Page 35

Draevyn

D raevyn watched through the open door of his cell as Esmyra waltzed up the stairs, leaving him alone.

She was testing him.

He sighed and followed her up the stairs, through the galley and the cots of the sleeping crew. The stench of unwashed bodies, brine, and rum stung his senses, forcing him to hold his breath. It appeared the entirety of her crew was asleep, and she was letting him free, unguarded and unprotected.

It was brave of her, or perhaps more so foolish. Even being confined to the velsinyte, his strength surely outmatched hers.

Her midnight hair billowed behind her as she made her way up the last flight of stairs, leading to the deck, which he realized was nearly as dark as below once he reached the top.

The only source of light came from the waning moon hiding behind eerie clouds, casting a silver glow atop the dark waters.

“I don’t have all night, Phoenix,” she called without turning to face him.

His eyes narrowed on her back. What was she trying to do? Throw him overboard? Once he caught up to her, he found her perched on the rail of the ship’s bow.

Esmyra faced him, one leg crossed over the other as her hands gripped the rails near her thighs for balance.

His eyes drifted to the starboard side, where lifeboats were strapped.

Perhaps he could shove her overboard if he timed it right and make his escape.

His only issue, still, would be how to free himself from the cuffs.

Her eyes gleamed with a predatory intensity beneath the moonlight.

“Well, Esmi?—”

“You’ve already been told you may address me as Captain or Esmyra,” she cut him off.

Draevyn cleared his throat. “Apologies, Esmyra . Old habits and all.”

She tilted her head, studying him. The corners of her lips curled into a small, unreadable smile, but she didn’t speak. His heartbeat picked up as they stared at each other. Every nerve and sense in his body screamed she was dangerous, but he couldn’t pinpoint why—nor could he look away.

She was clearly some form of a shifter, with her retracting talons and occasional glowing eyes. But what kind? He thought of how he’d woken up after his ship was wrecked—how he could’ve sworn a voice sang him back to life.

Sirens had been extinct for hundreds of years, and he loathed his lack of knowledge of them. It wouldn’t make any sense for her to be a siren when she ran a ship of the very beings those creatures fed off of.

“Well, you brought me aboard the deck for a reason, stating you would provide me answers to my questions. Was that the truth or just another lie? It appears you prefer your prisoners to remain ignorant.”

“Careful, Draevyn Rowe,” she started. “You seem to believe you deserve the answers you seek, and I can change my mind at any moment.” Her voice was smooth, like the calm before a storm.

His teeth clenched. He despised being toyed with and could tell that was exactly what she was doing—playing little mind tricks on him. Perhaps sailors didn’t desire women aboard their ship, not because it was bad luck, but because they were entirely too cunning.

“But tell me…why should I indulge you?” she asked.

Draevyn worked to ease the tightness in his jaw, remembering that the only way to win her little game was to play by her rules.

“Because you took me alive. If it was revenge you sought for the death of your captain, you would’ve killed me back in Lephyrin.

But you didn’t. That means you need something from me. My question is what.”

Esmyra’s smile widened, though it didn’t reach her eyes. “The only thing I need from you is for you to remain alive. And out of my way.” She gestured to his bound wrists with her chin. “Hence the cuffs.” Her tone was laced with a faint mockery, as if she found the notion amusing.

Draevyn shifted on his feet, his eyes remaining on hers. “What you speak of makes little sense. You need to keep me alive? What game are you playing?”

“Game? I don’t play games.” Esmyra chuckled, the sound devoid of warmth, as she leapt down from the rail and stood before him, unafraid as he towered over her. She leaned in, her face now just inches below his chin as she whispered, “Your father, though…he certainly plays his cards well.”

Draevyn refused the urge to flinch. “So this is the king’s doing, then? Was I traded for Atlas?”

Even if he were, he would be fine with it. He would expect it. Atlas was the heir to the Lephyrin crown, and he was nothing but a fire-wielding monster that his father only let loose when it was in his best interest.

“No,” she said. “You were who I sought. To trade for my captain—who is very much alive, by the way. Rotting in your father’s dungeons.” The last few words left her in a growl.

Draevyn’s mouth fell open. “Alive, you say?” He wasn’t sure what exactly happened once he lost consciousness back at the castle, but clearly, something significant had occurred.

It hit him then. He had seen Jak’s golden gaze before—back at Anchorage Cove.

It was the eyes of the drunken man who had stumbled into them.

He shoved Esmyra into Draevyn’s arms, prompting him to bring her to a secluded corner for safety.

Heat welled in his chest, anger igniting as he began to put the pieces together.

“You’re picking certain truths to tell while omitting others,” he continued. “We met before I captured your captain. You were targeting me for something else. Your crew was targeting me at that tavern, and our paths happened to cross again.”

The tension between them thickened, the night air growing colder as they stared each other down. Esmyra’s eyes bore into Draevyn’s, searching for something—fear, perhaps. But he gave her nothing.

“Why did you let me aboard your ship that day in Anchorage Cove?” she asked, and the question caught him off guard.

“You were in need of help.”

“Aye,” she nodded, placing her hands behind her back as she took a casual step toward him. “Or so I easily made you believe. But what of your people? What of the mortals of Lephyrin rotting in their streets of famine and disease while their royal family stands by and does nothing to aid them?”

His brows furrowed, head flinching back slightly. “I don’t know what you think you know about me, Esmyra, but I assure you, I’m rarely in Lephyrin.”

“So I’ve realized. Regardless, you still hold blame.” She circled him—a predator stalking its prey, and he felt with every bone in his body that was exactly what she was.

“I’m not following,” he started, voice low as he stood still.

“You’re right. You were targeted long before we met, Phoenix. The Night Wraith followed you to Anchorage Cove on word that you were headed there in search of information regarding Maerinys.” She tsked. “Risking the wrath of the gods. Now tell me, is it bravery or stupidity that runs you?”

Draevyn’s eyes flared, his flames bursting to life within him, but they still refused to ignite in his palms. He bared his teeth. “I knew there was something off with you. I should have listened to Sam.”

“Ah, yes. Samwell was certainly onto me from the first moment I stepped foot on that dock. But you appeared unable to resist a damsel in distress.” She snorted as she took another step closer, the wind whipping her hair around her face. “What a fucking hero you are.”

Esmyra was sizing him up as if she were a man, an opponent in a little dance, seeing how far she could push him before he snapped. She emanated power in surging waves, as if she were one with the sea.

Draevyn had never balked before a foe, never yielded. Yet, Esmyra was the only being he’d ever come across who had his body yearning to kneel.

He lifted his chin. “Never have I been considered a hero. And I’m not entirely sure what you are, but know that I’ve faced worse than whatever lurks within your pretty flesh. It will take more than glowing eyes and shifting talons to put fear into me.”

Esmyra clicked her tongue. “Such a liar, too, Draevyn Rowe. Your fear, though little, is evident—its scent stings my nostrils as we stand before each other. You’re right to be wary of me.”

She turned her back on him, her hair swirling in the wind as she took a step up to the tip of the bow, gently placing her hands on the rails as she stared out at the waves.

“I’m well aware that you hold no knowledge of what I am.

” She paused, her shoulders rising as she drew in a deep breath. “But you will.”

Draevyn watched her, how carelessly she put her back to him—as if he weren’t a threat due to his bound wrists. His anger flared at her lack of answers, tiptoeing around everything he needed to know. He was a captain and a prince, though he loathed the second title nearly as much as “the Phoenix.”

Esmyra was a pirate. Her captain was held prisoner by the crown. And now she was dangling his life in front of him, likely to get back at his father for what he did to Cyrus Blackwood. For some reason, she needed him alive. He no longer cared why, nor could he find a reason to idly stand by.

“We each seek the same thing,” she said.

Doubtful .

Draevyn took a silent step up to her back as she continued to face the sea, his boots silent against the floorboards. All sensible thoughts left his mind as he saw his only chance to escape. A glance to the back of her head, followed by one to the lifeboats, and his decision was made.

One moment, his bound arms hung at his front, and the next, they were lifted above his head and slammed over hers. Draevyn heaved his arms toward himself, the metal chains linking his velsinyte cuffs wrapping around Esmyra’s throat as he forced her body into his chest.

He expected Esmyra to let out a gasp for air—to scratch, and claw, and bite, but she remained silent as the chains nearly crushed her windpipe. Her arms lay slack at her sides, barely fighting back as he worked to suffocate her.

But then Esmyra laughed .

A violent chill went down his spine.

It was a villainous cackle that crawled under his skin and buried itself deep in his bones. The sound was sharp, cold, and biting, like a blade. It coiled around his mind like a serpent, stirring up a primal fear as his fire-fueled blood ran cold.

“What in all gods?” he whispered as he tightened his hold, but she didn’t so much as balk as he felt the tiny bones in her throat crack beneath his pull.

“You will regret this, Draevyn Rowe.” The words came out in a struggle, but her voice was cruel, scraping down his mind like talons.

A bright, teal glow cast from her eyes, illuminating the sea before them. Her once sleek legs merged and bound themselves together beneath the hem of her skirt.

Is that a fucking tail?!

And suddenly, a sharp sting radiated down his arm as her talons dug into his flesh, drawing blood.

Then, excruciating agony followed.

Draevyn bellowed an unexpected, horrific noise of anguish into the air, his back arching.

He’d never felt such pain, such agony . Every muscle in his body tightened as an overwhelming dizziness took over him.

Fire never burned him, but he imagined the gaping wound in his arm resembled what his victims once felt when he burned them alive.

Esmyra slithered out of his grasp and onto the floor before her tail whipped out and tripped him, bringing him to the ground with her.

“Fucking Irah!” he bellowed as he lifted his arm toward his face. Horror worked its way through him as he took in the sight of his skin sizzling, melting . “Esmyra! What is this?!”

She inspected the sharpened nails she had just maimed him with as he writhed in pain. “That was very rude, Draevyn Rowe.”

“You’re shitting me.” His breaths came in rapid bursts as his vision darkened, feeling as if he would lose consciousness from the pain.

Esmyra cocked her head to the side. “Say you’re sorry.”

“Gods.” His chest heaved, unable to take in air fast enough, fearing that one of these breaths could be his last. “I thought you needed me alive ,” he gritted out through his teeth.

She shrugged a single shoulder. “Accidents happen. New plans may need to be forged.”

He couldn’t believe this, and he wasn’t willing to try to call her bluff. What in all gods was in her nails that made his arm feel this way? It felt like she sliced him with a poison-dipped blade.

“I’m sorry,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

Esmyra crawled over to him, her bare, scale-covered chest spilling from the top of her blouse while she lay atop him. His eyes bulged as they fixated on her, the teal scales now covering her body, shock overtaking him at the sight.

Her tail swayed tauntingly behind her as her face hovered above his. “What was that?” she whispered, aiming her ear toward his lips.

The words snapped Draevyn from his trance.

“I’m sorry! Gods, can you fucking blame me? I saw an opportunity, and I took it,” he spat.

The more he thought of it, the more horrified he became. What had gone through his mind to make him suffocate a seemingly defenseless woman? Only she wasn’t defenseless at all. All of the thoughts he tried to shove down about her, deeming it impossible, had been true.

Esmyra was a… siren . A monster of the sea that the realm believed to be extinct.

She took those very talons and leisurely walked them along his chest until they reached the edge of his throat. For a moment, Draevyn thought she would slice his flesh open and have him bleed to death beneath her.

“Okay,” she finally said. “But only because I respect honesty.”

Esmyra took his maimed forearm and brought it to her pouty lips, eyeing him with a bone-chilling cruelty, before sinking her teeth into it. Draevyn’s eyes flared in horror as she sucked the venom from his body, drinking it in as if it were the finest wine.

“What the fuck?” was all he managed to whisper as the pain slowly subsided. His breathing steadied as the sky above grew lighter with the rising sun.

She dropped his ruined arm onto his chest and pushed herself up to hover above him. “This is what happens when you underestimate a threat,” she hissed. “And now you know that’s exactly what I am.”

The orange hues of the sunrise behind her framed her in a fiery blaze—mimicking the flames trapped and thrashing within him.

Wildfire, indeed , he thought at the sight of her, but before he could say another word, she sent her fist into his cheek.

Draevyn’s head slammed off the wooden floorboards beneath him, and then all he knew was darkness.