Page 59 of Tik-Tok

Dax yanked her down beneath the handrail so they were protected by the ship’s barrier. He set her axes in her lap. “Yes. Tik-Tok turned Salt into stone during a parlay so the crew is probably pissed.”

“What?” North’s brows rose up her forehead. Did this all happen when she’d been unconscious? “Tik-Tok didn’t think to mention these details to me before he left?”

“No one thought Salt’s crew would follow us through the portal.”

Another hard blow struck the ship as if a giant godly hand whacked it. The impact lurched North forward, rattling her entire body.

Dax stood, facing Salt’s ship with his hands held in front of him, ready to use his elemental power.

North pushed up from the floor, her lips parting when she focused on Salt’s ship. It was practically beside Tik-Tok’s now and it would only take a quick row for Salt’s crew to boardThe Temptress.

A light breeze drifted off Dax’s palms, ruffling his hair. His wind took no time to pick up, quickening its speed. North gripped the handrail, her locks whipping around her face,The Temptress’sblack sails flapping harder. With a single shove, Dax thrust his power across the water toward Salt’s ship. Two of the masts cracked in half. They fell to the deck, splintering wood and breaking the pristine railing with a deafening smack.

Two males sprinted to the front of the ship, their faces contorted in rage. They stopped near the broken handrail and settled their gazes on Dax, Echo, and North. One, a male with stark white hair and a patchy beard covering the lower half of his face, wore bronze cuffs on each arm. The other fae was a tall, slender elf with golden hair and black tattoos covering all of his exposed flesh.

“Where’s your fucking captain?” the white-haired male seethed from his ship.

“You shouldn’t be here, Salt,” Echo shouted, her hand slapping against the rail. “If you proceed any farther, you will all die.”

Salt bared his teeth. “It’s you and your crew who will die, whore.”

North’s blood boiled in her veins, her eyes narrowing at the male. Tik-Tok may have betrayed Salt, but what had Echo ever done to him? Nothing. No one else on this crew had either—they weren’t the original crew who’d betrayed him. She had to dosomething.

Focus. Focus. Focus on Salt. Your target.

Lifting her old axe, North kept her gaze locked on the male’s face. She pulled her arm back, then hurled her weapon forward. It flew through the air, swishing and slicing, and planted itself with a hard strike in the face of the golden-haired elf. Right in between the eyes. Blood spilled down the elf’s face as the force sent him careening backward, his body flopping to the deck, undoubtedly dead.

“Gods.” North blew out a hard breath. She’d missed her intended target, but regardless, it was the first time she’d killed. She felt … sick. Even if it had been Salt that she’d hit, she would have felt the same.

“You took down their strongest fae.” Dax slapped her on the back. “That bastard was always an asshole.”

“You bitch!” Salt roared, his piercing gaze targeting North. “You’ll be the first to die.”

“She’s trying to board the ship!” Cyrx pounded across the deck and rushed near the end of the ship. A female maenad leapt from Salt’s side onto Tik-Tok’s deck, landing perfectly on both hooves. Her antlers bobbed as she ripped her sword free of its sheath, but Cyrx was fast as he ducked from the blade and tore her head off her body. Blood oozed from the wounds and North watched, wide-eyed, as Cyrx threw the head and body overboard. The water splashed below.

“You’re going to pay for that!” Salt bellowed.

“With the elf dead, I could blow the ship back through the portal to Oz, but they would be able to cross again.” Dax shook his head and glanced at Echo. “Echo. I think you need to end this. None of them know what you are, what you can do.”

A deep line settled between the siren’s brows as if she were warring with herself. Perhaps even thinking about her past, when she’d brought males to their knees and killed them. Then she nodded. “Let’s get this over with.” Echo tilted her head to the side and popped her neck. “Salt first.”

North held up her axe, the one with the star engraved from Tik-Tok. She wanted to have it ready in case she needed to protect her friend.

“I suppose you wish I were your whore, don’t you?” Echo shouted to Salt, grinning.

“How about this?” Salt called back, his gaze locking onto Echo’s. “You suck my cock as soon as I’m finished sinking your ship.”

Echo opened her mouth, not to speak, but to let a song pour forth from her lips. The entire world seemed to freeze. Everyone. Even North. A light melody, full of magic and tales, darkness and light, alluring and deadly, like nothing North had ever heard before. A true siren princess of the sea. North was captivated, wanted to dance and spin in it. She wanted to live in the song.

Salt’s eyes appeared glazed, his expression neutral, his movements stiff as he drew his sword from the sheath at his hip. His arm didn’t shake when his own blade pressed against his throat, nor did he blink when it glided across his flesh. Bright scarlet poured down his neck, and he didn’t release so much as a gasp or parting of lips before his body folded and collapsed to the deck with a thud.

Three of Salt’s goblins ran toward their captain’s body, taking in his still form. Their heads jerked toward where Echo was standing, and they withdrew their swords.

“I’m going to them before they have a chance to come here,” Echo said.

Before North could free herself of the siren’s spell and stop her, Echo leapt from the ship and landed in front of Salt’s crew.

North leaned on the handrail as Echo’s song came again, holding her in place. The low aria unfurled from Echo, growing higher and higher in pitch. North watched as she moved toward the three males, singing, persuading, taunting. The three goblins lifted their blades to their throats as Salt had done. Three bloody red smiles appeared on their flesh.

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