Selene.
Thorne staggered back, sword lowering as he blinked at the chaos devouring his prized fleet. “No.” A whisper. Then a roar. “No!”
From its perch, the Vorash released a scream into the world and took flight, leaving behind a shower of black feathers.
Augustus raised his sword, his grin stretching wide. “Time’s up.” He met Thorne’s eyes. “She’s here.”
Thorne made to attack?—
An elk cut between them. The force of the massive beast pushed Augustus back several steps. Another beast swept him from behind.
The herd was here.
The bulk of Sandstone Elk came on a cloud of sand, massive antlers slicing the air. Dozens, maybe hundreds of them. And behind, Little Gus continued the chase with short bursts of flame.
Thorne’s men scattered. They’d been brave before, murdering his family. They were running now, dropping weapons in their wake. One didn’t make it three steps before an elk’s hoof crushed his chest.
Mettius’s yell cut through the thunder. “Augustus!”
Augustus slid toward the weathered plank where his father lay, his mind working furiously over what to do next. Drag the man, plank and all, to safety, or pull the nail first, and carry him?
“Pull it out,” Mettius said, teeth gritted. “Do it fast.”
Augustus grabbed the exposed nail and yanked it free in one brutal motion.
Mettius roared.
Augustus hauled Mettius’s arm over his shoulder, lifted his dead weight, and half-stumbled to safety. The elk’s stampede spread wide andlarge, but there were a few things they avoided—like a cluster of jagged shipwreck boards wedged in the sand.
He helped his father into the sand behind the partial barricade, thunder in his ears.
Within the beach’s graveyard, hooves shattered boards and bodies alike. The upright planks cracked and fell with their crucified men and women.
He didn’t look. Couldn’t. He clung to his father’s shoulder and ducked behind the wood.
An eternity passed before the sound slowed, and the number of beasts thinned. Not finished, but close.
Close enough for Thorne. “We’re not done.”
Sunlight flashed on silver.
Augustus barely got his sword up in time.
Steel clashed and rang. The pain in his body was merely background noise to the old instincts he used to counter every arcing swing. Sand clouds stung his eyes, but he felt his mother’s presence with him, guiding his hand. The taunt within his smile.
Thorne thought he could killherfamily?Herblood?
He wasdeadwrong.
Augustus met Thorne’s attack between stampeding hooves and splintered debris, the two a storm within a storm. His sword flashed out to catch Thorne’s blade mid-swing. Thorne countered, driving forward, wild and elegant all at once.
A barreling elk separated them.
Augustus took that beat to inhale and grin across the space. “You know what your problem is?”
Thorne, winded, returned his smile. “Tell me, Triarius. What exactly is my problem?”
“You hesitate. You truly spent years getting us to this beach? You really thought you were doing something, didn’t you? You had weeks to take care of Selene. Weeks to kill me, my father… To what end?” Augustus motioned several feet away, where Mettius lay in the shadow of debris. “We’re all still alive.”
