Page 12 of A Bond so Fierce and Fragile (Compelling Fates Saga #3)

Merrick

H e couldn’t hear what the others around him were screaming as outraged whispers exploded across the deck, so violent and furious that he wouldn’t have been surprised if the world was to end soon.

Had he not felt that frail tether still connecting him with Lessia, he would have let go entirely, would have unleashed the storm of souls that now whirled all around him, would have fucking laughed as they took whatever was left of this wretched world.

But he did feel it.

She was alive.

She was somewhere in Havlands.

Still, she was too far away.

Merrick closed his eyes as the whispers roared louder, screaming out the frustration and rage and wrath he kept within him, crying for revenge, for death and destruction, and punishment.

Lessia might believe he was good, that he was kind , as she’d once said…

But Merrick knew better.

She was the only thing he cared about.

In this world and any other.

Everyone and everything else could burn or drown or be demolished, for all he cared.

Let’s do it now.

Let’s kill them all.

It would be easy to give in to the whispers filling his ears.

But as Merrick opened his eyes and stared at the people surrounding him—the cowering Ardow and Venko by the wall; the regent holding on to the railing, his face filled with torment; Raine staring at him with worry tightening the corners of his eyes; the dark-haired guard holding his sword in his hand and the other pushing Amalise behind him—Merrick tightened his grip on the veil keeping those souls from doing anything other than whisper whatever they wanted to the living.

He nearly scoffed when Zaddock continued to wave his blade in the air.

As if a sword could do anything against his magic…

Merrick’s eyes snapped to a door opening as those copper-haired sisters ventured onto the deck, their faces strained but with no fear brightening their eyes as they stared out over the chaos.

He shook his head when they came closer.

Did they have a death wish?

The memory of them saving him and Lessia in that cellar flashed within his mind, and Merrick cursed silently when another surge of fury consumed him.

He’d been nearly as damned angry then as he was now.

When those fucking men had marked her…

The dead guards should count themselves lucky that he hadn’t been able to use his magic when he killed them.

He would have honored his promise—would have let them be tortured through all eternity by the souls he now began pushing back to wherever they resided when they weren’t trying to break into the living realm.

Lessia was alive, he reminded himself.

And he needed these people to find her.

At least some of them.

He doubted they’d be as eager to help if he killed off the useless ones. Fear unfortunately wasn’t as much of a motivator as the king of Vastala believed…

With a sigh, Merrick tightened the leash further, using some of the anger to force the souls to move faster than they usually liked.

They shrieked at him as he drove them farther and farther away, but he didn’t even bother snarling back.

They knew who their master was.

When the last one finally left the deck, Merrick slumped against the railing, the anger and frustration and despair draining him as much as the pressure of his magic.

“You are terrifying,” one of the sisters—Soria, Merrick seemed to remember—said as she walked up beside him. “No wonder they call you the Death Whisperer. That’s exactly what that felt like.”

He shot her a warning glare before growling, “We need to sail faster. We’re running out of time.”

“You’re not even going to apologize?” Zaddock hissed as he finally sheathed his sword.

Raising a brow, Merrick moved his eyes to his, and thankfully, the human closed his mouth before Merrick shut it another way.

“I. Said. We need to sail faster,” Merrick repeated when no one moved to the upper deck. “Something has changed… I don’t know what, but we need to find her today! There is no more time.”

“We can’t.” Zaddock apparently didn’t fear for his life as much as Merrick expected, and he stepped toward the guard when Amalise broke in.

“There is a storm coming. Look over there. We won’t be able to search while also keeping the ship from sinking.”

Merrick’s eyes drifted to the darkening horizon.

Of course a fucking storm was coming.

But weather—fucking weather—wouldn’t stop him from finding her.

“Then I’ll go myself.” Merrick shifted his scabbard so that his sword lay across his back instead of resting against his hip. “If we don’t find her today, it’ll be too late. I’ll fucking swim.”

“No, you won’t.” Raine gripped his arm, flashing his own teeth when Merrick bared his sharp ones in warning. “You’ll die too. And for what? You know what she wants.”

What she wants…

She was fucking twenty-five years old!

She shouldn’t have to save the world.

She should still live at home, safe in a room where her parents could still teach her what being Fae meant, perhaps prepare her for moving out and trying her wings soon.

And Merrick?

Merrick should have stumbled upon her when she walked into whatever village was closest and realized what she was without having the damned king breathing down his neck.

He should have approached her, maybe bought her some flowers or something else, like he’d seen his friends do for their mates, and then the first thing he should have done would be to offer her his arm to walk her home.

Then he would have courted her.

And after that…

He would have asked her father for her hand.

Paid for and organized the most expensive mating ceremony there was.

Married her after because he wanted to tie himself to her in every way he could.

This…

This fucking life?

It wasn’t what she deserved.

“I don’t care what she wants.” Merrick shoved Raine’s arm off. “I don’t want to live in a world where she doesn’t exist.”

Raine lifted his hands and groaned. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but we have a duty to this world, Merrick. We once swore to protect Havlands from whatever harm may come to it…”

“Like you give a shit,” Merrick spat as he ensured his boots were securely laced. “You made it very clear you were only here to die a hero’s death.”

“I know,” Raine mumbled. “But she… that passion you saw in her, Merrick. We see it too. We feel it too.”

“We do,” Loche echoed, his voice gravelly. “We all love her.” Loche raised his hands when a rumble shook Merrick’s chest. “Not like you. But she has inspired all of us, and we all want to find her.”

“You’re not fucking listening to me!” Merrick gripped the railing, shifting his legs over it so he faced the wild sea below.

“I know she inspires every person she comes across. She is the fucking light of this world! The purest soul. The kindest. The strongest. A leader, a friend, a lover, a woman, a Fae, a human. But it’s almost too late. I can feel it!”

Something flickered in the corner of his eyes, and Merrick couldn’t help but raise his brows when Ardow swung a leg over the wet railing as well, straddling it as he spoke. “Listen to him. If he’s saying it’s almost too late, it is. I am coming too.”

“Ardow,” Venko said, his voice soft but not in the pleading way Merrick would have expected.

Instead, the merchant walked up to them, the lines in his face deep with worry but his eyes steady. He put his hands to Ardow’s cheeks as the latter turned around to face him.

“Bring her back,” he whispered before he pressed his lips against Ardow’s, the kiss so gentle everyone on the ship quieted, and it wasn’t necessary to have Fae ears to hear the relieved sob leaving Ardow as he kissed him back.

Merrick tore his eyes away, locking instead with Amalise’s blue ones, which now glistened as she looked away from the two men, and he noticed she didn’t pull back when Zaddock laced his fingers with hers.

Raine cleared his throat, and Merrick knew the flask in his hands shook not because of the storm now beginning to rock the vessel but because he remembered those stolen moments with Solana.

They’d also had too little time…

Borrowed, cut short, wrong time.

This wretched world…

“If you’re going to be so damned stubborn, I guess I’m coming too.” Raine stuffed the flask into his tunic, pulling his sword across his back and securing Solana’s dagger at his waist.

With another low groan, Raine hoisted himself up so he sat next to Merrick. “Of all the dumb things we’ve done…”

Yes, this was probably the worst one. Getting into the Eiatis Sea without any real idea of where to swim… It was probably a death sentence.

But Merrick couldn’t just sit on his ass on that ship anymore.

He knew Lessia’s time was running out.

He’d rather die fucking trying to find her.

“You always fought until the end.” Raine gently elbowed him as rain began splattering the people and the ship. “Remember when that Fae nearly decapitated you and you fucking held on to your head while you chased after him?” He shook his head. “That’s when I knew you were insane.”

Merrick rolled his eyes, trying to keep that particular memory out of his mind. That wound had hurt more than any other he could remember. “If I hadn’t gotten to him, Thissian would have won the bet that he was a better fighter than I. Couldn’t have that.”

A low scoff interrupted their exchange.

“I guess we should be lucky if you’ll fight next to us in the coming war.

” Loche approached them, halting a foot or so away from the railing as he bore his eyes into Merrick’s.

“We will try to follow you as best we can. I would suggest going east. That’s where the most secluded waters around Korina are. ”

Merrick shot him a sharp nod, but just as he was about to turn back, Loche grabbed his shoulder.

“Please. Bring her back,” he said, almost in a whisper, and if Merrick hadn’t known better, he might have thought the regent was about to get choked up. “And… get her revenge.”

Merrick nodded again.

He would get her her revenge.

Serve it up on a silver platter for her if he could.