I got the point and didn’t think as I ran toward Rune and the bitch who was taking him away from me. My feet splashed in the water, making her open her eyes and glare at me. She still sang and held him to her chest, which was creepy with how she looked. Her eyes were blacker than night. It made me think of a black hole that sucked everything into another dimension or even into nothingness.
She wasn’t taking him or me.
She needed to get her fucking hands off him.
Thunder clapped as I screamed, followed by bright flashes of lightning as I swung at her while some invisible force knocked Rune out of her arms. My heavy sword connected with her upper arm and went right through like melted butter into her ribs. She threw her head back and shrieked, damaging my already pierced and bloody ears.
Somehow she bared her teeth as she went back to singing and glared as she lunged at me. Her tail whipped behind me, knocking my legs out from underneath me. She followed me down, tackling me as she kept the advantage of being above me. I gasped for air as I tried to keep my head above the water while struggling against her. I lost my grip on my sword as I grappled with her while my head was shoved under the dirty water. Water filled my nose and went into my windpipe before I could stop breathing in time.
Rune’s ocean eyes and amused grin popped into my mind’s eye but were replaced with his blank eyes and slack face.
I had to save him. I refused to let him leave me, and I wouldn’t let this bitch take him away from me.
I yelled through the burn of my lungs and shoved her away while I got to my feet. I glanced at the water, panting and trying not to freak out as I searched for my large sword. The siren whipped around, narrowing her black eyes as she sang to keep Rune under her spell. It was so creepy to see her do that.
Glancing at Rune off to the side, I noticed he was on his back with parts of his face covered with water, leaving only his nose and mouth breaking the surface enough to breathe.
My gaze snapped back to the siren as she hissed, “He’smine.”
Her singing echoed around us with whatever magic she used, but her lips weren’t moving anymore. I glared at her and bared my teeth at her.
The fuck he wasn’t.
“Call it to you,”soft voices whispered in my ear. I sucked in a breath and tensed.“Call the sword.”
Rune said he couldn’t call this sword to him. But I didn’t waste a second wondering about it.
Raising my chin and clenching my teeth until it became painful, I stuck my hand out to my side and summoned the sword. There was a splash, and metal sang in the air, sending chills through me. Right as the leather-wrapped grip of Rune’s massive sword hit my palm, electricity crackled in the air, and the deafening zaps raised the hair at the back of my neck. Thunder boomed at the same time as lightning struck a tree close by.
I surprised myself when I didn’t jump from fright and instead lunged at the siren who startled. Aiming my sword at her neck, I swung at her with precision, and it went right through, making a wet sound as the metal sliced through the soft flesh. Thunder clapped again with a bright flash of lightning at the same time, giving me chills.
This was another one of the moments I realized how wrong Hollywood was about decapitations. She didn’t stand stock still with wide eyes and her severed head still sitting on her neck for a few seconds before it dramatically fell to the side. No, it didn’t do that. Instead, she dropped like a sack of potatoes, and her head was face down in the water with her black hair floating around it. Her body was in an awkward position, but at an angle where I saw the gross muscles, bone, and flesh at her neck.
My stomach churned, and I rocked with nausea, holding back from puking with every ounce of self-control I had. I didn’t know why I wouldn’t get it over with and vomit, but I tended to make things harder on myself. I’d done enough puking since I began being hunted.
I gagged and rocked again with the motion of my body wanting to expel my dinner from earlier. As much as I wanted to turn away from her and not look at the nasty scene, I took a few steps and cut off her tail for good measure. I didn’t think it mattered anymore, but the man said to cut off her tail.
I shuddered as cold sweat broke through me when I stared down at her body pieces. The smell mingling with the swamp didn’t help because it added more to the taste in the air.
Why the hell was I still looking at the gross body?
Twisting away, I breathed hard through my nose as I covered my mouth with my free hand. My eyes landed on Rune, who was still unconscious, pieces of his brown hair floating in the shallow water by his head. I stumbled to him with my legs shaking so hard I was scared I would trip any second and not be able to get up because of the aftereffects of the adrenaline.
I winced when some of the water splashed over his face with my quick and uncoordinated footsteps. Stabbing the tip of the sword into the mud to keep it standing, I dropped to my knees by his side.
“Rune,” I croaked.
I grabbed at his chest, my fingers hooking around straps that held his weapons over his leather armor. Using all my strength—which wasn’t much— I pulled him in until his head was above the water and rested him on my thighs as I leaned back on my heels.
“Rune,” I said, my voice trembling and my breaths coming quick. “Wake up. Open your eyes.”
I heard his voice in the back of my mind—a faint memory of when he saved me from the blizzard.
“Hey, open your eyes, beauty.”
“Open your eyes, elskan mín.”
“That’s it. Breathe for me. You’re safe. I’ve got you now. I need you to wake up. You can’t sleep right now.”
