Then Elf turned to him.
Devyl braced himself for her attack, especially when she came running toward him, full speed. But instead of attacking, she threw herself into his arms and held him close, as she’d done when they were young.
“I should have listened to you!” She sobbed in his arms.
Dumbfounded, he held her in an awkward embrace, still not completely convinced this was his sister. It was just the sort of cruel trick Vine specialized in.
Among many others.
Not until Strixa moved closer to them and reached out to touch his arm in a comforting gesture of solidarity did he begin to have some belief that this might not be a massively cruel jape. “Mara stole the harthfret from you. She was working to see if there was some way she could bring your sister back. While I may not think much of you, demonspawn, the Lady Marcelina loves you.”
“This is real then?” His voice trembled.
Strixa nodded. “It would never have worked had Vine not planted Elyzabel here, where Tyr’s blood saturated the fields, and had your sister not died unjustly before her time.”
“Because Tyr’s a god of justice.”
She nodded. “And is part of your family. His blood is her blood. It rejuvenated her. Yet even so, it wouldn’t have been enough had Nibo not come here with his magick.”
Because regenerating the dead was one of his specialties.
And that gave him another thought. “Where’s Mara’s stone?”
Strixa tsked at him and lifted the hand he had on Elf’s shoulder. “She left her heart with you.”
It took him a second to realize that Mara had swapped her stone with Elf’s in his ring. He’d worn the ring for so long, but because it reminded him of his failings, he seldom looked at it.
Until now.
Now he let the warmth of Mara’s life force heat his entire body.
“Elf?” he breathed, kissing the top of her head. “There’s something I must do.”
“Save Mara?”
He scowled at her. “How do you know about Mara?”
“Once you carried my stone with you, I could hear everything you said.”
Heat scalded his cheeks as he realized some of the other things she might have overheard.
In that familiar teasing way, she tugged at his whiskers. “Aye, my brother. Even that.”
He groaned out loud. “I’m so sorry.”
“For what? Not abandoning me? You did nothing wrong, Duey. Now let’s go save your wife.”
*???*???*
Devyl drew up short as he reappeared on the battlefield where he’d left his men. He had to give the Deadmen credit—they didn’t withdraw from conflict.
Ever.
And this was a bloodbath. Gadreyal and her forces weren’t going down easily. Lightning flashed. The sound of battle rang in his ears.
This was what he’d grown up on.
And as he took his sister’s hand, he hesitated for the first time in his life.
“I failed to protect you.”
“Nay,” Elf breathed, reaching up to cup his face in her hand. “My fiancé failed me. At their behest.” She jerked her chin toward Gadreyal. “She was the one who set me up, and you. She wanted you out of the way.”
He felt his fangs elongate at her words as the demonic beast inside came to the forefront.
Elf stepped back and inclined her head, then turned herself into a small sprite. She flew to kiss his cheek and whisper in his ear. “None shall see me, big brother. Do what you do best and worry not this time. I’ll be right here.” She pressed herself against his jugular and became a part of his skin.
Knowing she was safe so long as he didn’t take a blow there, he lowered his visor and headed straight for Gadreyal.
This time when he caught her with his sword, it knocked her reeling. But he gave her no quarter. Not now.
Not ever again.
“Where is Cameron?” he growled. “Her life is all that will spare yours.”
Gadreyal staggered back from his blows. She tried to fly away, but he sliced her hard across the wings, almost completely severing one.
His time for mercy had passed. Her time for living was growing perilously short.
“Release my men and give us back our Miss Jack! I shan’t say it again.”
Gadreyal hissed and twisted, then blasted him. But he didn’t feel it. He was too angry. “Thorn can’t save you!”
“I’m not looking for him to.” Devyl kicked her back.
“Captain!”
He hesitated at Hinder’s and Belle’s shouts. Glancing to them, he saw that his cousin had opened a gate and allowed Thorn and a group of Sarim inside this realm.
The moment Gadreyal saw them, she gathered her warriors and vanished.
“Nay!” Devyl started after her, but Thorn caught him and prevented it.
“We have Cameron and her brother.”
Those words barely registered. “What? How?”
Thorn tightened his grip on Devyl’s arm. “We’ve found them, but we need the blood of a Deruvian or Myrcian to unlock the gate that holds them. It’s why we’re here.” He glanced around the field. “Where’s Mara?”
Devyl choked on the answer, then forced himself to speak past the agony that seized him. “Vine killed her.”
Thorn’s eyes widened. Because he knew what Devyl did. Deruvians didn’t always come back from their graves.
“You gave me your word, Leucious. Can I hold you to it?”
Thorn nodded glumly. “What of Cameron?”
Devyl handed him the sword. “Her medallion’s inside. I will take her place and let them out, but you have to finish this.”
Before Thorn could take him up on it, Kalder came forward. “Nay, let me go, Captain. My life for Miss Jack and her brother.”
“Kal—”
“No argument, Bane.” Kalder glanced around at the Deadmen. “I’m the most expendable here. But you and the Lady Ship … the crew needs you both.”
“We’re pirates,” Sancha said as she wiped at the blood on her cheek. “We vote.”
William grimaced. “I vote we lose no one.”
Thorn scoffed at his suggestion. “It doesn’t work that way. One of you has to go. There’s no other way for it.”
Kalder nodded. “Matter’s settled, then. We need our ship and our captain. We don’t need a mermaid.”
It still sat ill with Devyl. And for once, he was coming around to the way the Vanir saw things. He didn’t like the thought of sacrificing the one to save the many. “I’ll find a way to get you back.”
“God, I hope so, Bane.” Kalder winked at him. “’Cause one way or another, I plan to return for Miss Jack. Please tell her I said that.”
Devyl held his tongue as he watched Michael and Gabriel take Kalder. He didn’t have the heart to warn the merman of the truth.
Either way, he was dead.
Most likely, they both were.
His heart heavy, he locked gazes with Thorn. “Well?”
Thorn grimaced at the question. “Well, what?”
“We have to get Mara back.”
“I can’t do anything. You know that. She’s beyond my reach.”