Chaos erupted.
Warm droplets of blood splattered across my face as the Marisarma Lord lurched forward. I pulled back, yanking Vienah along with me, and we tumbled into the snow. Shouts erupted from all directions as swords were drawn, and the pirates of theHydraandKrakencrashed against each other.
Ronan, somehow free of his bounds, palmed a dagger and sliced through the long rope that connected the prisoners. I scrambled in the snow back to where theKraken’scaptain lay, a spark of gold catching my eye amidst the blood coating the back of his head and neck.
Talon. I ripped the dagger from the back of his neck, the sickening squelch of the blade pulling free loud in my ears despite the chaos of the fight. I sliced through my own bounds before freeing Vienah. I reached for my cuff and was met with the sharp bite of ice. The dagger would have to do.
Nerissa and Kresida met the blades of the pirates with swift kicks and dodges of their own, disarming them quickly. Men flew down from theKraken, but didn’t make it far as archers, hidden on board Lord Astraeus’s ship, fired arrows at their backs. One ripped through theKraken’smage, his shield dropping and shuddering against the air.
Lord Astraeus’s blue cloak flapped as he threw a spare blade to Ronan, who caught the handle and whirled on theKraken’smen. I blinked at the sudden alliance. I rushed to where Carina stood, tearing at the cuff on her wrist.
I grabbed the back of her dress and pulled her with Vienah to where Vulcan lay in the snow. He groaned as Vienah tilted him over and lifted his head. Angling myself between the three of them and the bloody fight, I flipped the dagger in my hand as I split my stance, diving into that darkened part of me.
A man broke free of the fight and surged toward us with curved blades. I ran at him, flinging Talon at his face, where he batted it away with his left blade. I ducked, sliding in the slush as a blade slashed at me and kicked my leg out. My shin barked in pain as it met his ankle, but he went down.
He flipped, blades ready and swiping for me, but I was already up, diving to the side as my friends had taught me. On his feet now, he reached for me, but his legs went flying from behind him. Vulcan, somehow alert and upright now, towered over him as he disarmed him, wasting no time slicing through his neck and silencing the pirate.
The crashing of blades quieted, and the moans of the dying echoed against the waves. I scanned the wreckage. Bodies lay strewn across the red snow. Stripes of blood cut across Lord Astraeus’s blue coat as he stepped over sobbing forms, silencing them. Ronan pinned his sapphire gaze on mine. Nerissa moved to his side, moving swiftly across the space to where Vulcan still stood in front of me.
Her brilliant green gaze dimmed as she took in his shattered face, the destroyed tattoo, and his eye barely saved. I blinked, having never witnessed Nerissa show emotion for her second. I flinched as Kresida stepped to my side. The warrior was bloody but seemingly unfazed by the rapid turn of events. She picked up Talon, examining the elaborate hilt before handing it to me.
Lord Astraeus approached Ronan in the distance.
“What in gods’ names just happened?” Vienah murmured behind me.
Lord Astraeus muttered something to Raek, who began barking orders to the crew of theHydra. They swiftly boarded theKraken, killing anyone who remained. He held out his hand to Ronan, motioning to the last of us from the elven ship. The two of them approached our small group.
“What the hell is this, Astraeus? We made a deal in Odessa,” Ronan simmered.
“A deal thatendedin Odessa.” Lord Astraeus smirked, winking at me as he swaggered by.
“Fuck you.Our captain is dead.Fifty elvesare dead,” Kresida spat.
My stomach sank. We’d lost almost the entire crewof theCenturion.
“Were you in on this?” Kresida seethed at Ronan, teeth bared.
“He wasn’t,” Lord Astraeus cut in. “I freed him right after that little incident.”
“Traitor,” I snapped.
The pirate lord paused and turned toward me, his eyes darkening.
“You think I have anounceof goodness in me,Lady? I had one reason to join the Rising’s cause. You think I give a fuck what happens to the people of Sultira? The people who so easily abandoned their neighbors to the west? There’s a reason we call it the Crimson Sea. A reason the waters of Votruvia run red. Our islands float inblood.”
“What do you want?” Ronan cut in.
“He wants the bone,” I spat.
Nerissa shook her head. “When you learned of Queen Antares’s plan to send us here, you baited the other Lords ofMarisarma to join you and claim the bone. And then you took them out. Am I right?”
Her green eyes narrowed at the lord, and he met them with a calculating confidence.
“Mmm.” His throat rumbled, the sound deep, primal. “Ever the thinker, aren’t you, Nerissa? Indeed. The others weren’t particularly pleased that I'd allied with the queensguard.” A jerk of his chin toward Ronan. “And eliminating them was part of the plan, yes.”
“But not Lord Haro, theSiren’scaptain. Where is he?” Carina’s shaky voice sounded from behind me.
Lord Astraeus bristled at the mention of the lord’s name and shook his head.
