Page 103 of A Promise so Bold and Broken

“You about to disarm me?” she joked weakly when he leaned in farther, and it wasn’t the chill air around them that caused more goose bumps to rise across her skin.

Merrick didn’t respond.

Instead, he lifted his other hand and cupped her cheek with it.

“Youare brave and clever and wildly loyal. You have such fight in you—even after everything. And you love so fiercely… so boundlessly. Don’t let your past convince you that you aren’t worthy of it in return.”

Lessia frowned at him before she realized.

“Raine told you, didn’t he?”

The slight twitch of the muscle in his jaw told her she was right.

Today Raine had managed to isolate every moment of her life when she felt unworthy, using it to unsettle her while they fought.

And the final night with Loche wrapped up the journey like a beautiful bow.

“He is an idiot,” Merrick said as his fingers whispered over her cheek, moving slowly down until his thumb brushed her bottom lip. “A fucking idiot to let you go.”

Lessia’s eyes fell to her crossed legs as she whispered, “Who knew the Death Whisperer had a soft side?”

Merrick’s fingers wrapped around her chin, tipping her head up and leveling her eyes with his. “You know. That’s enough.”

She was about to respond, but the words caught in her throat when Merrick’s eyes shifted to the side and widened before he flew to his feet.

“Ship!” he called. “Incoming ship!”

Lessia stumbled into his chest when he forcefully pulled her up beside him, her blood pumping harder when he dragged her out to the port, and she noticed what Merrick had already warned the rest of.

A ship—one that once had belonged to Stellia, Lessia realized with a sinking stomach—was headed their way, its hull pointing right at their own.

The air around her filled with heavy breathing as Ardow and Venko sprinted to her side from where they’d been resting in the cabin, and Lessia pulled Frelina close when she also ascended the rickety stairs, her eyes slightly puffy from just having woken up from the nap she must have taken after her turn training with the Fae warriors.

“Who are they?” Frelina breathed as she wrapped an arm around Lessia’s waist.

“Rebels,” Lessia mumbled. “And given what they did to get that ship, I don’t expect them to treat us kindly.”

“What do you want us to do?” Raine asked from behind them.

Lessia turned around, her stomach churning as all three Fae males looked at her.

They… they wanted her to decide?

“There are about thirty of them on that ship,” Raine continued. “Twelve on deck, and the rest gathering weapons. A few humans, but most are shifters. A couple of half-Fae are with them as well, but two of them could be prisoners… I am not sure of their allegiance.”

Lessia’s eyes flitted between the group and the approaching ship.

The rebels had become bolder if they openly sailed this close to Ellow.

But if there was a chance to speak to them… to convince them of the dangers heading toward Havlands.

Shouldn’t they take it?

Merrick flexed his hands as he walked up to her, not especially gently shoving Ardow to the side. “Do you want me to kill them?”

Lessia pursed her lips when Merrick’s earnest gaze met hers, and she didn’t miss Frelina’s pretend cough, the sharp elbow digging into her side.

“I…”

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