Fire (Pirate Cove Academy #3) - Rae Foxx Page 0,36

point I would bet my brother wished he’d paid more attention.

The fireball hit its target, but I noticed that pulse after pulse of my fire seemed to dissipate faster, flicker out, before doing the maximum amount of damage.

My powers were fucking waning and I couldn’t figure out why. I’d just fed recently. Twice. I should be at least taking as many names as Raven. My mind floundered for explanations while I did the best to carry on with my attack. I’d fought down here against Aliz before and my power had never failed or even weakened. In the distance, Raven’s Trident, ‘cause that’s what it was, glinted in the air as she speared yet another Mer without a moment of hesitation.

That’s when it all came together. My power was from the Trident—of the Trident. Shit, I didn’t know how it worked, but it all had to be connected.

Maybe I was as daft as Caspian said I was.

As though she’d heard my inner thoughts, Raven swirled in the water until her gaze found me. She took out another two Mer before roaring like an angry angelfish, all glittery and beautiful under the sea’s surface.

Damn it. I should’ve tried to take her on land. I probably would have fared better. Or at least out powers would have been evened out.

“See how well your plan worked?” She scoffed. She started to close the distance between us, but retreated as I worked up a good-sized ball of fire. To my dismay, it fazed away almost as quickly as it came.

“I see that I got you down here and Aliz is dead. So, mostly, it worked.”

Had to save face in front of this bitch.

“Yeah, but now your little fireballs are wearing out. Sucks doesn’t it? It’s this fucking thing.” She jutted out the Trident like it meant nothing. Which was funny because she knew good and well that everyone in the Under and the Above were vying for it in some form—especially Aliz and my brother.

That left just my brother since Aliz was now shark chum.

“What do you mean?”

She cocked her head and laughed at me again. “I forget how absolutely dumb you are. It’s like a new teaching opportunity for me every time we meet. Good thing those encounters are coming to an end, Princess.”

“Is that so? I was just thinking the same thing about you,” I answered and gathered every bit of anger I could, trying to build up some kind of fire to take this bitch down. Again, only flickers emerged from my palms, my fire letting me down in the moment I needed it the most.

Fuck, was that why she brought that thing down here? To make me weaker?

“I can’t believe I’ve wasted so much time on you. Now, Princess, our lessons are over, it’s time for you to die.” She grasped the Trident with both hands and moved the three points so that they faced my throat. I flailed and tried to conjure something to defend myself, but even as I called it out loud, the fires refused to come.

I was all burned out.

With a smile on her face, she lurched forward toward my retreat. I knew that the last things I would see were the prongs of the Trident that my father once held.

“No!” I heard a familiar voice yell as I closed my eyes before my death. When I opened them, I screamed at the sight before me. Llyr had moved in between me and Raven at what was probably the last second. The Trident’s points had pierced him in the chest and he flailed and convulsed in the water, still attached to the thing like a harpooned whale as the life drained from him. His eyes stared ahead, as his life force drained from him. My heart felt like it was being shredded. I watched in horror as his tail no longer swished back and forth, trying to keep him afloat, and his arms splayed in the water as though there were no muscles to keep him moving. Clouds of blood like watered down wine came from his nostrils and mouth, even his eyes, as death reached out to claim him. Raven cackled on, even going so far as to shake his body while it was still forked with that thing. That Trident.

“Llyr!” I screamed again and lunged for the bitch that had taken my brother from me. No matter how much he got under my skin, and no matter how useless he was, he was still