Chapter 31 #2
He took a step closer, fire surging in his chest.
“I’m not hunting you,” Draevyn admitted. “I’m merely chasing the storm that tore my life apart.”
He could’ve sworn tiny sparks of lightning lit in her stare.
Esmyra raised a brow. “You always were poetic in your rage.”
“And you were always cocky when scared.” Draevyn smirked.
Her attention snapped back to him. “I fear nothing.”
“You ran from me just now, didn’t you?” he shot back, and he didn’t miss the slight snarl that crawled across her lip. “I’m still trying to figure out why. Come on down, Wildfire. You have nothing to fear from me.”
That stopped her for half a heartbeat. But then she was laughing again, the sound softer now, almost affectionate.
“Keep telling yourself that.” She backed away from the ledge, gave another mock salute, and disappeared as she turned and stalked away.
Draevyn cursed and sprinted after her from the street.
He ran out of the alleyway, dodging several drunken sailors.
Shoving past them, he looked up to find Esmyra midair, leaping from one building to the next.
She landed on the nearest rooftop with ease, spinning on her heel before walking backward as her eyes met his once more.
“Is it a chase you want, Phoenix?” she called. “Or do I have to once again prove to you that you can’t catch me unless I want you to.”
Draevyn couldn’t help his grin, a silent chuckle rumbling through him.
“You know I’ll always find you,” he said, weaving between crates and barrels, refusing to break eye contact with her. “But I’d rather not chase you out of here. I’d prefer to throw you over my shoulder and see you out myself. Even if you’re kicking and screaming.”
“Still into that, are you?”
Gods, this woman. He lived for her taunting.
Draevyn barked a laugh. “Keep running those pretty little lips of yours, and I’ll show you exactly what I’m still into.”
Esmyra snorted in amusement and the sound had sparks bursting in his chest. But then she jumped to the next roof.
Fucking hells.
Draevyn tore through the streets like a man possessed as he raced after her.
Overhead, her boots slapped against the rooftops, her heels clicking in rhythm with his pulse.
Every time he turned a corner, she was already vaulting to the next building, her dark silhouette gilded by the silver moonlight.
As fun as this was, Draevyn didn’t want to risk drawing any more attention to themselves. Anyone could be here, watching them. All he needed was five minutes. She just needed to listen to what he had to say for five minutes and then he would let her choose what to do.
Your crew is alive, and they’re here with me.
I’m sorry about your father.
Syrena is a lying cunt.
And… I love you.
Maybe he shouldn’t say the last thing yet.
Before he could even get to convincing her, he needed her to stop running.
“You’re a pain in my ass,” he roared as he stopped in the street.
The only response he received was a cackle from above.
Draevyn smirked. “Two can play that game.”
A wall of flame erupted in front of her on the roof ahead, curling high and fast. Its heat cracked the building’s weathered shingles and made the windows below shiver in its panes. The fire snarled and lashed toward her, daring her to try and jump through it.
Esmyra skidded to a halt, her arm thrown over her face to shield from the heat as she let out a gasp. For a moment, she stood frozen in front of the blaze.
Draevyn watched her, chest heaving as he tried to catch his breath. “Not so fast now, are you?”
She lowered her arm, grinning in the firelight.
Wildfire.
“You should know by now that I’m not afraid to play with a little fire.” She stepped closer to the flames, eyes locked on his as the blaze reflected off her pearlescent skin like a second sun.
“I suppose you’re right,” he started. “What’s flame to a goddess, after all?”
Esmyra’s mouth set in a hard line at the words. She leaned forward, the blaze casting serpentine shadows across her face. “I’ve been burned by you before, Phoenix. Your flames can no longer touch me.”
And with that, she stepped through the fire.
“Oh shit.” Draevyn’s jaw fell open, his breath catching in his throat.
But, to his surprise, the blaze didn’t swallow her. His power wrapped around Esmyra as if it embraced her, parting for her as though even his flame knew her soul.
Esmyra emerged on the other side, unharmed and untouchable.
My fucking goddess.
He broke into a sprint the second she appeared on the other side. Her laughter echoed between the walls of the buildings, leading him deeper into the winding veins of Anchorage Cove.
When he rounded another corner, Draevyn found himself in another alleyway. It was narrow and dim, tucked between two crumbling buildings on the edge of town.
The sudden silence made every hair on his arms stand on edge. What was she planning? Had she been setting a trap for him this whole time, luring him away into a secluded area? It would make sense why she was putting on a show.
Truthfully, he should’ve known better. She was being far too playful for someone who wanted him dead.
Especially for her.
“Esmyra,” he called, rubbing his brows between his forefinger and thumb. “Enough with your little game. Get your stubborn ass down here and just… talk to me. Let me explain everything.”
Silence.
Draevyn’s eyes flicked upward, watching for the glint of moonlight on leather.
He took another step into the alley. “I’m not your enemy. You know that. Please…”
Her presence cloaked him before he heard her move.
The cool, whisper-thin edge of a blade kissed his throat from behind, and a hand snaked around his waist, pulling him back into the curve of her body.
“You talk too much,” Esmyra whispered. Her breath, warm against his ear, sent a shiver down his spine.
Draevyn didn’t flinch. “At least one of us is talking. Now, while I have your attention… Syrena—”
His words were cut off as she whirled on him, spinning their bodies together faster than he could blink. He then found himself trapped between the building at his back and the dagger at his throat.
His stare met her glacial-blue eyes as they narrowed on him, hidden beneath the hood of her cloak. Esmyra pressed the blade deeper into his skin, and warm droplets of blood slid down his neck.
“I never want to hear that name again. Especially from you,” she hissed through clenched teeth.
Did something happen between them? Was that why Esmyra was here?
Draevyn couldn’t help the hate-filled laugh that escaped him, the skin of his neck scraping against her weapon. He licked his lips as he watched her. “And if I speak the truth of what she caused?”
“The only thing she caused is this.” Her whisper ended in a growl as her body transformed.
The midnight hue of her hair morphed into a blinding silver, the red runes now swirling in shimmering blues. But those eyes… those narrowed, furious, gorgeous eyes remained the same as she stared up at him down the bridge of her nose.
The corner of his lip kicked up. “Neat trick, Wildfire.”
“It’s Kaelypso now,” she snapped, the goddess’s name coming out a hateful curse as it left her. “And, if you don’t mind, I have business to attend to. So, unfortunately for me, I need to make your death quick.”
“Oh, I don’t fucking think so,” he shot back.
Draevyn caught her wrist with one hand and spun her.
The blade clattered to the cobblestones, the sound echoing through the night air.
Esmyra let out a startled grunt, her body shifting back into her mortal form as he pressed her back against the alley wall.
His body caged her against the building, arms braced on either side of her head.
Esmyra’s jaw locked as she looked up and met his stare. Moonlight painted her features, her hair was tousled from the chase, and her cheeks were flushed a delicious shade of pink as her eyes burned with fury.
“You’re so pretty when you’re angry,” he said with a grin. “And you’re not going anywhere.”