Page 19 of A Promise so Bold and Broken

“Your magic what?” Ardow screamed.

“It has limits,” Merrick hissed as the boat slanted to the other side. “Magic only works on humans, shifters, and Fae.”

Merrick reached out for Lessia, but the boat turned so quickly that she slid backward, away from where he held on to the stern.

His dark eyes flashed when she scrambled to grip the wooden ridge best she could with daggers in hand, and she didn’t like the look on his face.

Not one bit.

Swearing to herself, Lessia squatted down when another hit nearly tripped her, and when she peeked over the side, her blood chilled.

A tail, twice the length of the boat and lined with purple scales and several thick spikes, rose from the water, whipping the mist viciously as it towered over the boat.

“Jump!” Merrick bellowed. “Now!”

When the tail slammed down, Lessia didn’t think.

Clasping her daggers, she threw herself off the side of the boat.

The chill water immediately bit into her skin, and she kicked her feet to dive when wild waves crashed around her.

Something nudged her, and she snapped her eyes open to find shards of wood joining her descent.

With the daggers in her hands, she forced herself to swim faster, even as her lungs protested at the exertion and lack of air.

When the water cooled further, Lessia threw her gaze around, but she couldn’t make out anything in the dark, murky sea.

Thrashing in place, she peeked upward—or at least where she believed the surface loomed—but no light broke through anywhere around her.

Lessia waited for a few moments, her eyes flying across the wet darkness.

When the waters remained calm, she decided to risk it.

It was either head to the surface or drown.

And hopefully she wouldn’t get eaten on the way.

Her pulse roared in her ears as she started swimming to where she hoped was the surface, and her lungs screamed for the air she hadn’t had time to draw before she dove—when something flickered in the corner of her eye.

Lessia whipped her head to the side, and when two huge violet eyes met hers, she let out a scream that was immediately swallowed by the water.

Only bubbles burst out of her mouth, shielding the wyvern from her vision for a moment.

Floundering backward, she kept her eyes open, her heart slamming so hard against her chest that each beat echoed in her ears.

When the bubbles floated upward, the violet eyes were no longer before her, but as she spun in the water, Lessia found them again, closer now and still fixed on her.

The wyvern began circling her, so tightly that its tail almost touched its mouth, and Lessia shuddered every time the violet eyes locked with hers.

She tried to remain as still as possible, moving her feet only when the lashing tail nearly nudged her.

Dread knotted itself in her stomach when the wyvern opened its maw, almost as if in a smile, displaying a row of sharp teeth the length of one of her arms.

Black spots flickered before her eyes as the little air she’d had left with a scream, and she realized this was it.

Either she’d die from lack of air… or this beast would eat her alive.

A whimper worked its way up her throat when the wyvern moved even closer, those cold eyes flashing with amusement when her face scrunched.

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