Thorne hesitated.
“In case you hadn’t noticed,” she said, “Your Vorash is no longer with us.”
The pirate captain blinked—the only sign of his shock.
“And this one,” she added with a chin nudge to Turos, “isn’t adverse to burning men alive.”
Thorne relaxed enough to motion to his remaining men. They retreated, though it was staggering and slow. White knuckled.
Thorne focused on Augustus. “What’s it to be then? Will you sic your mob on me? Or do you have a shred of honor left to do it yourself?”
“That same honor you employed on the crew of theAkias?” Augustus asked.
Another voice came in from behind. “Or theKaeilis.”
“Or theThalos.”
Rage and grief renewed in Augustus’s chest. “I should let them tear you apart.”
Thorne raised his chin.
Augustus looked left. Selene met his gaze with cool patience. If she had any advice, she didn’t give it. A long time ago, she might have suggested away forward without bloodshed. That was before her kidnapping and her own brand of torture at his hands. Before he ordered her execution and had Petrina beheaded.
However, that same woman ran other men through today, taking lives without pause. She hadn’t taken them all. But those she had, she hadn’t done it with any sense of delight.
Selene offered mercy wherever she could. Even in death.
Augustus inhaled and swept his attention back to Thorne. “You came for a Triarius. I’m the only one here by that name, and I offer you a merciful death.”
Thorne’s hold on his sword tightened. “And if I kill you instead?”
He unleashed his smile. “Then good luck to you, mate.”
The crowd at his back bristled, ravenous for Thorne’s blood.
Thorne raised a brow at Selene. “Your dragons stay out of it.”
“They know this isn’t their fight,” she said. “Just make sure it stays that way.”
Augustus motioned for Little Gus to move, and the dronsian leapt into the air. He soared several feet, then banked until he came around to Blaze’s shoulder. The Ranger didn’t even look surprised.
Thorne swatted the blood from his blade, casting a splattered line of red across the stone and sand.
Slowly, the village center cleared.
Selene was the last to go. Eyes like fire-warmed chestnut and glinting sapphire stared into his. “Are you sure?—”
“Don’t you dare finish that question,i psychi mou.” He kissed her forehead. “I love you.”
“Be careful.”
“No I-love-you for me?”
She smirked, though her lips trembled. “Why? When I can just tell you later, apparently.”
Any witty reply he might have said in response never entered his mind. “Say it anyway. Just in case.”
Selene’s lips parted. She swallowed hard, then squeezed his hand. “I love you.”
