Page 13 of A Bond so Fierce and Fragile (Compelling Fates Saga #3)

Lay the king’s neck against the smooth railing of his own ship and let Lessia use her daggers to carve into his fair skin—carve until that stupid crown tumbled into the sea that Rioner loved so much and disappeared for all eternity.

Amalise approached him when Loche stepped back, and since that guard wouldn’t let her more than a foot away from him, Zaddock followed, his hand still clasped around the woman’s.

“We’ll be there when you find her. She… she is strong, Merrick. But she is also sensitive. Y-you didn’t see her those first months.” A shudder went through Amalise’s small frame. “We… we weren’t sure if she’d make it.”

Merrick could tell Ardow stiffened beside him even while holding on tight to Venko.

“I know,” he said, trying to get his voice to sound gentle. “I’ll protect her.”

He would. If there was anything he could promise, it was that once Lessia was back, he wouldn’t be a step away from her.

His eyes lingered on Zaddock for a moment, and when he met the human’s dark blue eyes, a moment of understanding passed between them, and Merrick couldn’t help but think that… perhaps… the overprotective Zaddock had a point.

“I saw that.” Amalise twisted her lip as she glared between them and wagged her finger in Merrick’s face. “Do not justify him. He’s an overbearing bastard.”

“But you’re here. You’re alive.” Merrick’s words appeared to strike a chord because Amalise only opened and closed her mouth a few times before a pink tint crept up her cheeks, and she bowed her head, stepping back with the overbearing bastard following closely behind.

The two sisters were the last to approach.

The one with long hair—Pellie—placed a small hand on Merrick’s shoulder. “Save the others too. Especially… especially the dark-haired one.”

“She took a fancy to him in that awful cabin,” Soria whispered theatrically, ignoring her sister swatting at her. “But please do. Lessia only just got her family back, from what I heard, and she, out of anyone, deserves to have those she loves around her.”

“She’s right.” Pellie squeezed his shoulder before releasing him. “On both accounts. I wouldn’t mind jumping that Kerym’s?—”

A mix between a chuckle and a huff left Merrick as Soria slapped a hand over her sister’s mouth, pulling her back again and urgently berating her for being so blatant.

Those two were something else…

But he could imagine Kerym taking a liking to either of them.

With a final glance out over the deck, ignoring the heavy raindrops that now fell from the sky, Merrick told himself again this was the only way.

He would find her.

He would.

Somehow, he could feel her even from this distance, and something within him told him this was what he must do.

He might have cursed the gods many times… more than he could count, honestly.

But they’d made him her mate for a reason, and damned if he was going to let her down.

Merrick didn’t look back as he pushed himself off the railing, nor did he look to the side to see if Ardow and Raine followed.

The water slammed into him, the height making it feel more like jumping into hard-packed mud instead of water, but he angled himself right, and without breaking anything, Merrick slipped under the cool surface.

He lingered there for a while, savoring the silence—a rarity, something those souls seldom offered him.

He could feel Lessia better down here.

She must be sleeping, or perhaps resting, because the emotions that touched his soul were not those of fear or even anger.

It was love that filled his mate right now.

Deep, devastating love.

The love he’d seen in her even before he got to experience it himself.

The love she had for a world and for the two people who had done nothing but hurt her.

He’d thought it was maybe an act at first, but Lessia truly didn’t blame the world and the humans or Fae for her fate—she directed her ire to the gods instead.

And…

Maybe… just maybe, she was right in that.

Something touched Merrick’s arm, and he reluctantly opened his eyes, muting the connection with Lessia, expecting to meet either Ardow’s brown eyes or Raine’s hazel ones.

But they were wide violet ones that met his, and he had to stop himself from reaching for his sword when sharp teeth came into view next as the beast opened its maw.

Ydren. It was Ydren, he told himself as every nerve within him ignited, his muscles coiling and his senses screaming at him to defend himself.

Instead of drawing his sword, Merrick pointed upward, and when the wyvern inclined her head, he kicked hard to breach the surface.

A scream—filled with raw panic—met him, and he realized the group still on the ship hung over the railing, shouting at him, Ardow, and Raine to “get out now.”

Ydren let out something akin to a scoff as she twisted her body, allowing first Raine, second Merrick, and then a very hesitant Ardow to climb onto her back.

The wet scales were slippery, and when Ydren straightened her neck, towering over the sea to bring herself higher, Merrick had to admit he was forced to squeeze his legs with everything in him not to slide off.

Behind him, a yelp left Ardow, and Merrick sighed when the man began slipping backward.

Quickly snatching hold of his tunic, Merrick ensured the human stayed on, albeit at an awkward angle, ignoring his grumblings.

They didn’t have time for vanity.

“She’s my friend,” Raine called out to the faces, now level with them, still frozen in fear.

Even Venko, who should have been used to her after the days on Midhrok, seemed apprehensive.

And Loche…

The mighty regent couldn’t hide the twitch of his hand toward his sword as his gray eyes swept across the beast, and Merrick knew it wasn’t becoming, but he smirked at him, eliciting a narrow-eyed glare in return.

“She knows where Lessia and the rest are,” Raine continued, and Merrick snapped his eyes to his friend instead. “She’ll take us there. You need to follow. She’ll guide you so that you can escape the storm, or at least the worst of it.”

When Zaddock, of all people, nodded first, Merrick called, “Go now! We have no time to lose.”

He didn’t bother to ask how Ydren knew where Lessia was.

This was their best chance.

The wyvern whipped her head back to stare at him, and the same determination that blazed within Merrick could be found in her glossy eyes.

But it was the small ember of hope that also glittered in the dark that Merrick clung to.

The beast seemed to tell him to hold on.

At least that’s what he imagined when she, with a cry that made him want to cover his ears, dove into the water and launched herself across the vast sea with a speed no ship could ever match.