Page 37 of The Kraken Bride

Rubbing the dome-rune on his chest, he jerked his gaze up. Cold fury coated his features as a strange glow began to seep through his clothing.

I followed his stare and realized I’d let the coins overshadow instinct. Hundreds of merfolk covered the dome, their bodies long and powerful, scaled in iridescent hues that shifted between oil-slick black, venomous green, and bruised violet. Webbed hands ended in talons and gripped the surface with ease.

Their faces were beautiful but unsettling, with eyes too large, pupils slit, and mouths lined with rows of fine, translucent teeth that caught the light as they hissed down at us.

Many wore harnesses of bone and coral, embedded with glowing runes, similar to Sebastian’s, while others wielded massive, trident-like tools that pulsed with pressure and light.

Then the tapping stopped and a shudder ran down my back.

One beat.

Two.

A coordinated crew surged forward. They brandished long, dark armaments I couldn’t identify, striking the structure in perfect rhythm. Each impact reverberated through the dome above us. With every blow, fractures spiderwebbed across the glassy surface. One crack became three. Three became dozens. The jagged lines raced outward with terrifying speed, branching and connecting. A water droplet fell, hitting me on the cheek.

This was a siege.

I braced for battle, claws extending from my fingertips. Though I’d never fought, I had the training.

Sebastian dove for me, trying to shelter me as the dome shattered, thousands of pounds of water flooding upon us in an instant.

Chapter

Eleven

Be aware: gifts are contracts in disguise. No exceptions.

–An Incomplete Guide to Kraken Survival

The foundation beneath my feet vanished. Water, water, all around. In my eyes, my nose, my mouth. Vision? Impaired by the murk. Breathing? Impossible. I tasted dirt and brine.

Waves continued to slam against me. Expecting the mers to attack at any second, I flailed for purchase but found none. Panic rose, stomping through me… but my dragon rose faster, ashing the mental pandemonium.

Cold serenity settled over my thoughts, my body, while my blood turned molten, leaking from my pores and hardening over my skin in a pattern resembling scales.

The added weight sank me, but I pushed back, treading as my line of sight crystallized. And what a spectacle I beheld.

Sebastian had doubled in size, becoming a giant who eclipsed even Jon. Hundreds of thin, shadowy, whip-like tentacles lashed from him, as sharp as swords, slashing mers in half at the same time he worked through the masses, wielding a pair of daggers.

His eyes glowed ice-blue, and he moved with such speed, such grace, he and the water seemed to be one. No mercy, just instinct. But it was his methodical precision that truly amazed. He never missed a target. Never hesitated to deliver a fatal blow, no matter how brutal.

One word echoed inside my head. Berserkerage. A trance in which bloodlust overcame a berserker’s reason, the need to kill as essential as breathing. Anyone foolish enough to enter his vicinity would die screaming. Including me, if I wasn’t his firebrand.

Would those glowing eyes recognize me?

The mers fired beams of light from their spears and tridents, aiming for us. But Sebastian allowed no one and nothing to bypass him, catching and shredding all who tried while his tentacles intercepted and devoured the light. One after the other, sometimes dozens at once. But I knew better than to consider him a true shield. He could turn on me at any moment.

Time to go. Now. My lungs screamed for oxygen until even my dragon felt the lack.

A plan formed. Swim to the surface, killing any mer that tried to stop me along the way. Sebastian would find me when he finished here. Ja, ja. But as I kicked my legs, I remained stuck.

Panic clawed back, sharper now and far more desperate. I looked down, and my stomach dropped. A trident anchored to the sea floor pulsed beneath me, a ribbon of light coiling from it while wrapped around my ankle like a living thing. That ribbon tethered me.

This was no accident. Someone had meant to end me.

I fought for freedom, kicking and slashing at the beam with my claws to no avail. My vision began to dim. Weakness invaded my limbs.

Desperate, my dragon attempted to release my smokewings. The flesh between my shoulder blades blistered but never split. No release, no lift.