CovebornTideborn
Chapter Thirty-Two
SADIE
Stone scrapes against both my shoulders as I squeeze through a crack in the wall, burrowing in as deep as I can.
Sharp clicks echo through the chamber behind me.
The hybrid!
Then another, rougher voice. Grab her!
There are several loud shouts as I’m followed, the three men darting toward the crack I’ve worked myself inside.
Fingers brush against the back of my arm, but I wedge myself farther than the Coveborn can reach.
They’re too wide to enter, and I use that to my advantage as I wiggle deeper and deeper into the wall.
My breaths are shallow—water pumping in and out of my lungs in a way I still don’t entirely understand. I’m panicked, but I do my best to remain silent as I inch farther and farther into the wall. It’s significantly deeper than I expected.
My initial plan was to hide in here until Kyros comes to save me—if he comes to save me—but I don’t think that’s necessary. The crack narrows, eventually becoming so tight that I’m at risk of getting stuck, but I think this is an external wall that leads out into the open ocean.
I continue forward, sneak around a corner, wiggle up a little bend, and fight through another narrow gap. It’s getting hard to breathe, my lungs unable to fully expand.
Then I see light. It’s just up ahead.
An exit.
I grit my teeth, my palms stinging as I pull myself toward it. I’m almost there.
I burst into the open ocean. My lungs expand as I pull in my first full breath in minutes, but there’s no time to enjoy it. I kick off the closest rock, propelling myself into the water.
It’s only a matter of time before the Coveborn find me, and I have no idea where I am.
Still, I swim.
The ocean feels impossibly massive outside the narrow stone tunnels, and for one disorientating second, I have no sense of direction. Above and below blur together in the shifting blue-black water, and panic claws up my throat.
Move.
Just move.
My shoulders, abs, and thighs burn as I head toward the nearest current, practically throwing myself into it.
For once, I’m successful. The current grabs me, shooting me forward with more force than expected.
It’s shockingly fast, and long strands of my hair whip around my head as I angle my body with the moving water.
What are the odds this is the Great Current? Or that it’ll take me directly to Tideborn?
One can only hope.
I travel within it, my panicked gaze continually scanning the open ocean surrounding me. Far off in the distance, near a rock outcropping I suspect I emerged from, three dark-tailed Mer appear. They fly through the water, heading straight into the current I’m actively using to escape.
Fuck me.
I swim harder, but I’m too slow. The Coveborn are eating up the distance between us, quickly closing in. I’m not getting away. They’re going to kill me.
Still.
It was a good attempt. I’m proud of myself for having tried.
I look over my shoulder, meeting the almost-black eyes of my uncle. If he feels any familial obligation toward me, it doesn’t show. His gaze conveys nothing but pure hatred. I’m not surprised. From the sounds of it, he murdered my mother for the sole crime of birthing me.
That’s a can of worms I’m not emotionally ready to open.
My hands sting as I push forward, the ointment the healer put on my palms washed away by the rough current. I grit my teeth, ignoring the pain, and swim harder.
Something is moving up ahead. It’s hard to see through the rushing water, but the color is unmistakable.
Crimson.
The vibrant color is a beacon of hope, and I let out a borderline pathetic cry as I swim toward Kyros. He came for me. The currents bend as he cuts through them, darting in and out with terrifying speed.
I push myself to swim faster, ignoring the burn in my limbs.
“Kyros!”
I shoot myself out of the current as I near him, relieved even as I spiral and tumble in his general direction. The world blurs, shadow and color streaking past in fractured lines.
Oshea! somebody behind Kyros shouts.
I’m spinning too fast to get a good look, but I catch a glimpse of a scarred, cerulean tail several feet away. Shimmering orange is beside it. Daros and Mavek.
Kyros! Wait for—
I slam into a chest.
Crimson veining spreads across Kyros’s torso in jagged, shifting patterns, pulsating beneath his skin like a rapid heartbeat. It crawls up his arms, across his chest, and down the length of his torso.
It’s uncontrolled.
Blood tints the water behind him, seeping from his back in thick rivers.
Daros and Mavek swim up from behind Kyros. They’re followed by several other Mer, most of whom I don’t recognize. They fan out around Kyros and me, creating a physical barrier between the Coveborn and us.
The three Coveborn have left the Great Current, now lingering in the open ocean just far enough away to provoke.
“They want you to attack them,” I blurt out, my chest heaving. “They want you to break the Pacific Alliance and lose your position in the Pelagic Council.”
Kyros cups the back of my head, holding me steady as he looks me over with urgent, borderline panicked intensity. He doesn’t so much as spare the Coveborn a glance, almost as if I’m the only thing that matters to him right now.
As if the Coveborn aren’t openly watching our every movement.
Or as if he wasn’t freely bleeding into the open ocean—practically begging a predator to make him a midday meal.
“Sadie…” Kyros swallows. “Are you hurt?”
I shake my head. “No.”
He shuts his eyes, his throat bobbing.
When he opens them again, all softness vanishes from his face. His attention finally drifts over my shoulder, toward the Coveborn. I can already see his next move. Daros can, too. He places a hand on Kyros’s shoulder, restraining him.
Don’t… He pauses, thinking through his next words. She’s not Tideborn. If you retaliate against—
They attacked my mate. And my sister.
Mavek chimes in. You technically only scented Sadie, and your sister is no longer Tideborn. Not since her mating with Egros. She’s Trenchborn, now.
Kyros continues to stare at the Coveborn, a thousand possibilities flickering across his stern features. Most of them spell out violence. I can see it in his eyes. He doesn’t care about the consequences, not now.
I grab his face, forcing his eyes back to me.
“The Great Current is restored,” I remind him. “The Coveborn have lost their advantage, but Tideborn is still weak. Give the pod time to recover. Then retaliate.”
His eyes—still burning with anger—scan me again, slower this time. More deliberate. He lingers on my hands, the only part of me that’s truly injured.
“They didn’t hurt me.” I do a quick spin to prove it. “I escaped before they had the chance.”
The corner of Kyros’s lips twitches upward. “You’re quite a flight risk.”
I shrug. I don’t take kindly to men abducting me. Kyros should know that better than anybody.
Behind him, a Coveborn makes a move. It’s the older man, the one who told me I look like my mother. He darts forward, his beady eyes locked on me.
Kyros reacts without looking.
His arm shoots back, his blade catching the light as it flies through the water. It drives into the man’s throat with an ugly, wet sound.
Holy.
Fuck.
Silence follows. Thick, heavy silence.
Blood saturates the water, pouring out from around the blade. It drifts, eventually mingling with the blood trickling from Kyros’s back.
He’s dead. Kyros just killed him. Like it was nothing.
Who is Kyros?
Kyros speaks without looking. Evara is Tideborn by blood. He finally turns, his gaze drifting from the dead body to my uncle. You are welcome to take up your concerns with the Pelagic Council. The council that has rejected you for generations.
My uncle’s expression twists, a snarl forming on his lips as anger shifts to rage and humiliation. The ugly Coveborn drifts beside him, his tail twitching.
My gaze darts to the dead Mer. Blood pours from his throat as he floats between us, but nobody attempts to retrieve the body.
Several seconds pass before Daros moves.
He reaches slowly for the blade still lodged in the Coveborn’s throat, his fingers curling around the handle before he yanks it free with a sharp pull. He twirls the blade in his hand as he backs away.
Leave, Daros orders the Coveborn.
Tension stretches through the water, thick enough to choke on. It only worsens when my uncle’s calculating gaze lands on me.
“You carry her face,” he admits. “More than I realized.”
I swallow.
My uncle then turns toward Kyros and cocks his head to the side, his lip curling into a cruel smirk. Evara is protected, but the hybrid is Coveborn by blood. She’s rightfully ours. His smirk grows as he extends an arm. Give her to me.
My blood runs cold.
Kyros pulls me tighter to his chest. She’s Tideborn. I marked her.
You scented her, my uncle sneers. But you haven’t completed the marking. She’s not Tideborn. He wiggles his fingers. Give her to me.
Every Tideborn around us goes still. Mavek’s brows lift slightly, and Daros chirps something under his breath that I don’t quite catch.
Confusion prickles the back of my mind.
What does he mean we didn’t complete the marking? What’s left to do?
I look between Kyros and my uncle, my heart thundering against my ribcage. Kyros seems keen to protect me, but he’ll always put his pod first. If the Coveborn have a rightful claim to me—if keeping me will put Kyros and the Tideborn in trouble with the Pelagic Council—he’ll hand me over.
I curl my fingers into the skin on Kyros’s chest.
He pulls me even closer, his touch possessive, but he never looks away from my uncle.
No, Kyros says. She’s Tideborn.
My uncle’s smile only grows. Realization is bitter on my tongue. He wants me dead, but he’s also satisfied with Kyros angering the Pelagic Council. He’ll consider either outcome a win.
Fuck him. Fuck all of them.
They killed my mother. Tried to kill me. Hit Evara.
“Complete it,” I order Kyros. “Now.”
I have no idea what I’m asking him to do, but I don’t care. I refuse to let the Coveborn win. Over my dead body.