“Serena!” Zadyn tugs at me. “Stop, you’ll kill him.”
“I know,” I growl, some demon taking hold of my body and refusing to let go as Mal’s life slips away. He’s turning the most wonderful shade of purple.
Just as his eyes start to drift closed, Zadyn hauls me off him.
“What are you doing?! I had him! I had him!” I shriek, thrashing against him. He drops me onto the scorched grass a few feet away, beside the little girl’s unconscious father.
“Trust me, revenge doesn’t always taste as sweet as you think it will.”
“Daddy!” The little blonde head bobs toward us, throwing herself on top of her father.
“He deserves to die!” I snarl at Zadyn, still bloodthirsty as hell.
“And I promise you he will. But not like this. Killing him now would be a mercy. One he doesn’t deserve.”
I glower at Mal in his semi-conscious state as Zadyn checks thepulse of the girl’s father. My star buzzes out of the building, popping back into the locket before Zadyn can see.
He turns to me, panting, as I clutch my searing shoulder. With zero warning, he takes hold of my arm and yanks it into place. I scream before the pain dissipates.
“Where else are you hurt?” he rasps.
“My ribs.” I wince, dragging his hand to the tender spot just beneath my breast. He holds me close, warmth emanating through my thin nightgown as he repairs my bones. “And I probably have ten concussions.”
“He’s going to pay for this,” Zadyn promises, his voice quiet. Our eyes link. “But I’m going to make him suffer before he does. And I want to take my sweet time.”
His thumb skims up and down my ribs, barely brushing the underside of my breast.
“Better?”
I nod as we continue to stare at each other. A loud gasp snags our attention as the male beside us springs upright, gasping.
“She’s here!”
Our heads whip toward the cluster of golden soldiers spilling around the corner. Furi lets out a battle cry somewhere behind us. I don’t see where she is before Zadyn grabs my hand, and we sprint into the tall brush.
All I can hear is the sound of rustling reeds and my own pounding heart. Something whizzes past my head. I turn to Zadyn in time to see the arrow rip through his sleeve, taking a slice of flesh with it.
“Fuck,” he curses.
“Are you—” I don’t get to finish my sentence before another arrow lodges itself in my lower back. My knees buckle as I cry out.
“Hold onto me.” Without even pausing, Zadyn scoops me into his arms and rips the arrow out in one smooth motion. He curls himself around me as he runs, shielding me from the onslaught of arrows the best he can.
The pain in my back is intense. I’m not healing.
Furi?I ask in a panic. But her answer doesn’t come.
Blood ore arrows.
A flash of blue fire illuminates the sky, reassuring me that she’s okay.
Zadyn barrels on until we take our final step through the grass and plummet over the cliff’s surprise edge. I cling to him for dear life, burying my face in his neck. He doesn’t let me go as we fall toward the rocky surf below.
If this is how we die, at least it will be to?—
Freezing black water sucks us under, and the world bleeds into slow motion. For a moment, it’s utter calm. Until we break the surface and are hit with a wall of angry waves. I struggle to stay afloat, blinking up at the massive ship looming beside us, its name sprawled in bold, curving letters between wooden carvings of merfolk and sea creatures.
The Maid of Mercy.
