A heartbeat later, Kaden summoned his wings, and my heart leapt at the sight.
I’d all but forgotten about his wings. We wouldn’t have to jump after all. He couldflyus over that ghastly pit.
But as soon as the thought flashed through my mind, the merpeople began to screech. It was a horrible, aliensound that rattled my skull and made me want to cover my ears.
The shrieks they exchanged told me they were doing more than expressing their displeasure. I couldn’t understand them, but the meaning was clear by the rage that contorted their faces — rage at the possibility that they might be denied their next meal.
A few dove back beneath the water’s surface, and Kaden and I exchanged an uneasy glance. Filthy water splashed as the merpeople began to reemerge, clutching primitive crossbows and bolts.
“Get down!” Kaden yelled a split second before the first one loosed an arrow.
My knees hit the ground, and my skin hummed with familiar magic as Kaden threw his body down over mine. That magic fizzed and stuttered around us, and Kaden’s low hiss tickled the back of my neck.
“Shit.”
His low oath sent a jolt of fear through me, and I scrambled out from beneath him to see where he’d been hurt.
Horror twisted my insides when I saw the primitive fletching of an arrow sticking out from his iridescent black wing. “You’re hit.”
Kaden grunted, canting his wing to view the extent of the damage.
“Why didn’t you throw up a shield the way you did with the Vikkarni?”
“Tried,” he gritted as fresh pain rippled across his features. “It’s the damned venom. My shield didn’t hold.”
At those words, a deeper fear took root inside me. If thevenom was affecting Kaden’s magic, how long did we have before it incapacitated him completely?
“I need you to pull the arrow out,” he rasped as the merpeople below nocked more arrows.
“What?” I stared at the spot where the bolt had pierced his wing. Blood was leaking from the wound, but I knew the damage was worse than it looked. “How?”
I’d never removed an arrow before. Stab wounds and vampire bites I could handle, butarrows?
“Straight and quick,” he croaked, looking vaguely green at the prospect. “Hurry.”
Heart hammering, I positioned myself behind him as the merpeople released another volley of arrows.
This time, IfeltKaden’s attempt at a shield — an abrupt fizz of magic that quickly petered out. It slowed the arrows but didn’t stop them, and they clattered to the ground.
A growl of frustration slipped from his throat, and Kaden twisted, looping an arm around my waist. He tucked my body against his hip and dragged me farther into the alcove. It didn’t put us out of the archers’ range, but it meant the merpeople would have to aim a little better to hit their mark.
Hands shaking, I got into position again and studied the arrow in Kaden’s wing. The shaft looked as though it had been fashioned from a reed, and the fletching was made from some kind of fin. The tip appeared to be solid bone sharpened to a lethal point.
Taking a deep breath, I gripped the shaft as close to his wing as I could manage, pressing my palm into the thin membrane for leverage.
A shiver ran through him at my touch, though I didn’t think it was one of pain. It set off a chain reaction in my own body, but I didn’t let myself dwell on that feeling. I just gripped the arrow and tugged.
Kaden strangled a cry as I yanked out the tip, ripping the gorgeous, shimmering flesh. I couldn’t see his expression, but the hand splayed on the ground in front of me was white where his fingertips met the stone.
“You can’t fly us across,” I muttered, chucking the arrow off the ledge. “They’ll shred your wings.”
“You got a better idea?” Kaden growled, throwing up another feeble shield as more arrows rained down.
This shield was even weaker than the last. One of the arrows slipped right through, grazing my upper arm.
I hissed and clapped a hand to the wound. “We jump.”
At least then we’d present a smaller target — one that was harder to hit.
