Page 23 of Beneath the Veil of Tides
The second guard threw his fist into Jun’s side. Additional ribs cracked, echoing through the chaos like the shattered branches beneath the Threnai’s hairy legs.
Only a few more feet.
Jun bellowed but held firm to his long sword, blocking the next strike.
I slipped unheard behind the nearest guard and drove my blade with ruthless precision between the narrow slit of his helm and the vulnerable gap in his back plate. The blade dropped with the Royal Vanguard soldier, falling away from Jun’s face as he collapsed. Just like when I met the assassin myself, blade to nose through a Tide Reaper instead.
Our eyes briefly met, and he nodded in appreciation. The second guard whirled on me.
“Oh, the sacrifice!” he howled with pleasure through the helm, a gravel-choked voice scratching against his throat. “The bounty on your head…”
He barreled into me, and the world spun as we toppled over each other, rolling across the floor in a blur of motion and impact. The soldier landed on top, his legs pinning my arms down, so I couldn’t fight back. The first punch he delivered to my cheek knocked my rearing head into the floor with a crack, skin instantly splitting on impact. The next three landed in quick succession, each one blurring the edges of my vision. Blood gushed from the open wounds on my face, warmth seeping over my skin like viscous honey.
Arms gripped the shoulders of the golden armored male and threw him overboard in one swift movement. Jun. His bloodied arm cradled across his abdomen, holding the demolished bones in place.
He met my eyes as I nodded slightly and limped back into the onslaught, sword at ready in his free hand.
Noctis ran toward me, frantically searching every inch of my body, ignoring the uncomfortable feeling it pushed on me. Crimson spots peppered his skin, a sheen cast of sweat dripping into the red and diluting it as it ran down his body. He leaned close, voice low and careful, and I caught the way his brow furrowed, the slight tremor in his hands, and it made my chest tighten. Somehow, his concern was as heavy as any pain I’d felt.
Damn my body.
“I’m so sorry.” His fingers lightly trailed my aching jaw. His eyes met every gash and darkening bruise marring my face, tracking every twitch, every shallow breath.
“I’m fine. Go find Zahara and Calvin,” I replied as I lifted myself up, the blaze of shattered bone slicing through my ankle.
I needed to know they were safe.
The god gently placed his calloused hand under my elbow for support, but I abruptly pulled away.
“Go,” I repeated. “Please.”
There was no time for his romantic declarations. Or want.
Two guards remained on deck. One circled Jun, and the other advanced on Noctis and I.
The god sent a blast of his powers careening into the male storming toward us, dust rushing along with it, and the guard’s head rotated with a sickening snap before he fell limp on the wooden beams.
Jun pulled his sword from the body of the last soldier and slumped to the ground in exhaustion.
“Did I really miss all the fun?” a soaking wet Calvin asked as he took in the destruction.
“Where is Zahara?” I muttered, dread creeping into my voice.
But Jun only looked around frantically.
“The cargo hold. She went there last for spare rigging.”
Noctis offered his shoulder, eyes desperate and hurried. There was no time for hesitancy, my own glare piercing and flaring before I accepted the help.
The hatch to the lower deck loomed, and Jun threw it open, plunging down the narrow steps with us at his back. I barely caught myself on the handrail and used it to ease the pain from my shattered ankle. The floorboards protested like secrets forced out through clenched teeth. Lanternlight flickered in the corridor, casting shadows that stretched and snapped with the rocking of the ship. Jun slammed into the door of the cargo hold with both palms, breath ragged, grunts furious and ravenous.
Zahara knelt in the grasp of a suited, unarmored man, his sword pressed cold and steady against her throat.
“Father,” Jun whispered, like a secret slipped.
“You’re up to something. Tell me now or she dies,” the male seethed. Jun and his father shared similar physical characteristics—the onyx hair that fell over his forehead, the pale skin, and the same eyes that bore assessing into a person. Therewas no mistaking their family resemblance, even though Jun looked like he wanted nothing more than to eradicate the man from his life.
No one responded. I wished to freeze my pounding heart, afraid a simple beat would drive the blade across our captain’s neck.
