Page 8 of A Bond so Fierce and Fragile (Compelling Fates Saga #3)

Merrick

P lease help me!

Merrick jolted upright in the cramped cot he’d tried to get a few hours’ sleep in when Lessia’s voice exploded within his mind.

I’m here!

I’m coming for you!

Fuck, hold on!

He tried to scream back at her with all his might, but he had no idea whether she could hear him, and he almost lost it when the only thing that joined the anger within him was fear—pure, vein-chilling dread—that couldn’t come from anything other than his mate.

She was terrified.

Fuck! Merrick threw the blankets to the floor as he flew from the small bed, ignoring Raine’s moan as he accidentally bumped into his cot on his way up to the deck.

He needed to get out of here.

He needed…

Merrick slammed a hand into the damp wall as he climbed the rickety stairs.

He just needed to be with her.

Preferably after killing every fucking bastard who ever hurt her.

We’ll help.

Gladly.

We’ll kill them all.

The souls pressed all around him, and since the deck was empty save for Zaddock—who should be at the helm steering, as it was his turn to guide them through the night—Merrick didn’t bother leashing them.

Their roaring whispers joined the waves crashing against the port side, and Merrick understood why Lessia had screamed at the top of her lungs that night on the ship.

His entire body buzzed with wild, untamed energy—the feeling so foreign he clasped the railing and leaned over, as if the depths of the sea might have an answer to what the fuck he was supposed to do.

Merrick cursed when the water drops spraying his face did little more than rile him further, pushing those souls to spread out from the ship, their whispers reaching farther and farther, perhaps even deep into the sea to scare whatever swam beneath them.

He swore loudly again as a wave of sticky helplessness rippled across his skin.

Before he’d met this wildly loyal, pure, kind, intelligent, and beautiful woman, little had been able to provoke him.

He hadn’t cared enough after everything that happened to Raine and the others, believing the punishment of being blood-sworn to the Fae king was sufficient to compensate for the pain his friends lived with day and night.

But now?

Gods, he couldn’t fucking stand it.

He had no idea how Raine did it.

How Kerym was alive.

How Thissian still set one foot in front of the other.

Lessia wasn’t even dead, and it still was as if she’d ripped out everything that made sense within him, as if she’d taken every other reason to live.

He was hers.

Fully and entirely.

And if she didn’t exist…

The whispers turned to bellows.

Neither would this world.

We’ll wipe all Havlands out.

Kill every soul and bring them over to us.

Create a new world in the shadows.

We’ll rule there together—make your mate our queen.

Merrick finally reined them in slightly.

He fucking hoped not.

If he had to continue dealing with these assholes when he was dead…

That thought alone was enough to quell the final whispers, driving up the veil, or whatever it was, that kept them away from the living side.

Footsteps thudded in the silence that followed, but Merrick didn’t turn around as the scent he’d come to hate—the one he could barely stand after it had enveloped Lessia during the election—drifted across the deck.

“Careful, regent. I’m plotting how I’m going to kill everyone who’s ever hurt her, and you’re high on the list.” Merrick kept his gaze on the light starting to break over the horizon as Loche sidled up beside him.

Although the dark-haired human kept a few feet of distance.

Perhaps he was smarter than Merrick had given him credit for.

“You know I did it because I loved her.”

Then again… perhaps he wasn’t.

The urge to slam a fist into his face and then throw the regent overboard crushed Merrick’s chest, and even though he quashed it, as he knew it wasn’t what Lessia would want for the man she’d once loved, the warning rumble in his chest hopefully encouraged the regent to tread carefully.

“I know, I know.”

Merrick threw a glare to the side when Loche shifted to face him, one of his arms leaning against the railing and the gray eyes that he worked to keep sharp, but where pain shone through like the sun now peeking over the sea ahead, locked on his own.

A shudder traveled up Merrick’s neck, pricking his scalp.

Was this how Merrick had looked to everyone else during the election?

“She chose you.” Loche bowed his head for a second before he continued. “I know that. I respect that. But I…”

Loche didn’t have to finish for Merrick to know what he meant.

He still loved her.

It was as clear as the anger and despair tangling within Merrick.

Could he really blame him? Merrick had barely spoken to her, apart from growling Rioner’s orders, when he fell for her and knew he’d never get back up.

And a small voice within Merrick told him that it was a good thing Loche still cared for his mate.

Though he was a bastard, he wanted the same thing as Merrick.

Unfortunately, he wanted many of the same things as Merrick.

He had to look away from the regent’s imploring eyes when the night Lessia kissed Loche in that library invaded his mind.

He’d nearly broken down the fucking bedroom when she came in, smiling and covered in another man’s scent. Only the sight of her happy grin had stopped him.

Seeing those beautiful lips lifted in a genuine smile, not the fake ones she reserved for most people, broke through the rage—the possessiveness—and he managed to tell her to continue seeing him.

But then the regent had hurt her.

Not just hurt her… but done it in the worst way possible.

Loche knew—he fucking knew!—she’d always felt like she didn’t fit in, that Fae and humans alike shunned her… and still he’d forced her away from the one place she’d found an ounce of happiness.

Merrick would do a lot to save her life—anything, really—including sacrificing every soul in this realm, and any others he might stumble upon.

But hurt her like that?

He could never.

“I can see you disagree with how I chose to protect her.”

Merrick snapped his eyes back to the regent’s gray ones.

“I had to think on my feet, Death Whisperer.” Loche threw out his arms. “The king was there. You were in the cellars. I was fucking terrified he was going to figure it out. It was the only way for the king not to get suspicious.”

Merrick forced a nod.

“But you still hurt her,” he said quietly.

Loche’s eyes flicked to the dark deck. “I know. I’ll never forgive myself for that.”

“Is that why you’re here? Because of guilt?” Merrick refused to let Loche’s eyes escape as he awaited his response.

He’d suggested Loche and his men leave to go back to Ellow several times already.

It’s not like a few humans could stand against Rioner and the lethal guards Merrick was certain he had brought to accompany him on this mission…

They might even be in the way should Merrick and Raine have to work to keep them safe.

But Amalise had refused as soon as he brought it up, and the guard that followed her like a puppy had obviously stayed.

Same with Ardow.

Guilt appeared to be permanently etched into Lessia’s friend’s features these days, and Ardow had not even looked at Venko—who, to his credit, also agreed to stay—before he violently shook his head, declaring he owed Lessia this much.

A huff flew through Merrick’s lips.

Ardow truly did.

It was almost like he’d been fucking compelled by that rebel leader, the way he sang her praises.

And while Merrick wasn’t happy about how that meeting on the ship had gone, at least Ardow had seen the shifter for what she was.

Fickle.

Power hungry.

A liar like the rest of the leaders in this realm.

Merrick bore his eyes deeper into the regent’s ones.

But Loche…

He had a whole rebellion to quell.

Why was he still here?

“I can’t… I just… My men will prepare for the rebellion, but given what we know, I don’t think it’ll be enough. I think we need…” Loche hesitated when Merrick’s eyes narrowed.

“We need?” Merrick demanded.

“We need her to kill him. Ellow needs her to kill him.” Loche’s mouth twisted to the side as he shook his head.

“I wish it wasn’t her. But… it’s all we have now.

I fucked up so bad. And while I owe it to her to save her, I also owe Ellow to do everything I can to save it.

I already let her get away, and… I gave her the damned stone. We have nothing left now.”

Merrick was about to snarl at him that Lessia would do whatever she damned pleased, when something between a cough and a sob lodged in the regent’s throat, and a feeling he didn’t like at all chilled Merrick’s chest.

He clenched his fists by his side.

Surely he wasn’t about to feel empathy for this man?

But damned if that feeling didn’t fucking grow as Loche’s shoulders hunched as he stared out over the brightening sea.

Like Lessia, he was so young.

Too young to fucking lead a nation, and a divided one at that.

Too young to take on a war that would be devastating, especially if those rebels got their claws in his people first.

Merrick didn’t know Loche’s whole story, but he’d seen enough during the election to know his upbringing couldn’t have been close to the ones of those snotty human nobles.

Perhaps not even close to the comfortable life he expected Venko had led before getting tangled in this mess.

Loche let out another strangled breath.

Flicking his eyes to the sky where the sun fought with dark clouds wanting to cover it, Merrick sighed.

As he moved his gaze back down, he couldn’t help but take a step toward the human.

“She will.” Merrick sighed again as he put a hand on Loche’s shoulder. “She will kill him. I’ll make sure of it.”

Loche nodded, and for a few beats, silence layered around them as they watched the sun slowly rise.

The wind was warmer again, the scents filling it those of wet cliffs and burned grass—the smells Merrick knew still wafted from Korina.