Page 139 of Fallen Stars
Adrian looked over to his own ship, seeing a few members of the Svetan crew there still fighting. Leo was dancing between bodies as he dispatched one after the other.
Adrian looked starboard, where Merissa and Elara were standing, still in their own gruesome circle, untouchable.
He went to reply to Enzo, a disbelieving laugh leaving his lips at how easy it had been.
Until a roar split the air in half.
“What was that?” Enzo growled, moving in front of Isra.
Adrian’s stomach bottomed out as memories of tentacles and drowning bombarded him. Isra was peering at him with worry.
“No,” he whispered, more to himself than anyone else. “He’s found me.”
“Who?!” Isra asked.
Another roar sounded, and Adrian staggered back as he saw a mass shift below the water, the shadow wider than five ships and insurmountably longer.
“Adrian,” Enzo said, voice low, sword raised. “What the fuck is that?”
Adrian’s lip quivered. “That’s Scorpius’s pet.”
Chapter Fifty
Elara turned slowly at thesound of the roar, every hair standing up on the back of her neck.
Merissa’s charm stuttered then stopped, a thin sheen of sweat on her face from the exertion. “What was that?” she whispered.
Elara heard screams, the sound of splashing as bodies were thrown overboard. Her eyes widened as she made her way to the edge of the ship, squinting in the darkness. She could make out the enemy ship in flames, her beautiful Sun setting it ablaze.
She peered down to the inky black waters, writhing and chopping against the ship.
“I don’t—”
Something slammed into her, knocking her to the ground as she screamed. Merissa ducked, crawling towards her.
“What was—”
Another slam, this time the sound of wood splintering beneath it.
The world spun, Elara’s ears ringing and a trickle of blood making its way down her cheek. She looked around, trying to get her bearings in the darkness. She squinted up to the sound of the splintering wood.
“Merissa,” she cried hoarsely, clutching her as a writhing black tentacle, thicker than the mast of the ship, wrapped around the mast and wrenchedit off.
Her moonlight was livid within her, wanting to kill and annihilate the threat, but the human part of her—Elara—whimpered to see the slick, writhing limb as it flew back through the air.
The sound of footsteps slamming across the deck awoke her from her stupor, and she turned slowly to the source of the wet, slapping sounds.
The man towered over her, seaweed wrapped around his throat like a necklace, his rippling chest bare save for shellfish and other manner of sea creatures that clung to him.
His long brown hair was tangled with salt, starfish strewn throughout, and his eyes were the most vivid of greens—like pure poison laced within.
“Oh, little Moon,” Scorpius snarled, raising his trident, “I have waited eons to kill you and your Sun.”
“Did you really think you’d outrun us?” the Star continued as Elara tried to heave herself up. “That you’d pass through my domain unharmed?”
“It’s a domain youstole,” Elara spat, swaying as she stood, the gash to her head still seeping. “From one of us.”
Scorpius’s laugh was quiet as he continued to approach, crabs skittering off him in his wake. He would have been handsome if such a bitter energy didn’t radiate off him, his mouth formed in a permanent sneer.