Mermaid Tear (The Fated #2)

53 | A Goddess' Favor

As the time stuttered back into motion--the knights' minds seeming to struggle with comprehending what had happened--chaos ruled. Beyond Kain's sight, he could hear them stumble to a stand still. Voices overlapped as panic and awe spread like wildfire.

"It's the goddess! Do you think--"

"--fates alive, I don't bel--"

"Lady Tai--"

"Silence. I don't want to hear a word until I ask. And I won't ask until I know the champion will live."

The champion?

And just like that, a tense quiet took the field.

The goddess turned to face them as Isidor placed his hands on Kain's shoulders. When the witch had arrived, Kain had no idea. He only knew that the second Isidor pressed down, Kain's numb legs gave out.

The seconds jumbled together. In one moment, it was just the two of them and in the next his allies pressed in on him from all sides. And, beyond them, Taisol stood, watching the drama unfold with her eerie, light yellow eyes. They were all Kain's hazy mind could focus on.

The split pupil reminded him of a hawk.

"Is he--" Melitta demanded.

"He's fine," Isidor cut in, gritting his teeth. "Or, will be. Help me pull off his armor. I need to look for an exit wound."

The words startled him to attention. An exit wound?

Right. He'd been shot.

"I can do it myself," Kain protested.

He batted away helpful hands, before fumbling with the clasps. As he worked, his gaze never wavered from Taisol. Thoughts tumbled over each other in his head, struggling to click together past the haze rapidly taking his thoughts. Why was she there? To help?

To condemn them herself?

Mara had killed one of her favored. It wouldn't be unbelievable for the goddess of justice to step in and deal with king-killers herself. Black spots threatened his vision and it wasn't until Callias pushed his fingers away that Kain realized he'd quit moving. His eyes found Melitta. Her expression twisted his stomach into knots.

Why was it that every time he looked at her after the ball she always seemed on the edge of tears?

"Melitta..."

"Do as you must, Isidor," Taisol said. "No one will take a step past my barrier."

Anything Kain might have said disappeared from his mind. The goddess knew Isidor? That made four gods that the kid had met.

Isidor swore, but--for once--said nothing else. His palms pressed to Kain's back and suddenly he could think of nothing else. After the initial impact, the feeling had nearly disappeared from his mind. That momentary respite ended as Isidor's fingers dug into the wound sending streaks of pain through his back. Kain doubled over and someone else' hands caught his shoulders.

"Stay still," Callias urged him.

"Easier said than done," Kain gasped.

"I don't need to search," Isidor muttered. "It's here, didn't make it very far past the armor, thank the gods. Steady him."

Time shuttered again in the moment that followed. A sudden, sharp tightness pierced the small of his back. He may have shouted--he wasn't certain--before a haze covered everything. Hours fit into seconds.

Then, reality shifted as Melitta patted his cheek and Kain realized he was no longer supporting himself. Without awareness of the shift, he'd somehow ended up half draped against Callias' shoulder. The merman's hands gripped Kain's arms like braces as someone--Isidor?--continued to dig their fingers into his burning back. Melitta tapped his cheek again, forcing his eyes to her. She offered a small, empty smile.