46. Fenric
Despite the somewhat difficult trek to Dunley and the fact Maxie had nearly died, Fenric had to admit he enjoyed one of the best sleeps he’d had in a long time.
And not just because he had his mother’s treasure box back.
No, he also had a sexy incubus stretched out next to him in a ridiculously comfortable bed.
When he finally awoke properly, the midday sun was peeking through while a nice breeze stirred the curtains.
Golden light cascaded down the elegant curves of Lirion’s bare back and shone on his adorable pink hair.
It even glittered on the treasure box resting on the nightstand beside him.
Fenric stretched and let out a satisfied sigh.
Even if it was only for a day, it was good to feel like a king.
He and Lirion had taken their sweet time rousing from bed, only venturing to find food when Fenric’s stomach had let out a petulant growl.
It also didn’t hurt to find the servants who’d run off had come back at dawn and made them a sumptuous meal from the overstocked larder Lord Mire had maintained to the detriment of his people.
What they hadn’t counted on was that the late breakfast came with a rather lively old lady who greeted them all with an expression of pure determination.
She stood next to the table, dressed in a raggedy-looking brown skirt with a muted green shawl tied around her shoulders and waist. If she was younger than seventy, Fenric would eat his boots.
Her hair was pure white in its plait over her shoulder, and she had enough wrinkles to have mountain switchbacks.
“I’m Jessamine, the town’s ombudswoman.”
Manners Fenric didn’t know he still had kicked in. “A pleasure, ma’am. I’m Fenric. What can I do for you?”
“Finish the job,” she answered bluntly. “You killed the lord and his family, and we’re thankful to be free of him at last, but we still got these damn finfolk out there and the floodwaters covering our farmland.
We can’t even let the animals graze right now, and we’re under constant threat of them sneaking into the village. ”
It was on the tip of Fenric’s tongue to say hell no because that was not his job. He’d gotten what he came for. There was no need to do anything else.
Some of that must have shown on his face because she doubled down. “You can’t leave easily with the finfolk loose, anyway. They let you in here, but now they see you as stuck in their trap with the rest of us. You’re dinner.”
Dammit, she made a good point.
Still, was it worth all the extra work? Fenric knew for a fact it would mean fighting the finfolk in the water.
He hated water battles.
Hated. Them.
“Oh, of course. You’ll be in a difficult position otherwise.
” Maxie swooped in from the side and gathered up Jessamine’s hand, giving her the softest, most sympathetic look ever.
“I imagine you’d have to hire someone else, which might take months, seeing the scale of the job.
And that’s assuming you can even find a way out of the fog barrier and past all the attacking finfolk. ”
Jessamine melted under his sincere look and gave a helpless plea in return. “It would, and we might not survive it. We barely have food in the larders as it is. And we still have to replant the fields!”
Which, shit, meant they were short on time. They’d be able to plant only things with a short growing season. Why, why, why was Fenric already feeling guilty about walking away? This was Maxie’s fault, dammit; his empathy was contagious.
Rain cleared his throat and gestured toward the table. “Let’s sit and eat. We can work out the battle plan.”
So, they were doing this? Really? Granted, they needed the money they could get from all they’d looted, and it was no good to them if they couldn’t get it all past the finfolk. If he was lucky, he wouldn’t have to go shark.
His luck ran out twenty minutes later.
“Why the hell do I have to go shark?” Fenric complained.
Rain paused in tugging off his boots to laugh. “Because you’re one of the few who can fight in water!”
“Do you know how awkward it is to bite other living creatures? With their blood in your mouth? And I hate underwater fighting, you know this.”
Unfortunately, over the course of breakfast, they’d realized they had to split duties here. It was a two-pronged attack, as there were two problems.
First, the dam. Jessamine had been quick to point out the reason the area was flooded was due to a dam the finfolk had built on the nearby Colfass River to flood the entire region. Someone had to go over there and bust it up.
Belstrom had volunteered. Rather, he had insisted, with a berserker light in his eyes at the idea of breaking something.
Ridiculous, that one. But because he had to go—and was the most suited for the job—he’d need backup in case the finfolk attacked.
Which they most certainly would. They’d lose all traction on this land once it was dry again, so they would protect the dam at all costs.
Second, the group also didn’t want hostages taken, so some of them had to stay at the village and fight off any finfolk who tried to attack.
Lirion would cast support-type cantrips—a minor version of Hymn of the Soldier—while Maxie threw poison bombs, depending on the situation.
Better to have them as support than on the front lines, as neither was a melee fighter.
Which left Fenric out here, staring at the edge of the water, resigning himself to biting those weird fish people things with the smooth blubbery skin and dead black eyes.
Again.
Ugh, and he’d sworn he’d never bite strange creatures again after the last time.
Rain nudged him with his elbow. “Would you rather swap with Lirion?”
“That was a low blow and hurtful.”
“But was it effective?”
Grumbling, Fenric started stripping off his shoes as well.
“I see it was.”
He flipped Rain the bird, making him laugh.
If there was no getting out of the situation, might as well get it over with.
Plus, they’d been so tired from the fighting and trying not to die yesterday that it made today a Lirion-needs-sex day, so if he could just get this over soon, they could reach an inn by tonight and he could have both loot and hot sex.
Focus on that. Loot and sex, loot and sex, loot and sex. Oh, there was his motivation.
With a deep breath, he triggered the magic and dove into the water.
By the time cool water covered his head, he was in shark form.
Then he noticed the deep, murky water around him.
What the hell? This had to be yet another finfolk spell.
The water around the manor and across the farms looked to only be five or six feet deep in the highest spots, but where they were, he couldn’t even see the bottom.
The spell was warping and distorting reality so that five feet of water was now more like fifty.
Shaking off the odd distortion, he turned slightly, offering his dorsal fin to Belstrom. He gave a little wiggle, a silent way of asking, Wanna ride?
Belstrom strung his war hammer onto his back and grabbed hold. “Thank you; I do not mind if I do. According to the villagers, the dam is straight ahead and out a ways. So just swim until you see it.”
Easy enough. Belstrom hung on tight as Fenric started swimming.
Rain was in merman form and kept up easily.
He was even grinning like he was anticipating a fun fight, the bastard.
Of course, he enjoyed fighting in the water.
He also had opposable thumbs and a spear he’d stolen from Lord Mire’s armory, so he was happy.
Fenric kept up his mantra. Loot and sex, loot and sex.
Actually, now that Lirion was a permanent addition to their group, was it too much to hope that he could just keep the man as a lover? When Lirion had announced his intentions to stay, their eyes had met. That moment had crystallized in Fenric’s heart and given him all sorts of hope.
Lirion had seemed entirely open for once, and he felt like he’d glimpsed the man’s heart. Lirion wanted to stay, to belong with them, but perhaps he also wanted to stay with Fenric?
Gods above and below, please let that be the case.
Fenric had grown very attached to him. His heart kept insisting Lirion was his.
There was no reason for Lirion to ever go to anyone else when Fenric was right there, more than happy to continue as they had been.
As insane as it sounded, Fenric had no desire to share the incubus with anyone else—stranger or another member of E.V.I.L.
Lirion made him happier than anyone he’d ever been with and he didn’t want to let him go.
But did Lirion feel the same way? Fenric was growing surer of his own feelings, even if he wasn’t too keen on trying to assign them labels, but he had no idea whether Lirion felt anything beyond friendship and camaraderie.
No, they needed to talk it out. He needed to know where he stood with Lirion before they got back to Bjornkill, if only for his own sanity.
He felt a sudden boost, with a surge of more stamina, and smiled to himself. Lirion had cast his support magic once more. So sexy of the man to think ahead.
Now, could he get Lirion to cast something similar right before they tumbled into bed? Oh, the things Fenric could do if he had the stamina to go all night. Maybe he should try bringing that up later.
Oh, what was this? That looked very solid and structure-y. Was that the dam?
Belstrom gave a tap on the top of his head and yelled, “Dam ahead!”
Excellent, it was. He could swing in that direction and drop Belstrom off. He wanted some distance between himself and Belstrom’s hammer. He did not want to be close enough to risk friendly fire.
Fenric slowed to drop off Belstrom, who swam the last two feet and climbed on top of the dam.
His passenger was in the right place, and from the loud banging already in progress, Fenric was sure he was already taking whacks at the dam.
It was going to be kindling in a matter of minutes; those logs stood no chance.
Fenric whooshed around in his sleek shark body to see how Rain wanted to split up the duty of protecting Belstrom’s—whoa!
The attack came out of nowhere.
A pod of green-skinned finfolk with webbed hands and feet sped through the murky water, rushing to them in barely more than a blink of an eye.
They were armed with long spears and jagged swords that looked as if they’d been carved from whale bones.
From their vicious, teeth-filled mouths came ear-piercing screams that left Fenric wishing he still had hands so he could cover his tiny shark ear holes.
Fenric barely got himself oriented enough to dodge the first attack and caught a spear with his teeth, yanking his attacker forward enough to chomp.
Their screeching language was brutal, threatening to pierce his skull, but it was the spears and swords slicing through the water that had him worried. He was lightning fast in the water, dodging here and there, but there were so damn many of them.
The tiny claws of their webbed feet and hands raked along his body, sending sharp needles of pain screaming through him as he raced away and back again. When he couldn’t chomp them with his teeth, he was forced to use his superior size and girth to slam into them, knocking them away from Rain.
The merman pirate moved with grace and speed in the water, swinging his sword and shouting curses that would have made most men blush.
He was skilled and deadly, but they were just too outnumbered.
All too quickly, Rain was surrounded. A slash to his upper arm had Rain shouting in pain just before he lopped off the offender’s head.
Fenric barreled into them again as he managed to shake off one who’d latched on to his tail.
Yet as soon as he got Rain free, he caught sight of another finfolk drawing close to the dam where Belstrom was still hammering on the blockage.
Swearing to himself, Fenric raced forward and clamped down on the leg of the finfolk, dragging him back to the depths.
Blood gushed into his mouth and the water did nothing to dilute the taste.
Ugh, he hated this fishy blood in his mouth.
Loot and sex, loot and sex, don’t focus on the taste of iron.
This was a horrible plan. Why the hell was it taking Belstrom so long?
Dammit, he really hated fighting underwater!
They better not die. He had things he needed to say to Lir.