Chapter Thirty-Five #2
Austin slipped his fingers into the water, taking comfort in its presence. Tiredness pulled at his limbs, and he fought the urge to sink into the next wave and join Charybdis.
A splash at his side preceded an arm wrapping around his shoulders. “Austin,” Reba shouted to be heard over the storm. “Lassie is in the kitchen. I need to get her.”
Austin could only imagine how deadly the halls in the drowning building had become.
“Bring her,” Austin ordered the ocean, and caught Reba by the arm so he didn’t go.
Lightning lit up the chaos, and it came as a total surprise to see that the estate was being destroyed.
Walls and roofs were crumbling all around them, and the main building before them groaned as if in pain.
The trellises were dashed to pieces, and bits of vine were violently hurtling towards… Forked lightning lit up Charybdis.
Austin touched a hand to his abdomen, feeling empty.
His power had branched off from him, slipped into the water, and assumed a new form. It was separate now, a snapshot of indignation and fury at being struck. Its only mission was to strike back.
“Stop,” Austin said. Part of the great building behind him crumbled, crashing into the risen ocean.
“Stop.” Austin sagged against Reba, whose wings beat furiously as he struggled to keep them upright in the dangerous currents. The sound of the barracks crumbling reached Austin’s ears on storm winds, alongside the terrified whinnying of horses.
Austin’s ugly horses. The ones he had bought to repay that stable man for his unconditional kindness, despite only liking pretty things.
“Stop,” Austin cried. “You’re destroying Tristan’s home!”
Charybdis gurgled.
A body flew by in the current. Lassie’s dark hair rippled like seaweed as she desperately scrabbled to grab hold of something solid. It was too late. She was already in the grip of a furious monster, hellbent on vengeance.
Reba disappeared from Austin’s side. Lightning lit up his wings, half submerged as he lunged into death’s grip for Lassie. A wave engulfed them both.
“I don’t want violence!” Austin yelled at Charybdis. “I want gentleness! I want care! I don’t need you for that! I can get it myself! Go away, go away, go away, GO AWAY!”
The raging beast let out a loud groan, a hurricane of disappointment, and its terrible power softened. Water raced back to the ocean as Charybdis broke apart into pieces. Anger first. Terror. Desperation. Parts of Austin that had felt integral to staying sane and safe. All they cost was happiness.
Austin slumped to his knees, trembling from exhaustion, struggling to catch his breath. His energy retreated with the waves.
“Reba?” he croaked.
The flashes of lightning ended, and as the last rush of retreating seawater faded into the distance, Austin was left kneeling in eerie silence. The winds had gone. So had the clouds. A perfect circle of clear, starry sky hung above the estate.
“Lassie?” Austin whispered.
Nobody answered. They must have been dragged out to sea. Austin tried to rise. Tried to stand. His body didn’t obey. He could barely even expand his lungs.
There was a single footstep at his back.
The press of a blade to his throat, cold as a scalpel.
“Would he come for you without your tongue?” Desor panted.
Austin croaked out a laugh. “You’re the same.
You’re the exact same!” He knew it. From the first story he’d heard of Desor, he’d known.
Austin tipped back his head, gazing up at Desor, but he was a mere shadow.
It might as well have been Cessair with a fistful of his hair.
Survival had been all that mattered to him for so long, and it was with a quiet revelation that he realised his priorities had shifted without him even noticing.
“No,” Austin said firmly. “What good is a siren without their song?”
Austin could practically smell the fear and desperation in Desor.
Tristan wouldn’t come for him without his tongue—of course he would—and Desor couldn’t take Austin with it and survive.
Sure, he could gag him, but that was only a temporary measure.
Eventually, he’d have to take the gag out to feed him and give him water.
Austin felt the realisation in the tremble of the blade at his throat: Desor had overstepped too far this time.
The blade kissed a line of heat into his skin. “If you swear to behave, I won’t kill you. I’ll bring you with me instead.”
“I’ve already made a different promise.” A strange satisfaction washed through him.
Satisfaction at keeping the oath he had made to himself.
At finally finding the courage to escape from his monster.
It could have been Cessair holding him, and Austin’s answer wouldn’t have been any different.
He grinned. “I’ll never behave for anyone. ”
A shadow moved across the sky, darkening a handful of stars. It grew larger and larger, until the glittering jewels were gone.
“Very well,” Desor said.
Reba crashed into them like a shooting star. The momentum of his descent knocked them all to the ground, something hard striking Austin’s temple and leaving him groaning. His neck felt wet.
Something gurgled in the still air. Someone choking.
Austin rolled onto his back, letting gravity tip his chin sidewards. He couldn’t make out more than shapes. Someone was on the ground. Someone was on top—Reba, Austin could hear his great wings. The gurgling came from the figure on the ground.
The air flurried. Reba’s wings flapped erratically, as if he were trying to take flight.
“You didn’t mean me, right?” Reba ground out, teeth gritted. “When you said, ‘Go away,’ you didn’t mean me?”
“I didn’t,” Austin murmured.
The beating of Reba’s wings stopped with a gasp. “I thought I’d tear my own heart out trying to disobey! Even the clouds are afraid to come back. I had to fly above, and then, when my wings got too tired, I had no choice but to fall here! Are you hurt?”
“Lassie?”
“Waiting a mile down the beach. She can’t come back.
I doubt she’ll come near unless you tell her.
She’s okay. The water kind of held us? It brought us right back to shore after we got swept out.
” Reba knelt next to him, fingers carefully examining Austin’s neck.
“It’s not too deep, and he missed your gills.
” Reba sat Austin up, bracing him against his chest. “Is that better?”
It became immediately easier to breathe. Crumbled buildings surrounded them as dark shadows in a darker night. “I ruined his estate.”
“He’ll build you a better one.”
“I know.” And Tristan would probably say something annoying like, It’s yours to ruin, too. “But I don’t like that I destroyed his things. It’s not a nice thing for a partner to do.”
Reba’s head snapped up, and his protective stance around Austin curled further inwards, only to suddenly relax. “Sir.” His wings opened, and warm hands cupped Austin’s cheeks, guiding his head gently back. Tristan’s warmth and scent washed over him, and Austin relaxed with a sigh.
“It’s not deep,” Reba said quietly. “But he’s exhausted. Maybe a concussion?”