Page 11 of Claimed By the Depths

Stepping out from behind her, Syoran automatically drew my attention. The depth of his triangular eyes was like a lure, commanding a sense of heedfulness. Moonlight skin glinted beneath the setting sun; the dark strands of hair, nearly half of it woven into tight braids, contrasted with the very air he carried. Yet even though his presence initiated an inescapable need to admire, I couldn’t help but fixate on the strip of fabric wrapped beneath his armpit, fitted tightly around his shoulder and chest.

Syoran chuckled, seemingly unbothered by the lineage he had lost, which clung to his linen shirt in the form of a deep stain. “Oh, probably the fact that you’re covered with the hors d’oeuvres table. You know, the splash of color the jam is adding isn’t quite your⁠—”

Fist colliding with his uninjured arm, Rohen growled, “Say another word, co-captain, and I’ll sink my fingers knuckle-deep in your wound.”

“Just as feisty as I remember,” I hummed, hoping to divert her attention. “That being said, you didn’t threaten Alastair into joining you?”

“Threaten?” Craning her head, Rohen looked between Leilani and me. “I didn’t think I’d have to. I thought he’d be with the two of you, considering⁠—”

Leilani unsheathed her sword and pivoted on her heel. “Parran has rounded both ships and waits on the docks with our crews. I’m going to find him.”

Before she could take another step, Rohen was there, fingers curling around her arm and drawing her to a halt. “No. No, you’re not.”

Head snapping over her shoulder, mocha eyes darkened to a near pitch-black, ‌unspeakable wrath rolling from Leilani. “Who the fuck are you to tell me I cannot go after my partner? As far as I’m concerned, I hold a hierarchy here.”

Rohen sighed, going to run her hand through her hair before remembering the minor action would be useless. “I’m not… Fuck, Leilani. That’s exactly the point. You’re needed on that ship because without you, there is no one to command its departure. Believe me, I am not trying to cross a line here, but Serevalen… Gods, the Others have already adjusted their focus to ritualistic practices, which I fully believe will open our realm to theirs.” Her tongue darted out and rolled across her lips before she added. “This is not me trying to place myself above you in the ‌hierarchy, but to try and protect you after having interacted with one of those… creatures firsthand.”

Silence lingered as Leilani considered her words, the tautness in her shoulders ceasing with an influx of surprise at Rohen’s display of concern. After a handful of seconds of contemplation, the co-captain of the Scarlet Tempest spoke, “I appreciate the warning, as well as the apprehension, but I refuse to just leave Alastair here. I-I… can’t lose him.”

Rohen nipped at the bottom of her lip in a similar fashion to how I had with my cheek. “You don’t have to lose him. Listen, Leilani, your crew needs you, and with how things are unfolding, that ship needs to be ready for departure. No one is more equipped than you to command it. You and I both know your men will not listen to Syoran, and no offense to Kael, but he certainly doesn’t know how the fuck to sail.”

“Okay, uncalled for,” I piped in before mumbling, “but accurate.”

Leilani pinned her with a look of disbelief. “If I go back to that ship and order the men to raise the sails, that is me leaving Alastair here. I refuse⁠—”

“I’ll go find him,” Rohen breathed, the vibrant sheen in her eyes seeming to glow with her utterance. “I’m extremely equipped to scale the rooftops and prowl the alleyways of Serevalen. By the gods, I did it frequently in the past when hunting down my targets. I will find Alastair, and then we will join you on the ship.”

Jaw feathering, the very air of uncertainty plumed from Leilani. “If you’re unable and come back to my ship empty-handed?”

“You can gut me.” The offer came without hesitation, the crimson-haired woman dipping her chin. “You can torture me, hang me from the sails, toss me overboard, or hand me off to the king. Hell, whatever you wish to do to get vengeance for your other half, I will allow.”

“You’re vowing your life?” Leilani questioned, but I didn’t miss the relief that sparked in her stare.

“Yes.” Rohen glanced over her shoulder at Syoran and me. “You take the two of them back to the ship, and I will hunt every crevice of Serevalen for Alastair. Leilani, I promise that I will find him, and I am a woman of my word.”

Leilani swallowed, but wasn’t the one who replied. Instead, Syoran added, “As much as Rohen is a cunt, she is fully capable of achieving such a task.”

“Fuck you too, Kao.”

My brows furrowed at his claim and her reply, so I joined in, “Rohen has been nothing but a nurturer. Well, to me, anyway. And I believe Syoran’s opinions derive from a place of misconception and a surface-level understanding of how someone would treat you if you forced them into confinement.”

Glancing at me out of the corner of his eye, Syoran mumbled something, but Leilani’s reply swallowed any chance I had at hearing it. “Okay,” she said. “Kael, Syoran, and I will head back to the docks while you hunt for Alastair. This is me putting my faith in you, Rohen. Please do not let me down.”

“I won’t,” Rohen hummed before turning to me with a genuine smile, “and thank you, Kael.”

My cheeks heated with her gratitude. “I-I… I… Um. You’re welcome.”

Without wasting another moment, she offered us a departing grin before vanishing into a nearby alleyway. Her sudden absence earned a sigh from Leilani, and I understood it. Her heart was out there, possibly injured or even dead, and stomaching that reality was one of the most painful things to experience in life.

The realization settled something within me. If I could withstand the guttural ache that came with loss, then there wasn’t anything that could incapacitate me. For I was the king of fucking Serevalen, and the entire continent of Wraelira was mine to command.

CHAPTER 6

Weaver of Fate

LORELIE

My mask was fracturing. Every minute I spent on the continent of Wraelira was a minute closer to the demise of humanity, and that had ignited a newfound urgency.