Page 37 of Unseen Lord

When we part, she cups my face. "I've missed you. I thought you were dead." Her voice breaks at that.

"I'm a hard man to kill. You of all people should know that," I say with a grin.

She sighs in exaggerated exacerbation. "Seriously. How did I get this blood thirsty reputation? I. Don't. Kill. Trust me, Prince, if I'd wanted you dead, you'd be dead."

I chuckle at that. I've missed our banter. "Oh really?"

She winks. "Really. You're just lucky that goes against my code."

"I love you for your code," I say, the words coming out more serious and emotion-laden than I intended.

Her eyes widen and she kisses me again, a quick kiss that sends a jolt of desire through me. But there's no time for that now. "My sister is attacking this village. I thought to save you, but now I don't know. She's disappeared and her men won't listen to me. We have to protect the people."

Iris nods and pulls away from my arms. "I'm glad you're here to help."

She turns as two familiar people walk up. I raise an eyebrow. "Kayla? Tavian? What are you doing here?"

They look at each other and shrug. "It's a long story, one that will have to wait until after this is dealt with."

The sky rumbles with thunder and a great lightning bolt too big to be natural strikes at the center of the village, setting huts afire even in the rain, and cracking open the earth. "What kind of storm is this?" I ask, having to shout to be heard.

Iris grabs my hand. "I'll explain on the way. Kayla, you and Tavian help the people and get them to safety, if there is such a thing right now. Use Imenath, he can help. Elias and I will got help Arias."

Everyone seems comfortable following her command, which doesn't surprise me at all. This woman has a way of leading that would make a king envious. We jog over to Theo and Duke who are playing in the mud together.

Iris laughs and gives a hug to the great wolf. "Good to see you too, buddy. But we've got to get out of here." She climbs onto Theo's back and I join behind her, wrapping my arms around her waist.

I'm just about to ask what we should do about Duke, when he hops up behind me and takes a position on Theo's neck, in front of Iris. She wraps an arm around him and we take to the sky.

I have to scream in her ear to be heard, but this is too important to wait. "Why are we helping the White Rider? Isn't he the enemy?"

"It's complicated," she says. "You'll see."

We fly back to the ocean as Aya's men are clamoring up the shoreline to pillage the town and wreak havoc on the people there. By the rocks that jut out past the surf, a figure dressed in black armor with a gold helmet faces off against the White Rider, his serpent spiraling around them.

Theo hovers over the crew and begins picking them four at a time, one for each giant claw, disemboweling them and tossing them into the water. It doesn't take him long to eviscerate the entire crew, save the ones left on the ship who are not shy about loosing their cannons on us.

"Bloody hell, good work, Theo!" I scream over the howling winds.

Duke jumps off his friend and picks off any of Theo's victims still left, then howls into the night as Theo carries Iris and I across the waters to the rocks where the worst of the storm seems to be centered.

"There's a fifth Spirit," Iris screams. "The Storm Spirit. That's the Tempest, the one you've been seeking, and he's trying to claim the Storm Spirit for himself, but it's unstable. It will destroy the worlds. We have to stop him. That's what Arias has been trying to do all along. Stop the Tempest and protect the Spirit."

Her explanation, choppy as it is over wind and storm and thunder, slides some pieces together I didn't know I was missing.

It's still hard for me to accept that the White Rider is on our side. But right now, I have to trust her.

And I do. We hop off of Theo and run to join Arias who is locked in battle with the Tempest.

Iris dives into the fight full force and knocks the Tempest off a jutting edge, but the Tempest rises from the sea foam, a cloak of shadow draped around him, defying gravity. He cackles, his vow low and ominous. "You cannot stop me. I will have what I seek. I can feel the power seeking me out even as we speak."

With a thunderous jolt, the rock below us cracks open as lightning tears it apart.

Iris falls from the rocks into the water, and the sea serpent lifts her out as Theo plucks her up and carries her into the sky.

Arias lunges for the Tempest but strikes nothing but shadow as he disappears into nothing, reappearing behind me with a sword to my neck.

"Surrender or he dies."