Chapter 32 #3
Esmyra’s mouth parted, but no words came out.
“And when I woke up in that cave, I swore to every wretched fucking god who had ever wronged you that I would do whatever it took to get you back. To save you from what Syrena had planned,” he admitted.
“You woke up in the cave?” she asked in a whisper.
He nodded. “She made sure I never had time to speak with you. I woke up in the dark and was forced to fight my way through grindylows to escape.”
Those bloody boot prints. Esmyra remembered what she’d seen at the cave’s entrance, assuming the blood was that of her crew. But it was Draevyn’s.
“All I could focus on was getting you back,” he started again.
“But then my father murdered yours. And since then, I thought… maybe I’d get a chance to explain everything before you carved out my heart.
” The agony in his voice was painstakingly raw.
“But even if I didn’t, I would welcome death by your hands.
The world has taken so much from you, Esmyra.
All I want is for you to take whatever you can back. ”
She couldn’t look at him. If she thought she was overwhelmed before, that didn’t even compare to now. Everything became entirely too much. She tried to twist free of him again, her hands braced on his chest to shove off, but of course he wouldn’t let her.
“You’re the reason my father is dead,” she whispered, her mind racing as she desperately searched for more reasons to hate him.
“I know,” he admitted, and she nearly choked on a sob. “How did you find out about his death?”
“I was there.”
His eyes flared wide, embers crackling in the irises.
“After our bodies were remade”—she gestured to herself—“I asked the Veil of Visions to show me my father, and it was in the same moment you abandoned him with the king, leaving his heart open for that blade.”
“Esmyra, I’m so sorry.” His eyes darted back and forth between hers. “You need to believe me; I didn’t know that was what the king planned to do. I thought he was going to have me torture Blackwood, and I refused to take part in it.”
She desperately held back her tears as he went on.
“But you’re right. I hold the blame for his death,” he said, his shoulders quaking as if he wanted to sob. “I will do anything for your forgiveness but would also understand if it’s never granted.”
“You should’ve killed your king,” she growled.
Draevyn let out a small chuckle, but there was no warmth in it. “I nearly did. He threw my ass in the dungeons for a night because of it too.” He reached up and brushed her cheek with his knuckles. “I wanted you to be the one to kill him. It was your revenge to take, not mine.”
Esmyra was stunned silent at his confession.
Was that why he didn’t interfere when I stormed Lephyrin’s throne room that day?
With a powerful movement, he flipped her beneath him, reversing their positions in a blur of motion and strength. The world spun, and before she could blink, he was on top, caging her to the floor with his arms braced on either side of her head.
Esmyra sucked in a sharp breath.
“So, where does the truth leave us, Wildfire?” His voice was quiet and scorching, like flames licking at the edges of her resistance.
Where does that leave us? Where could they possibly go from here after all she had done?
Esmyra had killed a king of Rymelle. She was a fugitive of Lephyrin’s crown, holding their queen hostage in a kingdom the world didn’t even know once more existed.
Draevyn was the brother of Lephyrin’s new king.
There was no future for them. There never would be again.
In some cruel twist of fate, their souls were destined for nothing but repeated heartache and betrayal by one another.
Esmyra gazed into those flame-lit whiskey eyes and was desperate to scream and rage and disappear. But what startled her most was she wanted to press her lips to his until all the pain, all this agonizing torment that had become their lives, melted away.
Instead, they remained staring at each other in tense silence, the weight of everything between them threatening to drown her.
And then a sudden, blood-curdling scream ripped through the stillness, shattering the tension like glass. It was sharp and ragged with terror, echoing from outside and down into the basement.
Both of their necks snapped upward, staring at the caved-in ceiling they fell through as tiny specs of dust continued to rain down on them. More shrieks rang out, overlapping with cries of panic and shouted warnings.
All gods. They gave each other a horrified glance before shoving to their feet.
They scrambled up the crumbling stairs, their boots skidding on loose wood as they reached the first floor they had fallen through. Narrowly stepping around the hole their bodies created, Esmyra and Draevyn ran out into the alleyway and then back into the streets.
The world had shifted. Above the dilapidated rooftops of Anchorage Cove, endless sails blotted out the dark horizon.
Esmyra’s eyes widened and she took off into a sprint to get a better look at what they were about to be up against.
“Esmyra, wait!” Draevyn shouted, but she didn’t stop.
The sound of boots against stone echoed behind her as he gave chase, following her as she ran through more winding alleyways that led out to a beach about a mile from the docks. When she skidded to a halt in the sand, her hands balled into fists as she took in the sight.
A wall of ships had arrived at the isle, their masts a dense forest of wood and canvas against the midnight sky.
Adorning every mast, their banners snapped in the wind, bearing the sigil of Lephyrin.
Their battleships anchored in the harbor, while pinnaces funneled soldiers onto the docks by the hundreds.
Draevyn came up behind her, panting as he stopped at her side. The weight of his hand fell to her shoulder as she scanned their surroundings.
She needed to fix this. They were here because of her, and she didn’t want anyone in Anchorage Cove suffering because of what she’d done.
Or are they here because of Draevyn?
“It’s Atlas,” he started. “They must’ve followed us here.”
Her eyes whipped to him. “Likely story.”
Draevyn took a step into her and took her chin between his fingers, forcing her to look up at him. “Don’t even start. I need to get you out of here.”
“You’re out of your godsdamn mind if you think I’m running from him,” she growled as she jabbed a finger into his chest.
“Just like how you weren’t running from me, huh?” He winked.
She placed her hands on her hips. “That’s different.”
“Sure it is.” Draevyn grabbed her hand and pulled her along with him, running back to the alley they bolted out of. “They can’t find you. We can only assume they have velsinyte. I need to find Atlas and ward them off.”
Esmyra shoved and pulled and clawed at his hand that had a death grip on her wrist, but he wouldn’t let up. “Let me go, Draevyn!”
“Not a chance in this life or the next, Wildfire.”
She rolled her eyes to try to hide the fact that her heart erupted into endless fluttering at the words.
You still don’t trust him, she reminded herself. Regardless of everything, she couldn’t allow herself to go down this road again. Especially so quickly.
Down the winding streets, soldiers were already swarming.
Uniformed in dark leathers and steel, they spilled through alleys, barged into taverns, and shoved aside market stalls.
Voices barked orders as some of them drew their blades.
Their once tight formation broke off into chaos as they stormed the isle.
All around them, people ran. The pirates and rogues of Rymelle were scattering like birds, firing their pistols at their attackers as wide-eyed courtesans screamed and fled.
Esmyra’s pulse thundered. “They came for me, Draevyn. I have to stop this.”
He stood at her side, equally frozen as his eyes darted in all directions, taking in the sight. “No. I will stop this.”
She turned her head sharply toward him, but he spoke again before she could. “Velsinyte, Esmyra. They have it in all forms, and I’m not letting you anywhere near it. I almost lost you to it before, and I refuse to let it happen again.”
“Listen to him, Esmi,” Kaelypso pleaded.
In all her nine-hundred years, she had never been a fearful woman, but she knew he was right. One wrong move and she could be killed. Her stare drifted down to her wrist, and she gulped. She still didn’t know what would happen because of the soul bond.
If she died, would Naerysa and Syrena own her soul? Both hers and Kaelypso’s?
“Personally, I would prefer to not find out.”
Esmyra snorted as Kaelypso continued to try to insert her opinion. “Aye, I gathered that.”
Draevyn gently took her wrist and guided her back to the outskirts of the building they fell through. “Stay here. Please. I’m here with your crew, and I’ll send them here to get you and bring you back to Valor for safety.”
Her eyes flared. “My crew?!”
Esmyra thought of Jak, Ren, and Riven. She believed them to be captured or worse, but Draevyn had them here, in Anchorage Cove. He had brought what remained of her family as he searched the realm for her.
“How? I thought they were dead!” She wanted to shove him for not telling her sooner.
Draevyn chuckled. “It’s a long story. Turns out we can all agree that we have one common ground. And that’s you.”
She pursed her lips, trying to hide a grin.
“Don’t worry, I’m sure we still all hate one another,” he joked. His eyes lit up as a subtle laugh slipped from her.
Then deep horns sounded across the port, filling her stomach with dread as the warning of the ambush echoed.
“I won’t let them ravage this place, Draevyn.”
“I will come back for you.” His eyes softened before turning from her. His gaze fixed on the sea and the sails that filled it from edge to edge. “Just let me fix this.”
And then he took off into a sprint and disappeared into the dark.