Page 75 of Faeling (Monstrous World #4)

“ Ravenna! ”

Her name burst from his lips, shaking the ground as surely as the Fae Queen’s magic.

In horror, Vallek watched his mate barrel into Amaranthe and thrust them both through the remains of the central window, out into the open air beyond.

She can’t fly.

His heart shattered like so much glass on the floor.

When the two tumbled past the ruined window, the citadel fell silent. The manacles round his wrists clicking open then clattering to the floor was deafening.

So was his roar.

His strength wasn’t suddenly his again the moment the manacles unlocked, but that didn’t matter. Arms and legs pumping, his beast shoved him forward, through the gauntlet of grasping hands, warning shouts, and glass-strewn ground. He didn’t care, didn’t care, all that mattered was getting—

His lungs heaved as he jumped up the dais steps, past a stunned, unmoving Leita.

The gaping hole they’d made in the window cames was the exact size and shape of the hole rent through his soul.

He skidded to a halt just before the open air, the metal strips bent outward, beckoning.

Before him, the sky was a burnished, rosy gold, the sunset across the sea a brilliant display that lent just enough light to see down, down, down.

The angry sea churned below, studded with conical rocks jutting from the water like fangs ready to gnash and cut. Dark and deep, even so close to the cliffs, waves battered the rocks as seabirds screamed in their whorls above. But there, just there, he swore he saw a ring of bubbles.

He didn’t think, didn’t hesitate—with a running leap, and a hundred cries at his back, Vallek threw himself out the window.

The wind whooshed past him with the force of a thousand daggers, the chill cutting into his skin. His body hurtled downward, air rushing everywhere but into his lungs. He fell hundreds of feet, it took but a moment, but still he wished himself there faster.

Dark waters rushed up to meet him. He’d just gotten himself into position, arms tight to his sides, legs below him at an angle and braced when—the water hit him.

His feet and ankles erupted with agony, but then all he knew was cold.

Vallek plunged deep into the water, the cold burn sparking in shocks across his body. The force of the cold stunned him, but he allowed himself only a moment before making himself move, making his body comply. Up through the water he shot, defying the depths, pushing himself up to the surface.

He had to reach her.

This wasn’t how it would end, damn her.

He was king and he refused to let it be!

Gathering just enough breath, he bellowed, “RAVENNA!”

Nothing replied, the waves tossing him between the rocks. Snarling, Vallek pushed off from the nearest rock, ignoring how his ankles protested.

He worked to tread water and gain a little height, trying desperately to see whereabout he’d spotted that ring. She had to be here; there had to be a chance she—

A little pop caught his eye.

As he watched, a sparse stream of bubbles burst on the surface about ten feet away.

Vallek refused to think it a trick of the waning light. He swam hard for the spot and then dove, arms and legs shoving water aside. The saltwater burned his eyes, but he didn’t care. There was little to see in the dark depths, but he didn’t care.

He kicked, water streaming past, until finally, a pale face materialized before him.

Eyes closed and face slack, Ravenna hung eerily in the water, as if suspended from a string.

Her hair streamed around her, a ghoulish banner, and her waterlogged wings had been crushed against her back.

One hand clutched at the shoulder buckle of her cuirass, while the other rose above her, reaching for the surface.

Vallek grabbed her under the arms and swung to get his legs below him again. She was heavier in the water, clothes soaked, her armor weighing her down, but he refused to let that stop him.

His mate in his arms, Vallek forced them upwards, using strength he didn’t have and a fierce, abiding will to see her again.

The darkening sky beckoned from above, a tantalizing dream distorted by the water. For a few horrible moments, it didn’t seem to get any closer, no matter how hard he swam. They hung there together, the sea clutching them tight, and for the first time in a long time, Vallek was terrified.

Colder than the water, the terror cut him down to the bone.

The sea didn’t suffer fools and took its sacrifices greedily. Here, he wasn’t king. He was nothing but another body struggling to survive.

What the sea did not know, though, was that Vallek’s will was greater.

He held his life in his arms, and he refused to give her up.

He would have her and their years together.

This was not the end, but the beginning.

He and Ravenna would remake the world and leave it better than they found it.

Their people would sing songs and tell stories of their greatness for centuries to come.

And most of all, they would remember how the orc king loved his faeling queen above all others. How even the tempestuous sea was no match for his sheer will.

Baring his tusks, Vallek reached for the promise of the sky.

His hand broke the surface of the water, and he clawed his way up to the world above.

Vallek gasped and heaved, pulling air into his lungs. His blood burned for want of it, temples pounding and heart stuttering. Coughing and wheezing, he got an arm around Ravenna and used the last of his strength to swim for an outcropping of rocks.

Digging his nails into a craggy niche, he pulled them into the minimal shelter it provided from the waves.

Ravenna’s head lolled to the side, shooting panic down his spine.

Pinning her between him and the rock, he used his free hand to press on her chest.

“Breathe, damn you!”

His soggy hands were clumsy, taking precious moments, but he finally loosened her cuirass, pulling it off her body and letting it sink below. With the metal out of the way, he pressed her chest again, hand spanning her sternum.

With a start, Ravenna jerked, water sputtering from her mouth. She hacked up more, chest shaking. Vallek held her secure as she fought for breath, expelling the water from her lungs.

As she began sucking in great gulps of air, her body began to quake. Eyes wide and wild, she searched the sea for something, hand scrabbling frantically at his chest.

“I have you, sprite, I have you,” he crooned.

She jerked at the sound of his voice, her white-rimmed eyes finally falling on him. It was as if she saw him for the first time then, a terrible keening sound bursting past her lips.

“No— no —” she cried “—you weren’t supposed to die, too!”

“I’m not dead,” he insisted, “and neither are you. Although you’ve given it your best try.”

“No, I was supposed to fall—I understand now—this was always how it was going to—I had to—”

“You did what you had to, and so did I,” said Vallek. Pushing them further against the rock, he pressed his face into hers, clumsily nuzzling her. “You’re alive, sprite. We both are. And I intend to keep it that way.”

She blinked and blinked, her eyes gone nearly black in the fading light. He ached to see her distress and confusion, and when her hands began to knead against him nervously, he caught them both in his grip, holding on tight.

“But I haven’t seen anything,” she said breathlessly, “nothing like this, nothing past—”

Something plopped into the water beside them and began to fizz, drawing their attention up the rock.

Ravenna screamed at the horrible face staring down at them.

He curled his lip in disgust at the sight—what was left of Amaranthe was impaled upon and spattered across the rocks.

Her corpse looked ancient already, its eye sockets empty, the lips and tongue rotted away.

The breeze caught desiccated skin and clumps of white hair, and her small bones joined the limpets and bird droppings to litter the rocks.

Pushing off with his quivering legs, he moved them to another rock, positioning Ravenna so she couldn’t see the withered remains. Of course, being the contrary creature she was, Ravenna twisted in his hold, and so together they watched as the Fae Queen broke apart.

A strong wave caught her skeletal arm, dragging the corpse down the rock. It was as though the sea sought a sacrifice, since it couldn’t have him and Ravenna. Rotted flesh and bleached bone fell into the water, fizzing and sizzling before turning to foam.

Ravenna made another sound of distress, one Vallek agreed with. He’d never forget that sight, although he already wished he could.

He turned them away. There was no need to see the seabirds swoop to peck at what remained.

Huddled against the rock, they treaded water together, limbs entangled. The sea churned around them, and Vallek no longer felt cold—which wasn’t good. Still, he didn’t disrupt the silence, giving his mate the time she needed to compose herself.

When she next met his gaze, Ravenna touched his face gently, tracing his cheekbone up to his ear. “I wasn’t supposed to survive,” she whispered.

Vallek growled at that. “Who says?”

“I’ve never had a vision beyond this.”

“Perhaps your visions led you here. Everything after, though, will be up to you.”

A frown began to form on her brow. “I don’t think that’s how visions work.”

“Well, then, you’ll make do with my visions,” he said, attempting a grin. “And do you know what I see?”

Her lips twitched. “What?”

“I see us getting out of this fucking water, drying off somewhere warm and cozy, and then taking you over my knee for a thorough spanking.”

Ravenna spluttered in offense. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“Oh, sprite,” he purred, “it would be my absolute pleasure. You must learn that I won’t ever, ever be parted from you. Not by a Fae Queen, not even by death.”