Page 143 of Heir of Broken Souls

Wrapping my arms around her shoulder, I hold her to me as Harlow does something that I don’t think she’s ever done. She lays her guilty heart in my hands and lets me watch as she falls apart.

* * *

An hour later, after Harlow cried herself to sleep in my arms, I leave her cabin. I can’t say I’m shocked by the revelation, or that she feels guilty. But I also can’t say she shouldn’t feel that way, or that Lenox has no right to be so angry with her.

Because the reality of the situation is messy.

Maybe if Lenox and Harlow had come sooner, Ace might still be alive right now. Or we could have all perished that night. No one knows besides the fates, and for some reason, that’s the way it worked out.

I’m about to step into my cabin when a crash comes from the end of the hall.

My hand flies to my knives strapped to my hip, but I relax once Axel comes into view, bearing his stumbling weight against Elysia’s shoulder, slurring nonsense. Elysia passes me with a grimace, but I choose to be utterly selfish in this moment and not offer a helping hand.

Axel isn’t the only one who wants to drown his sorrows.

The memory of Ace’s death hangs above all our hearts tonight as the pod continues to mourn and grieve the one they lost. As a sister sobs over the loss of her twin.

As we all lie in bed knowing I let our enemy slip away.

I’ve never hated myself more than this moment.

Chapter52

Delilah

Energy flows along my skin, beckoning me to the lower deck of the ship.

Sneaking away is easy when everyone is preparing for the unknown, everyone doing whatever they can to feel useful when our enemy is basically breathing down our necks.

I push open the window, shocked to see the extremely calm water. There’s no ripple in sight. But there’s also no one waiting for me. I balance on the balls of my feet and pop my head out, scanning the water.

I frown. There was something calling me, right?

Sudden movement ceases my thoughts.

Naia rises from the water, her pod close behind, the missing mermaid evident. My eyes catch on the pink mermaid, missing her counterpart, and the pain in her eyes crushes something in my heart.

Axel’s words come back to me, the utter agony that he spoke of. It takes everything in me to quelch the tears that want to rise and another strong tug to rip my gaze away, as if my body wants to punish me further, taunting me with another death that hangs above my head.

No matter what I do, I can’t seem to stop those around me from dying.

“I’m beginning to question if we should move forward.”

Naia’s cold words rip my attention away from my sorrows.

“What?” I blurt.

“Danger lurks ahead, one we’re not sure we should face.”

“We’ve come all this way!” I argue. “You knew of the risks?—”

“Not like this, the water…it’s been tainted.”

My head cocks to the side with a frown. “Tainted?” I ask.

Before she can say more, I quickly send a message down the bridge to Knox, along with a swift tug on our bond. Knox teleports beside me, arriving no more than a second after I summoned him.

“What’s your concern?” he asks softly, noting the heaviness within the pod. The grief that hangs over their tails.