Page 27 of Pirate Witch

Smart girl. She’ll need to work hard to preserve her powerandensure Nos doesn’t see her coming. Luck is sometimes the only way to outwit the seer. Klaus is holding his own against him right now—possibly because he’s trained with Cassie and knows how to defend against someone who anticipates every strike.

Nilsa chooses her moment at the exact moment Nos is forced to dive out of the way of a vicious stab from Cirio’s sabre. Pierce is his mate’s perfect counterpart, already in position to catch Nos in the side with the long thin blade of his rapier. There’s no way for him to avoid the wound that’s coming his way except to let Nilsa take him.

Or so I think.

The moment her arms wrap around his waist, he twists them both, putting our little witch directly in the path of Pierce’s sword. I watch in horror as the pointed end pierces her gut, filling the air with the scent of her blood and making my fangs drop in response.

Her tiny gasp of pain is somehow louder than anything else in the room. It distracts Klaus, allowing Cas to land a roundhouse kick to his abdomen as he searches for Nilsa. The siren flies to the side, smashing into a wall, but I don’t watch to see if he manages to get back to his feet. I’m too focused on our witch.

I’ve never before wanted to rip Nos’s head from his shoulders as badly as I do now. Somehow, our precious mate manages to keep her head well enough to drag him out of this world and drop him into the cell beside me. He throws up the moment she’s gone, spewing vomit over the floor.

At least it wasn’t just me. Whatever strange power Nilsa is using, it’sawful.

As soon as he recovers enough to stand, I deck him. Driving my fist deep into his stomach until he’s bent double. Nevermind that the bargain made him do it. He still hurt our mate.

I hope when he recovers he gives me worse. We deserve it.

I leave him coughing his lungs up before turning back to watch the action. Our Lunar hasn’t returned, and I scan the dark corners of the cellar frantically, searching for some clue as to her whereabouts.

That was a major hit she just took, but it still wasn’t a deadly wound for an immortal. Just a painful one.

So whereisshe?

Cas catches the side of Cirio’s face with a swipe of his claws, and the shark shifter roars, teeth morphing to jagged points as he momentarily loses control over his beast. His eye, already dark, turns the cold flat black of the darkest part of the ocean. Cas growls back, his beast ready to meet the challenge of Cirio’s.

Both of them chuck their weapons aside, forgetting the others in the room as they circle one another.

Nilsa appears, distracting Cas just long enough for Cirio to break the standoff and tackle him to the ground. They roll in a tangle of limbs, slamming into a wall as the others watch on apprehensively.

Neither of them are in charge now. Cas’s eyes are a bright, otherworldly turquoise that makes it clear he’s lost control.

Things just got dangerous. If either of them tries to shift fully…

Cirio might be a shark, but he’s proven before that he can shift on land for long enough to take a bite out of his opponent before he has to shift back. Cas’s beast doesn’t need water to survive, but it definitely won’t fit in this tiny ass cellar.

If he tries, he’ll bury all of us.

But does the leviathan realise that?

From the look on her face, Nilsa is thinking the exact same thing. Like the others, she’s caught in the grip of uncertainty. Her hold on her weapons has gone slack as she bites her lip. Klaus has finally struggled back to his feet, but he’s leaning on his trident as he stumbles back to her side. He doesn’t get involved, and from the bruising blooming across his ribs, I’d say he’s probably got a few broken bones of his own.

Serves him right for letting her do this.

Cas and Cirio tussle for several more seconds as the others look on. None of them want to get between them and inadvertently trigger a full shift.

They’re all so distracted that they don’t notice Val step into the room. The bargain silences my warning before it can pass my lips, and I watch in grim horror as the lights of the captain’s transmutation circles begin to glow, casting his white hair in an inky purple light.

Half a dozen burning pulses of power soar through the space toward where Nilsa and the others are assembled, singeing the air with malevolent heat. Pierce’s eyes widen as he catches sight of the approaching onslaught, and his mouth opens on a silent warning, but he’s going to be too slow.

The purple fire is going to swallow the lot of them. They’ll be ash before they even realise what’s happened. My breath catches in my throat.

This is it.

A golden shield springs to life between them, almost opalescent with power. It’s so last-minute that italmostdoesn’t form in time, but the Goddesses must be watching over us because somehow itdoes.

The purple blaze crashes against it like a wave, but the shield doesn’t waver. Everyone in the room goes still, turning their shocked expressions to the Solar in the doorway, holding her fluffy white cat in a death grip.

Elsie stopped Val’s power.