The ship rocks, water crashing against the side.
“Why didn’t you tell us sooner?”
Aurora hesitates, chimes filtering through the air, but she gives nothing away with her glowing face.
I slam my hand against the wall, my emotions exploding within. “I gave you access to all of my memories with the promise you would help when needed. So how did you not know they’d already sent a ship to Z-Island?”
Her eyes narrow. “You must be so lonely on that pedestal.”
Bewildered, I ask, “Come again?”
She closes the gap between us. “You’re all the same, every creature or person who decides they’ll change the world according to their agenda, good or evil. You put yourself so much higher than everyone else, and anyone not falling into step with your ideals is the enemy.” She pauses, watching me. “So why do you believe I’m your enemy, Zeke?”
Zeke, get out here. I found Daemon.
It takes everything I have not to punch the wall. Every time I’m about to learn something, I’m interrupted.
The sounds of scuffling and rushing water finds its way into the room.
“Aurora,” I grind, throwing her name over my shoulder. “I’ll be back to finish this conversation.”
I dash up the steps, splashing through water as it cuts through the hall, slicing through to the next area. There’s another arc and a frustrated groan. It’s like he’s trying to destroy the ship, which I don’t blame him. It’s a good strategy.
“Come on, Twinkletoes. There’s nothing you can do—” I hear up the way Mikey gargling salt water and spitting it out. “Ouch.”
I Rage as I plunge up the stairs, puddles splashing underfoot. As I leave the room, I glimpse the red ring around our prisoner’s irises disappearing, like Maverick’s thrall is wearing off. Was Daemon lying in wait for that to happen, or could it be possible he was resting, waiting for his strength to recharge?
“Just surrender, Bleeder Queen. We could use someone like you.”
I take the opportunity and give a swipe of my currently forming claws, tattering his wings.
He cries out and spins around, water flinging me into the wall. He sends another surge across the deck. The ship rocks, and several people cry out, a few nearly careening off the edge. A few of the old crewmembers fight back, out of the thrall, and I wish we would have locked them all up. But Maverick assured us we’d be fine.
“What happened to the zombies on the island?” I demand as Mikey lurches forward and grabs the fairy by the arm. She yanks him to the right, a popping noise echoing over the sounds of him shouting.
He gives a bloody smile. “How dare you assault a god.”
“Puny god,” Mikey spits, punching him in the temple. His head whips to the side.
He clenches his fist, and water digs into our muscles, severing the tendons in our ankles. Mikey and I drop, crying out as Daemon chants something to himself. He places his palm against his chest as light blue sparkles sink into his bloodstream, igniting his veins.
Our feet regenerate and we’re up as a wave sends us veering sideways. A handful of creatures are thrown into the ocean, and I hope it’s none of our side. There’s a loud crack that isn’t thunder, and I realize Daemon’s damaged the hull. I can’t tell if we’re exactly sinking yet, but I pray to God we aren’t.
A glow rushes up behind me. Tendrils of light weave through the wood and water, lighting the air and blinding me. I get another grip on Daemon and slam him onto the deck. It cracks, threatening to drop us into the ship’s bowels. Water severs the arm I’d lifted to punch him, leaving behind a nub. It hits the deck with a thunk as a sweep of water knocks me off Daemon. I roll to my feet, muscles regrowing and reaching for the bone that’s extending from my shoulder. It’s then I notice Aurora glowering from the archway to the lower decks, her azure irises blindingly bright.
Ari pushes past, locking onto the fairy. She nearly flattens him, blood spurting as she swipes his chest, tossing him into the wall next to the door to Maverick’s quarters. She keeps running, her eyes black with hunger.
She’s on a rampage.
The world brightens as Aurora encloses us in a luminous dome, a piercing headache ripping through my skull. Our enhanced vision is suddenly a terrible thing, the brightness making it feel like my eye sockets are on fire.
Daemon races for the water, but I catch him, hitting him one more time in the nose, and he crumples to the ground.
“We need to bite Ari,” I tell Mikey, who’s sprinting straight for her. Now that Daemon is out of commission, all we have left is whoever’s alive in Ari’s wake, and I don’t think she’ll stop with the Mount Rook crew. She only bypassed us because of Mikey—I believe that whole-heartedly.
I watch as Ari rips into a vampire, luckily not one of ours. Another jumps on top of her, but she easily takes it down, ripping his head from his shoulders. Blood saturates the ground before we know it—and then she goes to grab Xiara.
“Frick,” I grunt as she picks the small nymph up. I slip on the blood, slamming into a pole as Mikey darts nimbly past me, colliding with Ari as white light covers the entire ship.
Ari twists and slams Mikey down, even as she commands the old Bleeder to stop. But she’s too lost in the frenzy.
Mikey’s tossed through the air as water encapsulates Ari, but tendrils of light protect her. Vampires scream in pain as Aurora brightens, flash-banging everyone in the ship. When my vision finally returns, vampires have crumbled to ash and people are jumping overboard to escape Ari’s rampage.
Darts are spit in her direction, digging into her neck, her thigh, and her chest.
Maverick’s voice lifts over the chaos as he exits his quarters and assesses the situation. “Ari!”
I grab his shirt and jerk him back before he can take off at that insane vampiric speed. “Aurora’s protecting her.”
“Of course she is!” He spits like it’s a curse. With a glance over his shoulder, he scowls, his body vibrating as it shifts. “Speak of the devil.”
Aurora lifts into the air, hovering above the deck. Tendrils come from every square inch of her body, her ice blue irises the secondary color as white rises above us like a wave, trapping the rest of Daemon’s crew. Thin layers slam between us and Ari, like they’re protecting us from her.
Mount Rook’s group claws at the glowing walls. Ari grins and races straight for them right as we’re pulled from Aurora’s tunnel. The tendrils rise to create a sphere, screams piercing the air as a loud boom follows.
Then, silence.
The dome falls and the light returns to Aurora, whose feet now touch the ground. Ari hunches over a brain—human, I assume, digging in like she’s never had a meal before. There’s nothing left of any creature that had been trapped, aside from the blood that drains away from Aurora like a flood. It saturates the entire deck as we stare in horror.
Aurora’s energy slices the air like a torrential hurricane, her voice echoing as the rain finally relents. “How’s that for loyalty?”