Page 151 of Devoted

“The lanky guard, he’s the one with the key to the shackles.” Emberline jerked her head to the group of them all lined up, their clubs traded for guns, expression bright with terror as they raised their barrels to point directly at my chest, fingers on the triggers. Darkness spread out around us, a penumbral shield against the gunshots ringing out, bullets hitting my shield and vaporizing.

“Stay here. I’ll be right back.” I paused. “I mean, remain here, and I shall return.” I grinned, wanting nothing more than to kiss Emberline, but… perhaps it was a little too soon, given how wide her eyes were right now.

CHAPTER 57

NICO

The laughing had stopped.

Yeah, these worthless fucking cowards sure lost their sense of humor, now that they’d run out of time.

I crossed the deck in two steps, the boat tilting ominously beneath my weight. They’d killed the motors, so we were drifting, the choppy Adriatic sloshing against the keel. Two guards dove over the railing, choosing a watery grave over Death.

I snatched their souls before they hit the surface.

They tasted like sewage. Like hate and resentment and malice.

They were the lucky ones, so to speak.

The remaining guards raised their weapons and opened fire, some of them casting their pathetic magic. I expanded, catching every bullet and thrown blade, every burst of power, not allowing a single threat to touch my friends. And while I wasn’t particularly cruel in this form—Death was cruel enough—I couldn’t stop hearing their mocking laughter.

Every time I did, anger spiked a little higher.

I spread my form out across the width of the boat, no longer a shield to protect my friends from danger, but to keep them from seeing the guards’ fate. So they wouldn’t hear the screams. The begging. The wet, gory sounds as I shredded them apart.

I saved the blunt-faced guard for last.

The bastard who dropped Emberline overboard and laughed. The one who’d threatened to do more than touch her.

For that, I took his hands.

Then his eyes, because he’d dared look at her. Then his tongue, for every foul word he’d spoken in her presence. Only when he was writhing in his own piss and blood did I end him.

When I was done, the engines were still idling, the boat drifting sideways, stern pointed at nothing, stars shining brightly overhead, the universe unconcerned at the amount of blood staining the deck.

I looked up, took a breath, and tasted the truth.

Salt and wind, the taste of freedom, and my friends alive.

The future still ahead of us.

The Emissary took some persuading, but eventually, he retreated. He still didn’t like this world. It was too big and too loud, but he didn’t so much mind being out here on the water. He liked the stars and the taste of the salt air.

I turned to my friends and dangled the keys from two fingers.

“Let’s get everyone unlocked,” I bent over and freed Emberline first, then Gabriel and Valeria.

I knelt down beside Dante and carefully undid his shackles, laying his arms down flat. He was still unconscious, but breathing evenly, all his injuries superficial enough not to be life-threatening.

Emberline nudged me aside, checking him over, smoothing the hair back from his face.

“You won’t have access to your magic until we’re off this boat,” I explained, kneeling beside Valeria as she doubled over, her face twisted in pain. “Your arms hurt because the blood is rushing back. Give yourself a few minutes, and the sensation will fade. Are you injured? Cut?”

She stared straight ahead as if she didn’t hear me.

“Valeria, you’re covered in blood,” I said gently. “I need to know if you’re hurt.”

“This isn’t mine.” She hiccupped out a sob. “It’s Gia’s. The Drax… I tried to save her, even though it was too late. It went for her, instead of me, and by the time I reached her, she was gone.”