Chapter 57
Draevyn
From where Draevyn stood on the quarter deck, he caught the spark in Esmyra’s eyes as she came back from the bow with Tommy.
She looked happy, laughing off something he’d said. Her laughter had become the most beautiful sound he’d ever heard. It was so rare, like a gift to his ears whenever one slipped from her. And since they’d saved her and removed the velsinyte, it seemed to be all she was doing.
It was bringing his Wildfire back to life.
Esmyra glanced up at him, grinning before she lifted her hand and crooked her finger in a wicked little beckon to summon him. Heat coiled in his chest, and he rushed down the stairs, following her as she went into the captain’s cabin.
Draevyn barely had time to turn the lock before she was on him, springing into his arms with a laugh as her lips crashed into his. The force of her kiss stole his breath, all fire and demand.
He snapped his fingers and all the candles in the room burst with a subtle flame. Heaving her up in his arms, he turned and pressed her back against the door, her legs wrapping around his waist as he deepened the kiss. His teeth grazed her lower lip before his tongue slid against hers.
Draevyn’s hands gripped her thighs as hers tangled in his hair, both of them devouring the other in a clash of heat that left the room spinning around them.
“I need you,” she breathed against his mouth, tugging him closer.
The words lit a fire within him. He cupped her breast, pulling it from the top of her shirt as he teased her nipple with his thumb. His lips trailed down her neck, tasting the promise of her, while she pressed herself to him, letting out tiny, breathy moans that were quickly becoming his undoing.
Every touch, every gasp, every desperate shiver from her beneath his touch was a pull he couldn’t resist.
Esmyra reached down, unbuttoning his pants before reaching in to grip his cock. It jolted in her hand the moment her hand wrapped around him. He groaned low, his hands mapping her curves as she moved against him.
They were lost in each other, desire consuming every inch of space between them. The world had shrunk to the rhythm of their breaths.
And then a knock sounded, vibrating through the door against her back and slicing through the haze of their heat.
Both of them froze, lips still brushing, hearts hammering as they were pressed against one another.
When neither responded, the knock sounded again, followed by Jak’s voice. “Are you in there?”
“Fucking Irah,” Draevyn growled, pulling back just enough to glare at the door.
Esmyra began pressing light kisses along his jaw, following down the side of his neck. “Maybe if we’re extra quiet, he’ll go away,” she said breathlessly against his skin.
“It’s important, assholes!” Jak yelled.
“Maybe we should leave them be and tell them in the morning,” Jenli’s voice sounded after.
“We can’t wait that long! What’s wrong with you?”
“Tits.” Esmyra shot Draevyn a frustrated, longing glare. “Maybe we should continue this later.”
“Fine,” he grumbled, reluctantly placing her back down. He pressed his lips to hers one last time in a promise before he stepped to the door. “Let’s get this over with.”
Draevyn watched as she straightened her shirt, making herself more presentable before reaching and buttoning his pants again.
He sighed and pulled the door open aggressively, his eyes narrowing on Jak and Jenli standing just beyond the doorway. “If someone isn’t bleeding out or dead, you’re in trouble.”
The cousins exchanged a long, nervous glance, and all sense of Draevyn’s playful moment with Esmyra evaporated.
“That… may be a possibility,” Jenli admitted as her eyes slowly drifted to Esmyra.
“Fucking hells.” Draevyn stepped aside and gestured toward the office. “Come in.”
The two hesitantly looked at one another before entering.
“I think you should sit down for this,” Jak said as he rushed to the captain’s desk at the far end of the room.
Draevyn looked to Esmyra and she shrugged before following.
“What’s this about, Jaky?” Esmyra crossed her arms. “It’s the middle of the night.”
“How close are we to Maerinys?”
“We should be there by tomorrow night if all goes well,” she answered.
Thanks to Esmyra having her powers back, the waves beneath the ship guided them at impossible speeds. What would’ve taken nearly a week would only take them two days to get where needed.
Jak’s jaw locked. “Okay,” he breathed as he looked at Jenli.
Draevyn’s anger simmered. “What aren’t you telling us?” he demanded. “Spit it out.”
Jenli stepped forward, her green eyes flickering in the candlelight. “Are you aware the Blood Moon is to take place tomorrow?” The words drew every gaze toward her.
Draevyn’s pulse quickened. “What does that have to do with anything?”
She blew out a breath. “The Blood Moon is known to the gods as the—”
“Moon of Malya,” Esmyra finished for her. Her face had gone pale, eyes wide as she stared at Jenli.
“What’s a Malya?” Confusion cloaked him.
“The Goddess of Death,” they answered together.
His head reared back, eyes narrowing. “There isn’t a goddess of de—” He cut himself off, his mind spinning. “Does this have anything to do with Asyris?”
Esmyra nodded. “Syrena spoke of them both together. Asyris, before they became the divine, was once the God of Life, while Malya was the Goddess of Death.”
“So where is Malya now?”
“Dead, supposedly. Asyris absorbed her power and claimed it as their own.”
Jenli nodded. “From what I’ve been taught, it’s true. Asyris and Malya once ruled over our own gods together, and for many centuries, it’s been just Asyris. They are the all-powerful Divine.”
The words struck Draevyn like a clap of thunder. His mind emptied, leaving a deafening roar in its place.
Jenli swallowed, her fingers tracing patterns in the air almost unconsciously.
“If your sister isn’t killed by the time the Moon of Malya is at its highest peak tomorrow evening, I think she’ll be able to siphon your energy from you through that bond.
Whatever she’s planning, she could use it to take everything.
Your powers, your strength… even your soul if you’re not careful. ”
Jak and Esmyra exchanged anxious glances, but no one dared speak.
Rage flared within Draevyn, tempered only by the helpless panic burning hotter. He thought they would have more time—more time to prepare and plan on how to protect her—and now that illusion was ripped away from them once again within fucking hours.
Esmyra’s hand found his instinctively, squeezing gently. She nodded, her jaw setting. “Then we make sure the bitch doesn’t get the chance.”
Draevyn lifted her hand to his lips, pressing them to her knuckles, but the slight tremble in his hand gave away his unease. “How do we stop this from happening?”
“She would need to be killed,” Jenli answered. “Only true death would end the bond.”
“Perfect.” Esmyra grinned. “I’ve been meaning to pay Syrena a deadly visit anyway.”
“This isn’t funny,” Draevyn said, unable to halt his growl.
Her eyes narrowed. “I never said it was. I’m being serious.”
“That’s not all though,” Jenli said. “It should work both ways.”
Both of their gazes whirled to her.
Esmyra took a step closer. “What are you saying?”
“The bond is a baseline. Either sister may siphon the power from the other. It will be the strongest who survives. The one that holds the most power.”
Everyone’s eyes widened.
A tense flicker of hope sparked through Draevyn. His heart clenched at the thought of Esmyra going up against her cunt of a sister, yet a fierce, unshakable confidence rose alongside it.
Because he knew her.
Draevyn knew the strength coursing through his Wildfire, and the ferocity at which she wielded it. Even though Syrena was ruthless and cunning in her ways, he trusted in Esmyra’s power, in the fire that burned within her, and the unyielding force of her will.
“Irah couldn’t save Kaelypso, and you can’t save Esmyra now.”
Fear coiled alongside hope as the memory of Syrena’s final words to him made the blood roar in his veins all over again. He wasn’t Irah, and he refused to idly stand by. Draevyn would protect Esmyra at all costs.
“Syrena knows Esmyra is stronger than her,” Draevyn said. “Why would she risk a bond this way, knowing she was weaker.”
“She likely was trying to keep me in the dark,” Esmyra admitted. “I ran from Maerinys when I finally realized she was up to something. If I didn’t get out when I did, who knows what would’ve happened to me.”
Esmyra was right. He knew she was right. Syrena never played fair before, so why would she now? She had violated her—mind, body, and soul—with dark magic. Imagining her being chained, beaten, and stripped of her power at the hands of Syrena had his blood in a near boil within him.
“Thank the gods you got out when you did,” Jenli said as she flipped through her little notebook, her brows creasing.
“They’re the reason we’re in this mess,” Draevyn said as he ran his hand through his hair and blew out a breath.
“Kae isn’t all that bad,” Esmyra whispered.
Draevyn’s brows pulled together.
“Kaelypso.” She shrugged. “She didn’t deserve any of this.”
“Well neither did you,” he shot back.
Her head tilted to the side. “Debatable.”
“Cut the shit, Esmi,” Jak grumbled, crossing his arms.
Draevyn’s lips pressed into a thin line. “I fear I have to agree.”
Esmyra leapt up to sit on the desk, her talons drumming against the wood. “Gods forbid a girl jokes about her inevitable doom.”
This was clearly her way to process all that had been happening to her since they found Maerinys, but still. Draevyn hated it. Hated knowing there was still a part of her that doubted herself and what fate would bring them for a second time.
“Dawn is approaching,” Jak changed the subject. “We’re running out of time.”
Esmyra nodded and looked at Jenli. “You still have the velsinyte shard, right?”
Jenli nodded, reached into her pocket, and pulled it out, wrapped in a black cloth.
“Good,” Esmyra said with a sigh of relief. “Now all I have to do is get close enough to Syrena to—”
The ship suddenly lurched violently to one side. The floor pitched beneath them, books sliding from the shelves, maps and ink bottles skittering across the table and crashing down onto the ground.
Draevyn braced a hand against the wall, catching Esmyra before she toppled. Jak slammed into the shelves while Jenli grabbed the edge of the desk, everyone’s eyes going wide.
The room went still as the waves roared just beyond the cabin’s window.
“What the fuck was that?” Esmyra demanded, her hands clutching Draevyn’s arms as she tried to steady herself.
“A reef?” Jak guessed, though the look in his eyes made Draevyn think he didn’t believe it for a second.
Another thunderous crack rippled through the ship as if they were slammed into by some invisible force. The walls shuddered, dust sifting down from the beams overhead. A glass ink bottle tipped and shattered, its dark liquid spreading like blood across the maps.
“That—” Draevyn’s voice was sharp, eyes flashing toward the door, “—was no reef.”
Esmyra’s face had drained of color. “Whatever it is, it’s not beneath us.”
The crew’s shouts rose faintly from below deck, the panic filtering up through the planks. They all exchanged a look as their confusion rapidly sparked into alarm.
A third jolt snapped them into motion. Draevyn threw open the office door, and the four of them burst through and onto the deck. The sea air was filled with shouts, the thundering of feet, and the groan of Valor’s timbers under strain.
They raced out just as the crew came flooding up from below, half-dressed and weapons in hand.
Then he saw it.
Dark silhouettes ringed the twilight horizon, closing in like wolves on a cornered prey.
These ships, however, were unlike any Draevyn had ever seen.
The vessels were long with narrowed hulls, and instead of sails, they each possessed translucent, teal, fan-like wings that jutted out on each side.
They looked like the webs between Esmyra’s fingers when in her siren form.
Dozens of these sleek ships surrounded them. The nearest one loomed so close they could make out the wet gleam of scaled armor on the soldiers patrolling its deck.
Maerinys had found them.
“They’ve caught up to us.” Draevyn’s hand hovered at the hilt of his sword, his whole body coiled to fight.
A heavy silence fell across their own crew for half a heartbeat, the horror of it settling in. Then the shouting erupted all at once—men cursing, weapons being drawn, ropes pulled tight as though bracing against an inevitable storm.
Draevyn looked to Esmyra. Her jaw ticked, eyes darting from ship to ship as their enemies spread across the waves like a closing net. The pressure in the air pulsated around them, that hum of her power in the sea itself, like she was just waiting to come alive and tear them all apart.
“Do you have orders, Captain?!” Ren shouted from the rigging.
But Esmyra didn’t move a muscle, still as a statue.
“Captain!” Riven barked as he unsheathed his sword.
Finally, she whirled toward them and faced her crew. “It’s time to do what we do best, gentlemen.”