Page 50 of Beneath the Veil of Tides
“They died proving they were weak. I’ve moved on.” The cold, cruel way the Varaxis spoke made me quiver.
“Then what are you here for, Duscharne?” Noctis snapped.
The male chuckled. “I want in on your mission. My Varaxi in the Waning Isle report a temple in ruin. And now,you’re here, approaching the Aetherkin Bound entrance. I have an inkling to what you lot are up to. And I want in.”
“No,” Jun bit out.
Duscharne’s gaze slowly shifted to Jun, and Calvin stepped forward.
“What are you trying to fight?” Calvin asked sternly.
The male's smile faltered. “I’m just trying to be an honest hero in a battle for the right thing, is all.” His lips puckered as if insulted.
“There is nothing honest about you,” Noctis snarled.
“Tell me, God of the Forsaken. Will the Aetherkin even accept you back into the Bound after you abandoned them?” Duscharne’s smirk grew when he realized he hit a nerve in Noctis. “Now, let me fight with you all. Find the trident, abolish the oppression, and whatever else you think you will do with that much power.”
I stepped forward on wobbling feet, meeting the gaze of the male. “And what’s in it for you?”
“Like I said, just the good deed of my life,” Duscharne drawled. “I like to see a war that’s equally matched. Gives my lot more blood. Especially after the Royal Vanguard have been purging through any powerful blood they can take from our hands.”
There it was—the motivator to bring the Varaxis to us.
“We do not need help,” Noctis growled, voice audibly shaking in rage.
Duscharne shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He lifted his hand and pointed toward the hull. A winged beast flew through Zahara’s arm that held onto the wheel, slicing it clean off.
And the Varaxis walked backward and dissipated into the air with his beasts.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
I saw red. Blood fountained in rivulets across the deck, Zahara’s arm unattached from its respective body, drowning in it. The shock that covered the captain's face would haunt my nightmares—an addition to what lurked behind my closed eyes already. It took seconds for Zahara to collapse on the main deck herself, leaving the ship’s wheel spinning uncontrollably.
The realm tilted, barrels and supplies sliding viciously, and I narrowly threw myself out of the way before they slammed into me. Jun sprinted to Zahara’s side, checking for a heartbeat as he flipped her to her back.
“He has no power to heal her…” Calvin whispered. “He used it all on me.” Fear. Guilt.
We watched in shuttering panic as Jun worked on her, removing his belt and latching it tightly around her shoulder to stanch the spurting blood. Her body sagged, collapsing without support.
“I can help her, but there’s a cost,” Laziel’s low, terrified voice cut through the silence.
Jun jumped to his feet, a blade unsheathed and at the mer’s throat barely after the words left his mouth.
“You’ll help her. No fee,” he seethed. I stepped backward at the sight of Jun, his quiet normal standoffish self turning to threaten the merfolk with no mercy.
I couldget behind this side of him.
Laziel nodded quickly. “Not a fee. There’s just a cost to oceanic healing.”
“Do. It,” Jun gritted through his teeth.
Laziel took two steps back, separating himself from death, and threw his body over the railing of the ship.
“Oh, gods,” I breathed. “Can’t you give him power? Like you did for Calvin?” I asked Noctis, searching him for answers, but he shook his head.
I couldn’t watch this. Couldn't bring myself to look, like maybe if I looked away, it wouldn’t be real. Not Zahara. Not a woman who spent her life saving others. Not her. Not like this.
“I can only amplify the power that’s already there.”
