Page 132 of Pirate Witch

It’s been too long. She could be anywhere by now.

I shove away the terrifying logical voice in the back of my mind as I slam into the sea, shifting on impact. Behind me, I can feel the twins doing the same. They head down, going for the seabed, so I take the more difficult path among the rocks.

Goddess, what if she never made it to the sea and fell on the rocks?

Images of her beautiful body splattered across the razor sharp pools at the base of the cliff torment me as I scan the area. It might not kill her, unless the damage is so great that her head is separated from her body or her heart is pierced… both of which are very real and terrifying possibilities.

We search for over an hour.

In the end, it’s Catherine’s body we find first. I drag the human queen’s remains to the surface where theDeadwoodis waiting, and pass them off to my sisters.

They promise me they’ll do what must be done, and leave me to resume the search for my missing mate.

I can’t feel when I reach for her along our mating bond. The entire construct is fuzzy with static, making it hard to get a fix on her location, and that—more than anything else—terrifies me.

More sirens join us. The leviathans start to canvas further away from the bay. What should be a day of victory turns into a day of shocked mourning.

When I breach the surface of the water again, I don’t expect to hear news.

So when Reva flies past me, hauling a bundle of soggy black fabric over the front of her broom, it takes me a second to comprehend that she’s found her.

My energy—which was already flagging—runs out as I race back to the ship. I have to drag myself up onto the deck of theDeadwood, where I’m just in time to see Elsie stop glowing. The Solar has tears in her eyes and is shaking with the effort of whatever magic she’s been using, but I can’t focus on her.

Our mate is laid out beside Kier on the sodden, splintered wood. The two of them are covered in blood, and Elsie’s white robes are sodden with it as she wobbles to her feet between the two of them.

Kier’s clothes have been cut away, and a neat red line now decorates his abdomen, still weeping blood. Nilsa is still clothed, but she’s just as pale as he is.

“Are they okay? Is she…?” I trail off, unable to say the word.

“Alive,” Elsie confirms, eyes dark with exhaustion. The Solar is bruised, but otherwise unharmed, for which I’m grateful. “But… her mind is blocked somehow. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

No. Goddess,pleaseno.

“I’ve done what I can,” she continues, “I’ll keep her under observation and…” Her words begin to blend together as she describes all the different treatments she’s planning on. Most of it is gobbledegook, but then she says, “...when Nilsa wakes—ifNilsa wakes…”

“If?!” I’m not sure which member of the crew says it, but the rawness in the single word echoes exactly what I’m feeling.

I collapse on my knees beside our mate. My hand shakes as I reach out and brush a strand of wet hair out of her face. There are rips in her clothing, and patches of pink new skin peek out from underneath.

Just how wounded was she?

“I’ll try everything I can,” Elsie swears. “She’s got good chances.”

But she’s making no guarantees. Bile rises in the back of my throat, but I swallow it back. Nilsa is stronger than steel. A warrior. She’ll come through this. Shehasto.

“They both need to be clean,” Cas mutters, ignoring his own exhaustion in favour of picking Nilsa up and cradling her against his chest. “Klaus, can you make them something to eat for when they wake up?”

I want to scream at him for suggesting I leave her now, but I bite back the urge. He’s only doing what any alpha shifter would, trying to protect and provide for his mate while she’s injured.

And he’s right. She’s been out here for hours. Food will help her recover.

So I nod, rather than answer. I don’t trust myself to open my mouth without screaming.

“I found her on the rocks.” Reva grunts, taking hold of Elsie’s elbow to keep her upright. Something—probably a shifter—has taken a bite out of the Lunar’s lower leg, and she’s missing so much flesh that the bones are showing. “She must have been forced onto them by the tide. I almost had to break her fingers to get her to let go.”

That’s my strong, stubborn warrior.

Opal is meowing around my ankles. I’ve been so caught up in Nilsa that I don’t even notice her until she bites me.