Witch Fall(113)

One of the Harshens stared at her in horror. “Empress!” His face contorted with fear. “Jump!” he cried, waving his arms.

Lilette gaped at him in confusion. Then the hatch opened and Pescal stepped into view. He took one look at her and shouted, “It’s Lilette!”

More guardians rushed from below, one of them killing the sailor who’d warned her. She pushed herself up to jump overboard, but Pescal grabbed the ankle of her broken leg. She screamed and went down.

Han brandished his knives and lunged at Pescal, but he was swarmed by at least five guardians and knocked down. While another guardian bound Lilette’s mouth, Pescal pinned her arms behind her. She cried out, sure he was tearing her arms from their sockets.

Pescal was breathing hard—she could feel his chest rising behind her. “I’ve got her.”

She cocked her foot to kick him, but he wrenched her arms up higher and an involuntary cry slipped from her throat. Han gave a shout of outrage, but the guardians had him pinned to the deck. Lilette struggled against Pescal, tears of pain and fear coursing down her face.

Merlay came from below decks and surveyed her in disbelief. “You just won’t die, will you?”





Chapter 38



Learning that Lilette was alive and about to be executed burned all the fear out of me. ~Jolin



Merlay drew back her hand and slapped Lilette. “You think you saved any of them? You’re just forcing me to kill them, one at a time. Soon as we’re clear, I’ll have to send a storm that will sink every ship for a hundred miles, and even more will die!”

Lilette could taste blood from where her teeth had cut her cheek. “I’m not the one soaked in blood.” Her words came out muffled around her gag.

Shaking, Merlay wiped her face. “I risked so much to spare your life for your sister. I sent you to Harshen—made you an empress. All you had to do was stay out of my way.”

Rage boiled inside Lilette. “You murdered my entire family! Sent Pescal to drug me, and who knows what else.”

When Merlay looked away, Lilette realized it wasn’t just Pescal. “You sent Laosh after me too?” She shook her head in disbelief. “Sash trusted you! I trusted you!”

Merlay took a step back, and her eyes clouded over for the smallest moment. And then her face hardened. “I did what I had to do. What I’ve always had to do.”

Lilette ground her teeth around the gag. “You’ve been playing God.”

Merlay made a slicing gesture. “We are Gods! The Creators endowed us with the power—us and no other! Nations can either obey us or they can feel our wrath!”

The guardians hauled Han to his feet. “Like Harshen felt your wrath,” he growled.

Merlay’s glittering eyes met his. “Yes. Like Harshen.”

“Having power doesn’t make us better,” Lilette said through her gag.

Merlay raised a brow. “Of course it does!”

Lilette’s gaze shifted to Brine as she came up from below decks. “What’s all the commo—” Her gaze lighted on Lilette. “Oh.”

Lilette tossed back her head. “And you? You knew what was going on, didn’t you?”

Brine only grimaced. Beside her, Nassa growled through her gag, “Brine, if you’re going to murder me, I deserve to know why.”

The stolen zhou turned, probably toward the next batch of survivors. Brine took a shaky breath. “This isn’t about Merlay or your family. This is about the fact that Sash and the others were singing a counter-curse that rendered us completely powerless.”

Brine pressed the heel of her hand into her forehead. “What do you think will happen if the world realizes how vulnerable the witches are? We risk becoming slaves to the very people we rule.”

Nassa shook her head desperately. “I won’t tell anyone. I swear I won’t! Take me with the rest of you.”

Brine looked toward the back of the ship, and Lilette realized the stern deck was coated with blood. “I’m sorry, Nassa. But the others have proven their loyalty. You haven’t.”

Brine tipped her head toward the stern. “Cut their throats and throw them overboard like the others. We have more of them to dispatch.”

Pescal dragged Lilette to the back of the ship. “Merlay sent you to drug me into oblivion,” Lilette muffled around her gag, “so I wouldn’t realize what she was doing.”

Pescal leaned in, his breath whispering against her neck. “You would have enjoyed it immensely, I promise you.”

She threw her head back, but he dodged her. “Easy now, there’s no point in adding any more pain. You look like you’ve suffered enough.”