Page 34 of Courting the Fae Captain
“Akira,” I screamed as tears filled my eyes and blurred my vision. A grunting sounded behind me, and I gathered my wits enough to remember that there was another creature. I turned, my sword hanging loosely in my hand, then prepared to meet my maker as the last creature reared up on its hind legs, its spiky front legs preparing to swipe. Shock fired through me, justenough to jerk me back to reality. I pulled back to thrust my sword into its exposed belly when something else caught my eye.
A force so fierce and unstoppable that even the monster couldn’t move in time. Sherai screamed, roaring her battle cry to the world as she sprinted forward. The creature turned to face her, right as Sherai plunged her spear into its stomach. I didn’t know where the strength came from, but once she’d finished gutting it, Sherai lifted it into the air by the spear before crashing it down on its skull.
Silence.
I stared at the dead thing on the ground, then slowly turned my gaze to Sherai, who was panting with both hands on her knees. When she looked up, blood was splattered all over her face, and her eyes were wide.
“I killed it,” she said quietly. “I actually killed it.”
I couldn’t muster any words as I just nodded stupidly. Gratefully. I realised it was too silent. The lump in my throat refused to dislodge, but I managed to croak out, “Akira.”
Sherai ran towards the beast that had felled our mighty friend. It was still. My stomach twisted violently even as I smiled sadly. “Defiant even in death,” I said. “Akira must have killed it. She was so fucking fierce.”
“This can’t be,” Sherai whispered as she shook her head. “She can’t be dead.”
“Sherai,” I said gently, reaching out a hand to comfort her.“There was nothing we could do.”
A grunting sound came from where the creature and Akira lay dead.
“It’s coming from the beast,” Sherai said shrilly. “Quick. Help me!”
We cautiously checked that the creature wasn’t about to tear our hands off, but it remained lifeless. Sherai gasped, and weheaved the carcass to the side to find Akira, covered in blood and gasping for air.
“Oh my gods,” Sherai cried as she burst into tears and fell upon Akira in a giant hug. I stared at my friend in disbelief before joining them moments later.Nothing had ever felt so good as hugging a grumpy, dishevelled, wounded but very much alive Akira.
“Can’t … breathe…” she huffed.
Sherai and I begrudgingly let her go as we rose. “But how?” I asked.
Akira’s grin turned to a wince, but she simply wiggled her injured leg, as if too tired to explain. And she didn’t need to. Her slim calf was bleeding heavily but was free of the object that had pierced it.She jerked her head to the creature, and as I followed her line of sight, I spotted a long shard of bone. Sharp and deadly as a knife. We shared a grin. Laughing a little, Sherai and I helped Akira to her feet. And then we hugged her once more, blood, sweat, and tears be damned.
“Let’s go,” I said to my friends as we all pulled apart. Firelights moved through the trees ahead, somewhere near the beach. “We’ve got a boat to catch.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
‘In the event a bond is forged with one’s fated mate, not even death can break it. To attempt to force such a terrible deed is to invoke the wrath of the gods themselves.’
Fake It Till You Make It: Romance Edition
We arrived on the beach without any further problems and half-carried Akira down the sand banks as carefully as possible, almost falling several times from the sand shifting beneath us. I searched the boats for a familiar face and was oddly disappointed when I didn’t find Raithe amongst the various males manning them. Maybe it was the exhaustion of the fight, or the mental load of thinking my friend had died for a hot minute, but I wanted his company.
‘He doesn’t care whether you live or die,’ a voice whispered in my head. ‘He is just using you.’The thoughts stung more than they should have. The last time I’d seen him, I’d agreed to court him in the public eye, but that’s as far as the arrangement went.Shortly before that, I would have killed him for botching my escape. It was safe to say things were complicated between the captain and me.
I should have been excited to get off the island. And while a large part of me was very glad to put it behind me, both literally and figuratively, another logical part of my brain knew that I was exchanging one prison for another. Still, I’d take any opponent over thosethings. And once I was back in the relative safety of my rooms, I’d be able to dive straight into my mother’s journal, which I kept hidden in the bedchamber. I hadn’t read much beyond a couple of pages, too focused on my earlier escape attempt and what to do about the imprisoned females of old Rites.I wondered at what I would find in its pages.
“I’ve never been more glad to return to the sea,” Akira said with a grumble as we trudged towards the boats. “I need a healer, food, and a solid sleep.”
“And a bath,” Sherai said, wrinkling her nose. “You smell like monster soup and carcass.”
Akira raised her brows. “Says the girl with chunks of guts stuck in her hair.”
“Oh, gods. Ew. Ew. EW!” Sherai shook her hair like a dog, then combed her fingernails through her coils. “Get it off me!”
“Relax,” Akira said with a grin. “I was just kidding. Sort of.”
I laughed, even as I shook my head. “See you both back at the castle. Unless they still expect us to do chores, I don’t plan on leaving my bed for the rest of the night.”
We helped Akira to one of the small rowboats and said our goodbyes as we each hopped on a boat and made our way back to the mainland. There were significantly fewer females than the number that had arrived; many boats returned empty of any females.
