Was the demon dead? His grip tight on the spear, Gabriel approached the rocks. A bird wheeled overhead, its screechings muted compared to the pounding of Gabriel’s heart, which dampened all sound. The murky water pooled around his waist, the demonic blood mixed in it clinging, as if alive, to his skin.
Gabriel grimaced and tried to slough the blood off with his free hand, but the blood merely clung to his hand instead.
His eyes narrowed. Was he imagining it?
His heartbeat skittered. No, he wasn’t imagining it. Tua’s blood was literally crawling up his skin. Damn it! He had to get it off.
Tua’s monstrous bulk heaved up and twisted around in a single, swift motion. His claws slashed out, ripping deep gashes across Gabriel’s chest, from waist to shoulder.
Gabriel staggered back, shock and pain shoving him into the ocean. Saltwater shot into his nostrils. He floundered to his feet and swung his spear forward.
But Tua’s fist was already descending with all the force of a breaking storm.
Chapter 24
Kerina couldn’t hear her own scream, not above the rapid beat of her heart. Somewhere, far below, waves smashed upon rocks as sharp as a shark’s teeth.
Somewhere, in the madness of the tossing sea was Gabriel.
And Tua.
She hobbled forward on her twisted ankle and leaned out over the cliff, as far as she dared. Her fingers, knuckles white with tension, gripped the rocks as she peered over the edge.
She could just about make out Tua’s monstrous form, sprawled on the rocks. Please let him be dead. Please let him be dead.
Not far from Tua, Gabriel emerged from the water, spear in his hand, and carefully approached Tua.
But Gabriel glanced down at his other hand, suddenly distracted by something she couldn’t make out.
Dread seized her, nestling like ice shards against her heart. No, no. Gabriel. No…
Tua suddenly reared up and slashed out at Gabriel, sending him stumbling back into the surf. The monster roared, the sound reverberating the cliff face. Tremors shook the mountain. Granite trembled beneath Kerina’s hand.
Oh, no… The shard of cold fear became an icicle. Kerina pulled back from the cliff edge, just in time to see a wide crack from far below race upward along the rock wall. Stone shattered, the sound like the earth dying. Dust rained down on her, white and grey, first a sprinkle, then a storm.
Another crack appeared beneath her feet. Her chest heaving, her nerves skittering with panic, she shuffled backward. The ground suddenly dropped out from beneath her. She screamed, but managed to catch on to the shattered ledge. Sharp rock cut into her skin. Crimson leaked out from beneath her fingers to trickle down her arm. She dangled in the air, her toes kicking around for something to stand on.
She didn’t know how much longer she could hold on. Her arm muscles burned, her back straining as she tried to pull herself back onto the ledge. She swung her body from one side to the other. If only she could get enough momentum to get her knee back up on the ledge.
Her fingers, slick with blood, almost slipped on the rock. She glanced at the far right edge. If she ever wanted to reach it, she would have to let go of her left hand for that extra bit of reach.
And hope for the best.
Now or never….
As the swinging momentum pushed her back toward the right, she released her left hand. Her heart skipped a beat, but she managed to throw her knee up over the ledge. Movement jerked to a stop, yanking painfully at her leg muscles, but grunting, she managed to pull her entire body back onto the ledge.
She squeezed her eyes shut, grateful to be back on level ground. That could have gone so wrong...
The mountain shuddered, as if shaken to its very core. No…
Kerina sat up slowly, careful to not jostle anything more than she absolutely had to. She inhaled sharply as cracks blossomed directly beneath her. Thin dark lines, no wider than a hair’s breadth suddenly expanded into thick black lines, slicing jagged streaks through the ground.
The cliff fell out from beneath her.
Rocks tumbled toward the sea, ahead of her falling body. Kerina screamed, the sound whipped away by the wind. She managed to turn in mid-air, but when she saw the rocks directly beneath her, she almost wished she hadn’t.
It might have been better not knowing how she was going to die.
Her gaze flashed to Gabriel, who battled Tua in the shallows, barely managing to block Tua’s blows with his spear. The waters around their waists sloshed crimson. The familiar ache in her chest astonished her.
Joy. Pride.
Gabriel was fighting.
Whatever happened, however it would end, he was still fighting.
If only love could become luck. Kerina pushed out with everything in her, every emotion, every feeling, every cherished memory of Gabriel…
Gabriel swung his spear up with two hands to block Tua’s descending blow, then inexplicably dropped the weapon.
Tua staggered forward, foiled by momentum and his own weight. Gabriel had darted away, racing through the water, toward her. He clambered onto the rocks and leapt high into the air, straight toward her.
It was a tremendous leap. No human could have done it. But a siren warrior, trained to battle in water and in the air, could.
Gabriel and Kerina collided in mid-air. His arms wrapped around her, as his greater weight knocked her off her trajectory that would have plunged her toward the rocks and her appointment with death. Together, they tumbled through the air and crashed into the shallows.
Gabriel took the impact of the landing. Kerina definitely heard something snap, and it wasn’t her bones. She scrambled to her feet, ignoring the shafts of pain that shot through her leg, and tried to pull Gabriel up. His eyes were closed, his body a dead weight as waves washed over his face, immersing him completely beneath the surface
He’s a siren. He breathes underwater.
But logic couldn’t scream louder than panic.
“Gabriel, please,” Kerina pleaded, her breath trembling on the edge of a sob as she tried to wake him. His eyelashes fluttered, and his eyes opened, but his gaze was unfocused, dazed with pain.
“Drop him.”
Kerina glanced up as Tua lumbered up toward her, Gabriel’s spear in his hand. The demon bled from several visible wounds, including one on the left side of his chest, exactly where his heart should have been. Shattered bones protruded from his spine, but he did not seem crippled by his injuries.
The demon stopped, ironically, a safe distance away—as if he were afraid of her, a mere human woman—and snarled again. “Step away from him, or I’ll run him through with his own spear.”
Kerina swallowed painfully through the tightness in her throat then lowered Gabriel gently back into the water. For a moment, she acted as if her focus was entirely on Gabriel as she turned her back on Tua to block his view of what she was doing. She fumbled in her waist pouch, tugged out a little cloth-wrapped package, and concealed it in her fist. Only then did she turn to face Tua, rising to her feet.
Hobbling slowly, she stepped away from Gabriel’s prone body.
Tua snarled, spittle dripping from his deformed mouth. “Give the stone back to me.”
“I don’t have it,” Kerina said, truthfully, because she was, after all, a terrible liar, even if she were a rather talented thief. Her gaze flicked sideways as Gabriel stirred and rose slowly, first to his knees, and then to his feet. The way his breath caught, the way he favored his right shoulder, he had broken a collarbone, and possibly even cracked a rib or two.
His eyes, however, were alert, and his stance wary. He took a step toward Kerina, but Tua waved the spear threateningly, forcing them apart.
Tua growled, the sound causing the waves to tremble. The tip of the spear swung in Gabriel’s direction. “Give me the stone.”
“I don’t have it.” Gabriel’s voice was steady. Steadier and stronger than Kerina could have managed under the circumstances.
Tua’
s eyes narrowed, then he swung the spear toward Kerina instead. Its aim, straight at her heart, did not quaver.
The demon’s sneer turned into a sly smile. “You won’t bargain when it’s your life on the line, but you will when it’s hers. Give the Legacy Stone back to me or she dies.”
“I can’t give it back,” Gabriel said simply. “I don’t have it anymore. And she doesn’t know where it is.”
“Your words mean nothing.” Tua’s upper lip tugged back, displaying fangs, gleaming with saliva and blood. “And you’ve made your choice. There is nothing you can do to save her now, siren.” He drew the spear back over his shoulder, before hurling it forward with all his might.
Kerina held her breath, prepared to die.
Gabriel lunged at her, his weight slamming her into the surf.
Gasping for air, she twisted around in time to see the spear heading straight toward Gabriel’s heart.
Chapter 25
Weaponless, defenseless, with nothing left but his life to give, Gabriel flung himself at Kerina to push her out of the way of Tua’s spear. The gleaming tip plunged, straight and true, toward Gabriel’s heart.
But in that same instant, Kerina’s arm drew back over her head and she flung something out.
Something small, scarcely larger than a grape.
It burst against Tua’s chest, sending up a spray of acrid, eye-watering fumes. Tua convulsed, hacking.
And his aim slipped—for a single precious, priceless second.
The spear pierced Gabriel’s left shoulder, instead of his heart. The blade penetrated skin, flesh, and bone to emerge on the other side. He staggered, reeling to his knees.
The earth jolted, and the ocean exploded into a massive column, surging into the air.
Right where the fallen statue lay beneath the waves, protecting the sacred place.
The sunlight struck the water droplets as they spread through the air. They shimmered as if alive, falling back upon the sea like heaven’s blessing, a benediction of peace. Where the water droplets fell, the sea glowed, aqua and teal over deep blue and green.
The sea reared, the currents and tides carrying out waves of healing in every direction. They washed toward the land, lapping against Gabriel’s chest as he knelt in waist-deep water. The ocean caressed him with the affection of a long-time lover, returning to his side.
Gabriel drew in a sharp breath. Raphael and his siren warriors had succeeded. They had restored the Legacy Stone to the sacred place.
The ocean that once stank of decay and reeked with death was reborn.
“No!” Tua roared. “It can’t be! I won’t let it be!” He floundered through the shallows, his grotesque face turned toward the fountain of healing water. “I’ll rip the Legacy Stone back out! It’s mine!”
Gabriel gripped the spear Tua had embedded in his shoulder, his fist clenching around the shaft.
“You can’t.” Kerina clutched his waist. Her panicked eyes sought out his. “You’ll bleed to death.”
“If I don’t save my people, or you, my life will have been for nothing.” He had succeeded at the former; now he had to save Kerina. A muscle twitched in his cheek. It might have been a farewell smile, but he did not have strength for anything more.
Half-lunging, half-falling, Gabriel threw himself on his knees in front of Tua, but with his back turned to the demon. Teeth grimaced against the pain, Gabriel gripped the spear shaft in his shoulder and pushed it deeper.
The spear tip plunged into the soft flesh of Tua’s stomach. The demon’s scarcely audible gasp of pain was like a roar in Gabriel’s mind. It was the only thing he heard over the rapid, unsteady beat of his heart and the rush of blood through his veins.
Kerina screamed in denial, but it was too late to acknowledge her fear, too late to acknowledge her love.
He had run out of time.
All that remained was to stop Tua as the demon reeled from shock and pain.
Forever.
His muscles straining, Gabriel pushed, because it was the only thing he could still do. He pushed the spear through Tua’s stomach. His breath heaved in short, desperate gasps for air as a layer of white encroached across his field of vision, shrinking it down to nothing.
Nothing except a fading glimpse of Kerina’s face.
It was the last thing he saw when Tua’s dead weight crumpled down on him, slamming both of them into the embrace of the sea.
Chapter 26
Kerina yanked at Tua’s shoulders, trying to pull him off Gabriel, but she could not move him, not even by a whisper of an inch. They were still joined by a single spear—the demon who had tormented her, and the siren who loved her.
And Gabriel, if he were still alive, was bleeding out, the crimson trails of his life’s blood spilling into the sea.
“Please, help me!” She threw the plea out at fate, at destiny, at the gods who had never paid her any attention except to curse her. “Help me save his life, and I’ll never ask for anything ever again!”
Her teeth gritted together as she heaved with all her strength, but her grip slipped and she tumbled back to the surf. Spitting water, soaking wet, she climbed to her feet, and stared in astonishment at the five men striding out of the deep water toward her. No, they were not men.
Sirens.
Four of them held spears, as if they were warriors like Gabriel. The one in the middle did not.
The weaponless siren stared at the spear tip protruding from Tua’s back, as if he recognized it. He looked at Kerina, his brows furrowing. “Gabriel...where is he?”
“Underneath Tua. Underneath the demon…” Kerina babbled. “Please help me. I can’t move the demon off of him.”
The siren gestured, and his four warriors flanked the demon’s heavy bulk, two on each side, and hauled hard. They grunted, their muscles clenching across their shoulders and back, from biceps to calves, but they lifted up Tua.
Water dripped off the demon’s body like rain. Then Gabriel’s body appeared too, together with Tua’s. Gabriel’s left shoulder was still joined by the spear to Tua’s stomach.
The lead siren warrior looked grim, but he grasped the spear and yanked it out sharply, then tossed it aside to catch Gabriel as he crumpled forward. Kerina was immediately beside Gabriel, pressing a smear of herbs into his open wound.
“What’s that?” the warrior demanded, his voice suspicious, even hostile.
“Thuja oil, blended with crushed witch hazel and yarrow. It’ll stop the bleeding, but his bone’s broken. The clavicle, probably the scapula too…” She grimaced at the uncomprehending expression on the siren’s face. “Right here.” Kerina guided the siren’s hand to Gabriel’s shoulder. “He’s probably cracked a few ribs, too.”
The siren stared down at the unconscious Gabriel, then up at Kerina’s face. Awe lit his eyes. “You’re the mage, the one he set out to find.”
“I…” She shook her head. She was done with the lies, with the deceit. It was over, after all. “I’m not a mage. I’m just Kerina.”
“Raphael. I am a warlord in Gabriel’s clan.” He glanced at Tua’s body. “It is done, then? The demon is defeated, and Gabriel returns, triumphant, to his clan.” There was a grudging respect in Raphael’s voice as he looked at Gabriel’s resting body, already beginning to heal from the herbs. All they could do now was wait. “And you? You are not from here.”
“No. I’m from across the ocean.” She waved her hand in the approximate direction of Africa. “Gabriel brought me here, to help me find the Legacy Stone.”
“It has been returned to the sacred place. Our clan will protect it and keep it safe.”
“Good,” she murmured. Because finding it cost me everything.
Raphael gestured again, and his four warriors dropped Tua’s body without any grace or decorum. Two of them then picked up Gabriel, carrying him with all the care and reverence they had not shown Tua.
“We have healers in our clan. They will tend to him,” Raphael promised.
Kerin
a’s heart clenched, but she drew a deep breath and managed, in a not-too-steady voice. “Can I...come?”
“Can you breathe underwater?” Raphael’s retort was more refusal than a question.
Tears clogged her throat. “No, I can’t.”
“Did you come in a boat?”
She nodded, her mind in a fog of grief. “It’s on the other side of the cliff.”
Raphael nodded to the other two siren warriors. “They will escort you safely home. It is the least we can do by way of thanks.”
He turned away, and the two siren warriors carrying Gabriel strode after him.
“Wait! Remember to—”
Raphael turned around. His face was set in stern lines, but there was something oddly compassionate about his eyes. As if he, too, knew what it was like to love. “Remember what?”
Kerina folded back into herself, wrapping her outstretched arms across her chest. “Remember…”
Remember what?
Remember to tell him I’m sorry he got hurt protecting me.
Remember to tell him that I’m sorry it had to end.
Remember to tell him that I always knew we could never be together, but I will never forget what we shared—if only for a while.
She strolled over to Gabriel and allowed herself to stroke his cheek one last time. She lowered her head to breathe a kiss upon his cold lips.
Remember to tell him that I loved him.
She blinked back her tears and drew another deep breath. She knew that her voice cracked and quavered, but she was beyond caring. “Remember not to jostle him. Clean and change his bandages often—”
“Our healers will care for him. He is our clan chief, after all.” Raphael studied Kerina, as if he knew that was not what she had intended to say, but when she said nothing more, he merely inclined his head. “Farewell, Kerina, and thank you for returning him to us.”
He strode into the deep water, followed by his two warriors, carrying Gabriel in between them. The water rose, higher and higher, and Kerina watched, her tears almost blinding her, until they vanished beneath the waves.
Mage’s Legacy: Cursed Seas Page 19
