I snapped forward, driving my dagger into a seahorse’s chest.It’s dead. It’s already dead, I kept reminding myself as Casteel took care of the rider.
“I really wish you’d grabbed a sword,” Casteel commented as he decapitated the beast. “So you wouldn’t have to get so close.”
I dipped under his arm and sprang up in front of the fallen rider. It swung its sickle blade as my eyes locked with its pitch-black ones—
A faint glow sparked within, silver with the faintest hint of crimson.
Kolis.
Every part of my being knew he was staring back at me.
The rider jerked its sword back, leaving itself wide open. I sprang forward, shoving my dagger into its chest.
I spun as Casteel slid under a rider, splitting the seahorse across its belly. My mind flashed to how the first wave of riders had run past me. How the ceeren had grabbed for me but hadn’t attacked.
Just like thegrul,once it tasted my blood.
My heart thumped as the rider dropped to the ground. Our eyes met, and the same thing happened as before. Through the limp strands of its hair and seaweed, that glow ignited.
“I see you,” I whispered, and Casteel turned in my direction. “I hope you feel this.”
The glow turned pure crimson. Its mouth opened, revealing serrated teeth. “So’—”
I shoved the dagger into its forehead. “Fuck off.”
The ceeren splintered as my gaze lifted to Casteel’s. “Kolis,” I snarled. “He’s peeping through them.”
Eather pulsed in his eyes, and his flesh thinned. Faint traces of shadows moved under his skin as he spun, driving both of his swords through the closest rider.
Water sprayed, signaling another group of riders. I cursed and stepped back. A moment later, Casteel’s voice reached me through thenotam.
I don’t yet know if I can control the essence like you can.He leapt, twisting in the air as he sliced outward with both swords in a deadly arc, cutting down two riders with one fluid motion.And you just awakened.
I knew what he was saying as I jumped off a pile to gain height, striking a rider as it came ashore. I couldn’t keep using the eather. It would weaken me. But as the ceeren riders raced across the shore, I didn’t think I had a choice.
They weren’t heading for Wayfair’s open gates. They were going straight for the city, and the outer walls along that portion weren’t taller than a home. They would be no obstacle. They’d reach the most heavily populated section of Lowertown first,where the fishers and tradesmen lived, the one where the homes were tiny but bursting with families—people who were too young or old to run. And if they made it past there? Dear gods. They’d swarm Croft’s Cross and the Garden District.
A seedling of fear sprang to life as Casteel kicked a ceeren back into the water. He grabbed my hand and squeezed before letting go. In the distance, a draken flew, headed our way.
Aurelia.
I hadn’t summoned her. I couldn’t. The fighting was too close, and the flames would destroy the ships and those on them. Her staggering call of frustration told me she knew.
“They’ll destroy half the city by nightfall,” I whispered as ceeren riders circled us. “We can’t let that happen.”
“We won’t.” Casteel turned so his back was to mine. “You won’t.” His grip on his sword firmed.I’ll take care of these. You get the rest. Do your thing, my Queen. I will feed you afterward.
Eather thrummed hotly and then cooled as my gaze swept the streets. The corners of my vision turned dark as I focused on the riders reaching the bluffs. I sheathed the shadowstone blade.
“And then,” Casteel said, his lips grazing my temple, “I’m going to fuck you.” He stepped away. “Hard.”
A rider wheeled on him, letting out an ear-piercing shriek.
“Shut the fuck up.” Casteel spun and drove the blade through the seahorse’s neck and then the rider’s throat as it fell.
Icy-hot energy ramped up inside me as muscles low in my stomach curled. Leave it to Cas to manage to elicit such a response from me in a moment like this. My lips curved upward as eather spilled into the air around me in a gold-tinged shadowy mist. “Promise?”
“Always.” He snapped forward and swept out with his sword as the air around me charged.
