Page 147 of Daughter of the Dark Sea

Boom.

A cannon fired through the air across the ship, narrowly missing the main mast. A ship to the right exploded, chunks of wood and debris cascading in the air and plummeting all around her. Severed, sharp pieces of a brig impaled a soldier through the neck. Several more soldiers were knocked unconscious—or she hoped they were. She didn’t stop long enough to see whether more pieces of a ship’s hull were protruding from their bodies.

There was only one way to end this war—and it was with Barron’s head rolling across this deck.

She’d been used by everyone, and she’d be gods-damned before she let Barron do the same. She’d been kept in the dark, hidden away from society. She’d been lied to. She’d been betrayed. She’d been abused, locked up, and chained.

And Captain Kora Cadell had hadenough.

Now it was time to break free.

She would not be conquered.

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Both Galen and Talmon soldiers fell at Kora’s blade.

Rage propelled her, and her water beast roared alongside her, drinking on her bloodlust as she cut a path across the deck. Barron never left the foredeck—in fact, he never moved. He was flanked by those disgusting guards in black-and-malachite armour, a single eye slit in their helmets. Their stench was palpable.

And no one approached him.

It incensed her drive. He thought he was untouchable, even where he stood—above the battle—was a mockery. An allusion to his status ofheadviceroy. A mere self-appointed title. She was all too happy to bring him down to their level and—

A group of Galenite mercenaries blocked her path.

She growled, the red haze numbing her thoughts as she raised her sword, ready to cut their throats for daring to obstruct her, when a lean figure stumbled in front of them, his hands exposed, his dark brown eyes wide. He had short, curly silver hair, and brown skin that glistened in the light. His eyes wereround and deer-like, and a labradorite suit clung to his slender frame.

He looked a lot like Skylar.

“Woah, woah, woah.” His voice was oddly familiar, and she tilted her head.

Her water beast growled once again, the sound vibrating in her throat. All she knew waskill, kill, kill.And this male was in the way. Kora twirled her sword, her hands glowing blue as water rippled up the blade. Something about this male irked her, and her power crested, desperate to be unleashed.

“Listen to me,cildbah.”

The use of Devanian made her pause. Why was he calling her a kid?

“State your business,” she replied in the native tongue. Her voice was otherworldly. It didn’t even sound like her.

“Just trying to stop a friend from doing something stupid.”

“A friend?”

The male nodded, approaching slowly with his hands still raised. A red leather strap circled around his forehead, keeping longer coils of his hair out of his face.

“You remember me,cildbah.”

The word sparked something deep within her. “I’m not stupid—you are,” she snapped.

The male smiled and it was dazzling, lighting up his whole face.

“That’s right, I’m dumb and you’re smart.” He was so close it made her shudder, followed by a sorrow that made her frown.

“Don’t condescend me.”

“I would never,cildbah.You know that.” He placed a hand over his chest. His fingers were tattooed with intriguing symbols that unlocked a deep, dark corner in the depths of Kora’s mind. Like a rush of air, a memory shot through her, tearing from the darkness in the form of a single word.

“Aerion,” she tested the word on her tongue.