
She could have drowned in the silver swirl that danced as her amber eyes drank his in. She could have been shot twice over with arrows, and she wouldn’t have looked away. She could have felt the wyverns die beneath her, and she would have kept her gaze on his.
But then Merrick screamed, his eyes going dark asnight, and Ydren must have sensed something, because the wyvern threw herself to the side, almost hurling Lessia off. Auphore followed, and Lessia realized a second later what all the bonds within her vibrating with terror had already noticed.
Three ships had lain in wait, and they were now quickly surrounding the wyverns and herself.
They must have known they would come—must have prepared for just this scenario—because the Fae in the bows grinned at each other as they screamed to their soldiers to get every wyvern they could.
Lessia cursed as she shot a look Merrick’s way again, and for a moment, disappointment and surprise raced over her skin, chilling her to the bone, when she couldn’t catch his eyes.
Then the Fae warrior spun around again, and she didn’t recognize whatever Fae he held by the collar, but she knew what Merrick looked like when he barked orders, and while the Fae turned so pale it seemed he might pass out, when water rushed around them, Lessia realized…
Merrick had been prepared as well.
He must have seen what the Fae were planning. That was why he hadn’t come for her earlier. That was why he’d been fighting alone. He’d been protecting this Fae, who now made a wave—as large as the one Rioner had sent for the rebels and humans last time—circle Lessia and every wyvern around her.
As the water rose, tall rushing walls racing to the sky, Lessia held on to Merrick’s eyes. But when the screams from the ships that had been heading for them reached her ears, it was as if the water wielder had sent the wall of water down her throat.
“Get to the silver-haired Fae!” a male shouted, and Lessia caught only a glimpse of green eyes as she ripped her gaze from Merrick’s just in time to see the ships change course again.
“Everyone! Take out those two!” the man roared. “No one else matters!”
“No!” she screamed, trying to get Ydren to jump over or swim beneath the wave.
Then Auphore’s order echoed in her mind.
No.Auphore was joined by several other wyverns, pressing all around Lessia and Ydren to keep them in place, as she heard—as she fucking heard—the ships sailing away.He doesn’t want you to save him.
“What the fuck are you saying?” Lessia screamed, but even before he responded, she knew as she glared into Auphore’s guilty fucking eyes.
He made us promise to keep you safe. If it ended up being you or him… we were to save you.
That fucking?—
Lessia screamed out her frustration, tilting her head to the sky as panic and terror and rage tangled within her, that strange sense of losing control overtaking her body like it had on Korina.
She wasn’t surprised when she glanced back at the water keeping them captive and souls stood all around her. What did surprise her, though, cutting off her scream… was the eyes looking at her with such a mixture of sorrow and pride that she could barely take it.
“Ardow,” she whispered as her friend smiled at her. “No…”
He wasn’t the only one.
Venko stood beside him, and to their side… a strangled sob burst from Lessia’s lips as Amalise and Zaddock raised their hands, her blonde friend looking so fucking sorry as she shook her head.
Raine was on her other side, and she wanted to scream again as his tear-filled eyes just blinked at her, a calmness she’d never felt from him flickering through the air.
“Why?” she whispered. “Why you?”
Frelina would not survive this. Lessia had seen them together last night. They might not be mates, but perhaps their bond was stronger for it. They’d chosen each other through pain and heartache and war. And now Raine was fucking gone…
