He considered all that in the span of seconds? I don’t want to admit that he’s right, but I can’t find a fault in logic with what he just said. I lick my lips. “What about you?”
“I’ll be able to function better if I’m not worried about you and Dia.”
There’s no time left to argue. I grab his shirt and pull him down for a desperate kiss. “Don’t you dare die.”
“And lose out on even a moment with you? Never.” He guides me back to the mast. “Shield. Now.”
I pull my chalk out of my shirt with a shaking hand. Dia watches with interest as I draw a circle just large enough to encompass both of us. I hesitate to close it, but Bowen is already moving away. He’s trusting me to do what I said I would. I have to trust that he’ll do the same. I press my hands to the deck and speak the words that bring the shield into being. It snaps into place with the strength that makes me shudder.
Dia carefully presses a hand into the air in front of her. “Neat trick. Most folks I’ve seen make shields do it with a bit more pizzazz.”
“I don’t know about other types of magic, but if a witch is using a bunch of song and dance to cast a spell, it’s likely for the benefit of those watching.” I don’t rise. I can see clearly enough from my position where I’m crouched. Besides, if I need to break the shield, it will spare me a second or two. “Why is he doing this?”
“Hedd?” Dia shrugs. “He likes a fight, and berserkers aren’t built for long range.”
I have nothing to say in response to that. This man’s selfish desire to commit violence is going to get people killed. His people. And there isn’t a damn thing anyone can do about it. I’m so furious, I can barely breathe past it. Or maybe that’s fear. It’s hard to tell the difference right now.
I don’t know if it makes things better or worse to be able to watch Bowen in action. It’s the first time I’ve seen him truly fight, aside from the cat-sìth. It’s never been clearer that he’s in his element.
Instead of using a wall, he moves through the fight with targeted attacks that send the mermaids hurtling back to water. I can’t tell if we’re making headway with their numbers, or if they are truly unending. It certainly feels like it. In reality, judging from the frothing waves around us, there are … maybe a hundred? It’s hard to estimate when they move so chaotically.
Hedd swings his ax wildly at a knot of the creatures. I might hate the man, but even I can admit that I’m glad he’s not fighting us. He’s cutting through the mermaids as if they’re paper. I shudder. “He’s a monster.”
The sweet scent of pot reaches me. “So are most of the C?n Annwn. You haven’t been around long enough to notice, but the ones they pick up who are gentle folk don’t last long.” Dia’s tone is neutral enough, but when I look up at her, her dark eyes contain sorrow. She’s lost someone she cares about. Maybe several someones.
I’m trying to come up with a response when a roar makes me whip around. A mermaid has latched on to Bowen’s back, its teeth ripping into the spot where his shoulder meets his neck. I scream and lurch forward to break the shield on instinct. I don’t know what the fuck I can do to help, but I can’t just sit here and watch him die.
I never get a chance.
A burst of power surges from him, so strong that I can feel it even through the shield. It sweeps the deck, and for a moment I swear nothing actually happens.
Then the mermaid on Bowen’s back slumps to the deck, boneless in a way that makes my stomach queasy. Then it happens again, and again, and again. Everyone goes still and silent, shock written across all their features. But not just shock. They stare down at what’s left of the mermaids on the ship with disgust and fear—and those emotions aren’t directed at the dead monsters at their feet. They shift away from Bowen as if that will do anything when he just killed every single mermaid on deck.
Nox steps onto the railing, one hand clinging to a line of rope, and leans over. They whistle in the sudden silence. “Best I can tell, every single mermaid is dead, Captain.”
Bowen collapses to the deck, unconscious.
No.
I don’t make a conscious decision to move. One moment I’m screaming in my head as I watch Bowen fall and the next I’m at his side. I barely register breaking the shield to get to him. “No, no, no, oh, you fucker, don’t you dare die. You promised me!” I never thought it was even a possibility. From the moment I met him, Bowen has been larger than life. Untouchable.
As I fall to my knees next to him, he looks all too human. Too pale. Too still. “Bowen!” I can’t lose you. Oh gods, please let him be okay.
“What the fuck did I tell you?”
I glance up to find Hedd standing over us, cursing and spitting. He hardly looks like the captain I’ve come to dislike so intensely, his form twisted and strangely out of proportion. He’s also still holding his giant ax, its double blades dripping deep purple blood.
He’s a threat, but I can’t focus on him right now. Bowen is losing too much blood with no sign of stopping. I press my hands to his wound, but it does nothing. Right. What the fuck am I doing? I have magic. I’m not as good at healing spells as Bunny was, but I can keep him alive until we can get to a proper healer. I trigger the glyph over my heart and press my hand to the wound again. For a moment, nothing seems to be happening, but then the flow of blood begins to slow. The skin doesn’t knit back together, but I’m pretty sure I see several veins reforming.
Now I have to deal with the captain.
I very much do not want to put any distance between me and Bowen, but this motherfucker seems to respond only to strength, and I have to get us out of this alive. There’s no way I can win a fight against a berserker, but I’m not thinking about that when I slap my hand to my chest and summon violet fire in a ring around me and Bowen. It takes more power than I want to admit to keep it from actually making contact with the deck.
I rise to my feet. Hedd looks downright demonic in the flickering light of the fire. I can only hope I look half as intimidating. “You’re welcome. How many of your crew are down? Bowen just saved us all.” I fling my hand out to encompass the various fallen forms. I don’t know how many of them are alive or dead, and later I’ll feel guilty for the fact that I was only worried about Bowen and no one else. But not yet.
“He disobeyed a direct order.” He’s not backing down. In fact, Hedd grins at me as if he can’t wait to see what I’m capable of.
Fuck. I might have just made a fatal mistake. I look around again, frantically searching for something that will stop this fight before it starts. My fire is fearsome, but it’s draining my magic as an astonishing rate. I normally use it only for concentrated blasts—not to create barriers.
My only hope is the crew themselves. I lift my voice. “Is your desire for a fight worth your entire crew? We did what we came to do. We eliminated the mermaid infestation.”
He lifts his ax like he wants to cleave my head from my shoulders. I don’t know what the fuck I’m going to do if he attacks. In his berserker form, I don’t think my fire will kill him. It might not even slow him down.