by Amy Braun
“Derek!”
“I’m all right,” I shouted back to Selena. I glanced between her and Thea. “How are you blocking the sirens?” I tried to think of how to combat them, but most of my previous work for Ares had involved land-based monsters. It was rare that I’d had to go to the sea for an extraction, and I’d never faced a siren before.
Selena’s eyes cut to me and tapped her ear.
The inside was lined with a layer of ice. It wasn’t embedded in her ear drum, so the magic Thea had placed there wasn’t actually hurting her. I imagined it was cold and uncomfortable, but if it kept the siren’s song from hitting her directly, I imagined it as worth the discomfort.
I needed to find Thea.
Movement at my side caught my attention.
I jabbed Ki̱demónas at the next merman that got too close. The mermen were determined to keep me in the water and out of my element, perhaps long enough for the sirens to hit me with their song again. They were still singing, but the mermen fighting us drowned out their voices. My focus was no longer on them, so their magic could no longer sway me.
The merman swam around me, its scaled fish tail moving too quickly for me to see. My back was to the ledge, but gods above and below, these things were fast.
I turned in the water and thrust my spear. My shot just missed the merman’s ribs. The creature slipped beneath the waves, its scales gleaming under the water as it twisted to circle my right side. I gripped Ki̱demónas and kicked. My boot struck the merman in the chest. The creature writhed and shot up from the water, stabbing its spear wildly at my face.
I twisted and raised Ki̱demónas. It crashed against the merman’s spear. The creature grimaced, revealing its jagged teeth, and shoved its spear toward my face. I ducked and let the weapon slide past my shoulder and plunge into the water near my back. I thrust the spear forward, breaking the water. It plunged into the merman’s throat, poking out the back of its neck. The merman gaped, black blood spilling out of the wound. I pulled Ki̱demónas back, slung my arm over the ledge, and hauled myself out of the water and staggered onto the rocks by the cliff.
Screams cut through the air, and I looked up. The sirens had left their rocky island perch and were closing in on Thea and Selena.
The creatures didn’t have any weapons, but their teeth and claws were just as dangerous as their beautiful voices. Thea and Selena were doing their best to fight, but their heels kept slipping on the blood-covered ledge.
Selena slashed with her kukri, and Thea sliced with set of sai, but the sirens flapped their wings in their faces and made them stumble. Selena nearly tripped and landed on her ass. One of the sirens pinned Thea against the rocky cliff. She protected herself by crossing her arms over her face, but that was all she could do. It slashed at her arms with its talons, doing its best to literally rip open her defenses.
I raced for Thea, spinning Ki̱demónas in my hand. I stabbed forward, catching the siren attacking Thea in the back. It screamed and arched on the spear, wings flapping wildly and tugging on the spear in my hands. Ki̱demónas trembled at the thrill of blood, and the Rage burned hotter inside of me.
I tore the spear free. A gout of blood spilled from the siren. Its wings beat once more, and it slumped in a heap next to the blood pools of the Sea Guards. I glanced at Thea. Her arms were a shredded mess, and fear widened her eyes. I felt a stab of guilt. If I hadn’t been such an idiot and let temptation get the better of me, she wouldn’t have been hurt.
I reached out quickly for her arms. She placed them in my hands, and I gave her a rushed healing spell. At the same time, she clapped her hands on the sides of my head. Cold, tingling magic wrapped around my ears. Sound became distant. I could still hear what was going on, but it was like it was happening ten feet away instead of right next to me.
Another siren howled, the sound muffled thanks to the ice blocking my ears. I turned and watched it shoot into the sky, darting away from where Selena had been fighting it. The siren flipped forward and dive-bombed me. I rolled away at the last second, hoping it would crack its skull on the rocks. Instead, it pulled up just in time and screeched at me, leaping for my face. I stepped aside and slammed the shaft of my spear into its chest. It toppled back onto the rocks, wings flapping aggressively as it tried to right itself. I raised the spear in both hands and drove it into its throat. It twitched and went still.
The Rage rolled with delight, all but begging for use. Ki̱demónas hummed eagerly, wanting the same thing. The sirens weren’t human, but blood was blood, and for a single, split second, I wondered how much more carnage I could get away with.
The clang of steel and a roar of fury caught my attention. Selena was near the edge of the rocky lagoon, slicing and burning the two mermen that attacked her sides from where they were half-submerged in the water. She dodged and feinted gracefully, sweeping her kukri down to keep them from skewering her. They responded by dunking themselves and hiding in the water whenever she tried to strike back. I hefted Ki̱demónas in my hand, getting ready to throw it, but the mermen were too quick in the water. They jumped up, stabbed, ducked underwater, and repeated the motions. They never came up from the same place twice, making it hard for me to aim.
Then one of them got lucky.
Selena had just kicked away the spear of the merman on her right when the other creature’s spear pierced straight through her calf, just under her knee. She screamed in pain, involuntarily dropping onto her good knee, giving the merman behind her a chance to wrap its arms around her chest and pull her into the water.
Fear shot through me, slamming into the Rage. I felt the dark power rise, and this time I didn’t hold it back.
Gripping Ki̱demónas tightly, I jumped off the rocks and dove into the water. I Adapted to increase my oxygen capacity and speed. I was moving quickly, but I couldn’t catch the merman as it glided with Selena through the dark water toward a wall of kelp. The Farseer twisted desperately as I followed the dark-red stream of blood from her leg. I didn’t think she could hold her breath for much longer.
I watched her flip her kukri into a reverse grip and stab it into the merman’s side. It twitched and let her go. I took the shot as soon as I had it, hurling Ki̱demónas at the merman. The weapon drove through its face, rocking its head back and causing it to go still.
I held my hand out for my spear to call it back as the Farseer swam for the surface, swimming past a forest of kelp. Her foot batted against a longer strand, which quickly wrapped around her ankle. She turned and started hacking at it, but I knew she was running out of oxygen. I kept swimming for her.
She looked past me, eyes going wide as she pointed over my shoulder. I turned my head and hardened my skin just as the last merman plunged its spear into my side. The weapon was lodged about a quarter of an inch into me, just under my ribs. Because of the Rage, I couldn’t feel the sting of the stab or the salt burning the open wound, and I was grateful that I’d Adapted. Otherwise, that wound might have been fatal.
The merman surged forward, aiming its teeth at my throat. I tilted my head away, and its scaled, slimy neck slid against mine. Before it could find another way to bite me, I drove Ki̱demónas into its ribs. The creature thrashed violently from side to side as blood pouring out of the wound. I pushed the spear deeper until it was completely through the merman. I reached around to its other side and pulled the weapon through its body. It shuddered a couple of times, then drifted into the dark cloud of blood behind it. I turned to find Selena.
She’d cut herself free of the kelp but floated limply, no longer swimming or kicking. She had lost her kukri, and her eyes were closed. Behind her was an entire horde of mermen creeping out of the kelp, eyeing her limp body with hungry glares.
No, I thought through the haze of Rage. I need her. They can’t have her. I raced for her, but my flames wouldn’t work underwater. I couldn’t protect her with fire magic.
I latched on to my aether even as I finished the thought. Aether would not be hindered by water. It cou
ld only be stopped by stronger, resistive magic, and the sea was not strong enough to resist my magic.
I fed aether into the spear and threw as hard as I could. If it were any other spear, such an action would be useless. But Ki̱demónas was hardly ordinary.
The spear streaked through the dark water like a bronze arrow, spilling tendrils of aether off its casing. The tendrils lashed around any merman they could reach and choked the life from them. The creatures scratched and sliced with their claws and spears, but only magic could destroy magic.
With the mermen distracted, I pushed through the slick kelp and wrapped my arm around Selena. I tugged her free and kicked for the surface as fast I could.
I broke the surface with Selena half draped over my shoulder. I sucked in a huge gasp of air, letting go of my Adaptation. I laid the Farseer gently on the rocks and pressed my ear to her chest. I heard a heartbeat but felt no rise in her chest.
“She’s not breathing!”
There was no reply, and I wasn’t going to wait. I laced my fingers together and started chest compressions.
I jumped and clenched my fist when a hand touched my arm.
The water scion looked at me with wide, nervous turquoise eyes.
“Derek… your Rage… it could hurt her.”
I heard the words, understood them, and forced myself to move back. The water scion took my place. She laced her fingers together and locked her elbows, then pressed down. And pressed, and pressed, and pressed.
The Berserker Rage pulsed angrily inside me. I barely had control. All I could do was watch restlessly. There were no more creatures to kill. No enemy that I could fight. I was as limp as the blond Farseer…
Selena.
The thought came to me slowly, a whisper in the back of my mind. The name matched the face, a face I adored and honored. I knew it was important, as important as the water scion trying to save her friend…
I latched on to the thought and forced the Rage from me.
My side erupted in a fiery burn that stole a hiss from my throat. I accepted the consequences of my actions, but the vestiges of the Rage still clung to me.
Selena’s eyes remained closed.
“Come on, Selena,” Thea whispered under her breath.
My chest constricted. If my idiocy had gotten her killed, I would never forgive myself. The guilt would become a noose that would tighten until I—
I stopped, looking at the wetsuit.
“Wait,” I said. “Flip her over.”
Thea looked at me, still pushing down. “What?”
I nudged her aside, knowing it was our last chance. Selena had been breathless for too long. I grabbed her shoulders, turned her over, and jerked the zipper of her wetsuit down, relieving the pressure on her chest. I pressed my hands to her back and pushed down hard.
Selena jerked and coughed water onto the rocks. I sagged with relief as she choked it all out. She pushed up to her hands and knees, and I put my hand on the nape of her neck, trying to steady her shaking and mine.
Gods above and below. I hadn’t been that scared in ages. I tried to scrub the image of her limp and lifeless in the kelp from my mind, but I doubted I would forget it any time soon. Even though she was here, breathing and alive.
Thea screamed. I whirled around.
Selena yanked me aside and lifted her palm. Flame rippled out of her hand and swallowed the dagger of ice that would have plunged into my back.
Selena twisted her hands and pushed more fire at the attacker, who I recognized as Tobin.
Ross and Olivia were right behind him, and beyond them…
Thea, her face turned away from us, curled in a pool of blood growing around her back.
I saw all of that in one second and was standing the next. I swung my hand and shot fire out of my skin. It swept toward the Cetea before they could attack. My flames surged to life and formed a wall between us and the water scions. Heat filled the air and tinted it red.
I loved that feeling, that sight.
Holding the wall in place, I looked at Selena. She stared at the fire with awe and horror.
“Go,” I shouted at her.
But she was already moving. She whipped around me and raced for her friend. Ross tried to catch her, but I stopped him with a kick to his stomach, forcing him closer to Olivia and Tobin. I focused on Ki̱demónas, still spiraling in the ocean, and called it back. I let up on my flames to see beyond them.
All three water scions stared at me in shock and fear. Olivia glanced over her shoulder, spotting Selena crouched next to Thea, placing her hands on her friend’s stomach to heal her. Selena’s back was to them, and she was as exposed as I had been.
Olivia wanted to take advantage of that. They’d attacked Thea first, because she had been idle. Selena and I were distracted and would have been easy targets if Selena’s Sight and quick reflexes hadn’t saved us.
She didn’t get more than a step before I sent another surge of flame coiling around her to block her path, pinning the Cetea between a wall of flame and me.
“Yeah,” I growled. “You’re staying right fucking here.”
The words were mine, but they felt like the Rage’s.
Ross, the lankier of the trio, scowled at me. “Told you he wasn’t gonna drown.”
“Sirens and mermen should have ripped him to pieces,” Olivia added.
“Doesn’t matter,” Tobin snapped. “We take him out now.”
I didn’t like being ignored, and I missed my spear.
With a flick of magic, Ki̱demónas exploded out of the water and flew into my hand. My grip was loose, and the spear’s movement was fluid as I swung it toward the Cetea. They dodged the first swing, exactly like I wanted.
I moved forward and flipped Ki̱demónas again, cracking it into Tobin’s shoulder. He yelped in pain, but Ki̱demónas was already moving to its next target—Olivia’s stomach.
The blunt end jabbed hard into her ribs. She cried out and stumbled back.
Ross had a longer reach and threw a hook at my jaw. With a simple flick of the wrist, Ki̱demónas took the blow for me. I felt the tremor when Ross’s punch collided with the hard metal, and I grinned at his cracked knuckles.
All three of them pounced on me with fists and magic. I let them come, watched their slow strikes, and felt their cool magic. I Adapted and moved faster than they did, twisting and weaving, jabbing out with Ki̱demónas, and kicking them when they got too close. There was nowhere for them to run except into the wall of flames burning at their back or into the dark waters at their side.
Soon, they were covered in bruises. Good. I was happy to make them pay for what they did to Thea. For what they almost did to me. For what they might have done to Selena.
The Rage bristled under my skin, its leftover energy fueling my anger and powering my strikes. It was an ever-present force that held sway over me, even though I hadn’t unleashed it yet.
They deserve it. You knew it might come down to this, and so did they.
A wave of water rose from the left and crashed toward me. I crossed my arms over my head and forced flames out of my skin. They battered against the falling water and disintegrated it. Steam draped over me like a curtain, blistering my flesh. I was protected from my own fire. But from the steam it created…
Not so much.
Yet the pain was still distant to my own anger. Two can play this game.
I let go of Ki̱demónas. The spear darted between the water scions, stabbing through the wall of fire, and bent the flames over the Cetea.
They yelled in surprise when my fire closed over them, instinctively moving away from the wall and closer to me to escape its unforgiving touch.
Olivia wasn’t paying attention to me and was the first one I took down. I delivered a quick, snapping blow to her temple, and she collapsed onto the rocks. Ross and Tobin staggered, then raised their hands. Water spooled out of their skin and hardened into ice daggers.
They charged as one.
I flicked my wris
t and snapped a lick of flame at Ross’s hand. He yelled as his skin was scorched. Tobin was undeterred, running right up to me and jabbing the dagger at my head and neck. I pivoted my head, foiling him at every turn until he got too close.
I grabbed his outstretched arm as it reached over my shoulder. I smashed my elbow into his chest and face, then chopped him in the throat. I hurled him over my shoulder and turned…
Nearly taking a face full of ice shards.
I brought up my free arm and grimaced at the magic, cold and sharp as glass cut through my wetsuit. I pulled Ki̱demónas back into my hand and whacked Ross in the knees. He howled, and I hammered the spear into his stomach and nose. Blood splattered across his face. I twisted, throwing a roundhouse kick to his skull. Ross dropped into a heap, and like with Olivia, I didn’t even give him a second glance.
I turned and marched over to Tobin, the only one of the betrayers still awake. I pressed my fingertips to my ears and melted the ice that had muffled much of the noise I heard. Sound returned quickly. Good. I wanted to hear everything Tobin was about to tell me.
He pushed himself onto all fours and started to get to his feet. I didn’t let him.
My fist slammed into his face and sent him back to the ground. I was not feeling merciful after being tricked, getting attacked by sea monsters, nearly losing Selena, almost getting stabbed, seeing Thea’s too-still body, and being betrayed.
I grabbed the collar of his wetsuit and yanked his head up. He blinked at me through swelling eyes, his focus coming slow and shakily.
The focus snapped to life when I raised my free hand and filled it with flames.
“Tell me why.”
Tobin laughed and spat at me. I didn’t even blink.
“We know all about you, Areios,” he sneered. “You’re not going to hurt me.”
I punched him in the arm with my burning fist. He cringed and howled in pain but couldn’t escape.