Winter's War (Her Guardians series Book 4)(52)

I feel a smirk spreading over my face, my eyes locked on his as I open my mouth and say the words that have been dying to burst through since the moment I smelt him.

“Hello Mate.”

Universal Link to Dark Moon





Escape the Sea





Please keep reading for an excerpt of Escape the Sea (Saved by Pirates book one)..





Seven towns. Seven seas. The seven council. The seven words every person lives by.



The sea is lost, pirates are death.



Cassandra should have been killed at birth, like all the other children who have powers like her.



The changed ones.



The ones who started the war, lost the seas, and killed millions with their gifts.

Lucky for Cassandra, her father is on the council. One of the seven rulers of her large town and has kept her hidden her entire life.

When she is seen for the first time, she has no choice but to run, and the only place she can go is to the sea.



To the pirates and a certain death.



At least, that is what she thinks. When she meets six handsome pirates and they take her on board their ship, she learns about a whole new world.

If only she can protect her heart when they all desire to own it.



This is a reverse harem trilogy.





Prologue





I stand on the edge of the cliff, holding the blood-covered crown. The crown we fought so long to get. The crown that will win the war. I glance around at the men I love, each one of them I would die for. My pirates are fighting around me on the battle field, keeping me alive as I face the King alone. This was always the plan, the only one that would work. The ground shakes as more screams fill the night. I can’t look away from the King to see if anyone I know is dying. If anyone I love is.

Everything we have fought for has led us to this moment, and I won’t let them down.

We don’t say any words to each other, words are not needed. He knew this was coming, and the war around us is proof. The King started this, not me. I was chosen to stop this.

“You will never save the seas,” the King sneers at me after a long silence between us.

“I don’t need to. The sea god will save us all,” I say. My voice loud as the wind howls, and lightning fills the skies.

“What did you promise him in return?” he shouts back at me. I look the King over, remembering every cruel thing he has done to me, the people he has taken from me, and the deaths he has caused.

“Your death,” I say and lift the crown, placing it on my head.





Chapter One





Cassandra





“Name the seven islands of Calais,” Miss Drone asks me, like I haven’t been taught them my whole life. Every week, she asks me these questions. I will never see any other island than the one I am stuck on, so I don’t see the point in knowing all their names.

“Onaya, Twogan, Thron, Foten, Fiaten, Sixa, and Sevten,” I answer. It’s like someone has counted to seven, and named an island after each number.

“Who rules all the islands?” she asks as she reads the paper I wrote for her this week. It’s filled with my opinions on the last book she gave me to read. A book about the seven seas.

“King Dragon and his Queen, Riah,” I answer. I almost want to add that the pirates own the waters, but I know she won’t like me saying that. It’s not worth the argument that would follow. The King ignores the pirates, and the pirates are said to ignore him. The King chose the seven families to rule each island after he took his throne, then he left us alone on the islands. We only see the King once a year when he visits all the islands with his queen. Well, I’ve never seen him, his queen, or his children. Only the seven council members get to see them.

There’s only one law the King regularly reminds everyone to follow: kill the changed ones, or he sends his guards to the island and kills them anyway.

“Tell me the final words you need to know,” she asks in her cold tone.

“Never go near the sea, never leave the walls. The sea is lost, pirates are death,” I repeat back to my teacher. Miss Drone believes telling me the same thing every time I see her will make sure I understand her. She really has no idea. She nods like she thinks she’s done her job today. Those are always the words she says last to me, every week at the same time, the same hour. The same senseless rules.

My whole life is full of rules that mean nothing to me.

“Cassandra, are you listening to me?” Miss Drone says in a sharp tone. I glance up from my seat, looking at her. I don’t know her first name, she never told me, and I never asked anyone to tell me. My father always calls her Miss Drone, and her daughter calls her Mother. Miss Drone has light-blonde hair that’s cut short, and she’s wearing an old dress, covered in holes. She is a widow from the poor side of the island. My father says she’s lucky, lucky not to be dead or on the streets, and that’s why she doesn’t tell anyone about me. That’s why she has taught me my whole life for the tiny amount of food my father gives her. I guess it’s because food is treasured here on Onaya, where we have little. People can’t leave because the seas are full of pirates, and even if you did get to the other islands, they are in no better condition. No one can trade between the islands. The only way we know people are even alive on them is the couple of people who make it to our shore. They come looking for a home and food but are sadly disappointed. We grow very little on our farms; the land is dying, and people don’t know why. It’s said it’s like this on every island, and it gets worse every single year.