She is the most radiant thing I’ve ever seen as she rides me. Her skin glows beneath a sheen of sweat; her breasts and cheeks flushed the most magnificent pink. There’d been a time I was foolish enough to be grateful for whatever fate granted me; foolish enough to believe the smallest moments with Willa in a lifetime of agony would ever be enough.
There willneverbe enough.
And I will rent the universe apart to carve out more.
My death threads around Willa’s throat, tightening as my queen likes. Our moans tangle in the air as I thrust into her harder. A reckoning; a ritual; a punishment to us both for every moment of mistrust.
All of the hurt dissipates between the movement of our bodies. Her gaze locks on mine, her magic shimmering against the void of my death, as both of us tumble of the edge. I spill into her with a roar, marking her for mine again.
Mine, mine, mine.
The words are still threaded between us as the air pulls taut.
And the Indomnitus explodes.
Chapter thirty-eight
One moment, I am lost in the obsidian of Niko’s gaze. The next, there is only blinding light.
Blistering heat races through the air as Niko pushes me to the floor, curling his body over mine. The wooden planks of the ship groan as his death wraps around us, a shield against the fiery mayhem raining down.
“Willa,” Niko breathes against my ear, his voice a cooling balm in contrast with the ravaging chaos. Ever the unflappable king. “Can you get us out of here with your magic?”
I hesitate, tight fear gripping my chest. I haven’t touched my magic since I nearly killed Sam; what if I make everything worse?
A ribbon caresses my cheek, its icy touch soothing the heat of my panic. “I’m here, Willa. I promise, I won’t let the shadow take control.”
I squeeze my eyes shut, repeating his words to myself in a desperate attempt to believe them. To let them settle the buzzing in my head and the electric currents in my veins. But it is onlythe rush of ruin that presses against my ears, and every time I try to pick up my brush to paint, all I see is Sam bleeding on the ground. Because of me.
I grit my teeth, hot tears of frustration pricking at my eyes as the flames rage closer. I try to shove the image of Sam from my mind, try to hold the brush and paint Niko and I away from here, but the lines are too careless. The painting is too messy, too blurred, and it slips from my grasp before I can push it outside myself.
Panic grips me, slimy and viscous. It mires me in place. “I—I can’t!” I cry.
Niko doesn’t admonish me for my failure. Instead, he pulls me up from the floor and shoves me toward the bank of windows at the far end of the quarters. His death races ahead of us, shattering the glass. My stomach flips as I watch the purple glass fall to the purple waves, realizing how he means for us to escape.
We’re going to jump.
“Good thing we’ve already tested your swimming prowess,” he says with an insufferable wink, as we wade over broken glass to step up to the edge.
The roar of flames crashes against the rush of water through the compromised hull, all of which should scare me far more than the twenty foot drop. But my head spins as I watch the violent slosh of the sea, and panic claws its way up my throat.
Taking a leveling breath, I push thoughts of falling from skyscrapers—of nearly drowning in water much calmer than this—from my mind. I lace my fingers through Niko’s and close my eyes, readying myself to jump.
But Niko tears his hand out of mine, darting back inside the flaming cabin without a word.
“What the hell are you doing?” I hiss, whirling to see where he’s disappeared.
Smoke has filled the cabin, noxious and thick, and no matter how I squint, there’s no sign of Niko. I leap to the side as a few planks beneath my feet give way, throwing my hands over my head as more crash down from above. Fire races up the walls, over the ceiling; it crawls over the wood, devouring everything in its path.
“Niko!” I shout.
A sharp noise cracks through the chaos, followed by a deep groan, like the entire ship is contracting. I curse Niko, determined to dive into the wreckage just so I can strangle him, when a flaming mast crashes through the ceiling.
The Indomnitus tilts precariously, sending me careening off balance. The breath flees my lungs as I land hard on my back, scrambling to find purchase before I tumble further into the wreckage. Sparks rain down around me like a hellish shower, singing my hair and skin. Shattered glass slices my palms and knees and shins as I flip over, crawling toward where I last saw Niko.
Smoke shreds my throat as I scream his name. The ship emits another groan, lilting back to horizontal. I clamber to my feet, gritting my teeth against the pain of the glass digging into the soles. Rage slithers up my throat, clearing away my remaining panic and honing my thoughts.
I just got Niko back. I’ll be damned if I lose him so soon.
