Chaptet 32: The Breach of Mercy
The silence that gripped the deck was a living thing, a suffocating shroud that smelled of impending slaughter. Lux stood with his chest heaving, his rapier biting into the delicate skin of Elena’s throat. He relished the power, the way the legendary Locke heir felt small and breakable in his grasp.
"Look at him, Queen," Lux whispered into her ear, his breath hot and foul. "Look at your little hero. He’s nothing but a dog on a leash, and I’m the one holding the chain."
Kai’s face was a mask of agonizing restraint. His knuckles were white around the hilt of his cutlass, his eyes burning with a dark, feral intensity. He wasn't looking at Lux; he was looking at the tiny droplet of blood sliding down Elena’s neck. In that moment, the pirate captain was gone, replaced by a monster that lived only for her survival.
"Lux," Kai’s voice was a low, guttural vibration that seemed to come from the bowels of the ship. "I gave you a choice. I told you to take the gold. Now, I’m going to give you a different choice: Die quickly, or die very, very slowly."
Lux laughed, a shrill, arrogant sound. "You’re in no position to—"
He never finished the sentence. Kai moved with a speed that defied human sight. He didn't lung with his sword; he reached into his belt and drew a hidden flintlock, firing blindly into a nearby powder keg Smith had left near the mast.
BOOM.
The explosion rocked the whole ship sending a plume of fire and splinters into the night sky. The shockwave knocked Lux off-balance, the rapier slipping just enough for Elena to find her opening. She didn't scream; she didn't hesitate. She slammed her elbow into Lux’s ribs and dove toward the deck, rolling through the smoke toward her fallen obsidian dagger.
Kai was through the fire before the echoes of the blast had faded. He collided with Lux like a tidal wave, his cutlass clashing against the rapier with a shower of sparks. The two men moved in a blur of silver and shadow, a dance of pure, unadulterated hatred. Kai fought like a man possessed, his strikes heavy and relentless, driven by the terrifying image of Elena in Lux’s clutches.
"You touched her!" Kai roared, his blade shearing through Lux’s expensive coat, drawing a jagged line of red across his shoulder. "You thought you could put a price on her?"