Rainn Shallows
He’d barely slept. His joints ached, as if he were made of wood, and Shay hadn’t fared much better.
Rainn debated asking Arden to return to the Dark Sea. Tired of being watched apprehensively by someone who expected him to rescue his mother. But even Rainn had to admit, he was happy the Siren male had stayed.
Shay Mac Eoin made the proclamation. The Nymphs were to leave the shores of the Twilight Lake. Even their chieftain had no idea how long the evacuation would last, but Rainn would have done the same if the Skala Beach had been targeted.
It had taken more time than expected to pack down the tents and to take the necessities, but when the dim light of the morning sun crested over the sky, the Nymph village was empty of all but Shay, Rainn, Arden, and somehow Liam Cruinn--their captive.
They came from the water.
Marching forward, in a line, like waves lapping the shore.
Each body was a different size and shape. Not built for fighting, like soldiers were. Ordinary Fae, women, and younglings.
They shuffled through the water, with the same black tears marking their faces.
Rainn didn’t know why Balor had targeted the village. Perhaps their enemy had realized they were all together, or she was determined to get Liam back. Either way, Rainn had no intention of dying on the shore. He had too much to do. Too much to see.
Rainn swung the heavy sword in his hand, twisting his wrist to warm up the joint as he waited for the gormless attackers to get closer. They moved like a battalion, each footstep in time, unlike the screaming, clawing infected of the sick-tent.
The Nymphs weren’t far enough from their village yet. If Balor’s minions caught their scent, they would catch up quickly. Shay Mac Eoin had warned the strongest Nymphs of the enemy. Those trained in fighting. Some had seen the carnage of the sick-tent, and others didn’t need much persuading.
Rainn had never fought with Liam Cruinn before. Shay argued to give the Undine a sword, but Rainn had been against it.
Maeve hadn’t said much about Liam. Only that he was her step-brother. They had gone to Cruinn to rescue the male, what seemed like years ago. Rainn couldn’t pin his finger on it, but Liam Cruinn made him uncomfortable. The Undine carried something, a burden. Some kind of guilt. Rainn didn’t know how to deal with Fae like that.
Rainn always spoke his mind, even when it got him in trouble.
“I really don’t like killing the younglings.” Shay’s face crumbled as he spotted a much shorter Fae pulling themselves onto the sand.
“Think of them as short. Instead of young.” Rainn suggested, swinging his sword when an attacker grew close.
“They’re not short or young.” Arden had been silently studying the invaders until that moment. “They’re dead.”
“Dead?” Rainn stabbed his sword through the heart of a rather fat-bodied Fae. Black blood spurted out. His sword wedged between the fae’s ribcage, and Rainn struggled to pull it out, kicking the attacker in the chest to free his weapon.
“That does help, actually.” Shay stepped forward, stabbing his sword down into the throat of one of the Mer pulling themselves onto land. The tide pulled their body back to the lake, leaking black blood into the water.
Shay, Rainn, and Arden hacked their way through the first line of attackers until the water was too black to see the sand. Their bodies did not turn to foam.
Further down the beach, Liam Cruinn let out a rather undignified scream—as one of the black-teared bodies fell on top of him. Clawing and biting for a pound of flesh.
Liam’s sword lay forgotten in the sand.
Arden sighed, springing off the ground, wings snapping open, as he bodyslammed Liam’s attacker, driving his sword through its side and into the water.
Liam Cruinn rolled onto all fours and vomited.
Rainn turned back to the water, just as another line of staggering Fae pulled themselves to the surface.
They kept coming.
Shay clutched his chest, and before Rainn could ask him if he was alright, Rainn felt it too. A warmth that started innocently, before devolving into a painful churning. As if he’d swallowed an electric eel.
He felt her, in the back of his mind.
Rainn hadn’t forgotten what it felt like to be in Maeve’s presence, to feel her inside his blood, his body, and soul—but he’d almost attributed it to a dream. Only now did he know he was awake.