The airship roared closer, engines whining like a beast in full sprint. Another barrage of gunfire cut across the sky, tearing through the air around the floating house. Wooden splinters burst from the balcony railing as Juliette shrieked and ducked.
"Stay down!" Leo hissed, pulling her close as he shielded her with his body.
Ash didn't flinch. He stepped forward into the open, shadows rising like a cloak around him, coiling along his arms and shoulders. The first volley that neared him dissolved in midair, bullets swallowed by a writhing shroud of black mist.
On the airship, Cain cursed and snapped the bolt back on his rifle. "It's eating the rounds!"
"Good," Axel snarled, yanking the shotgun mechanism on his arm into place. His grin widened. "I'll blow a hole through him anyway."
The next shot thundered. The round screamed across the gap, aimed dead at Ash's chest.
Ash moved. His sword shimmered into existence, a jagged streak of black steel, and with a single swing he cleaved the bullet in half. The halves spun harmlessly away, sizzling as they dissolved into mist. His black eyes glowed faintly as he tilted his head at the ship.
"Your toy bleeds smoke," he murmured. "Let's see how well it flies without a heart."
He leapt.
The shadows carried him, streaking upward like wings of darkness. One heartbeat he stood on the balcony; the next he was a blur darting through the open air, cutting the sky itself.
"Cain, engine!" Axel barked, already firing again.
Too late. Ash landed on the side of the airship, blade biting deep into the outer plating. Sparks burst as metal screamed, his sword dragging a black arc across the hull until it cleaved into the rear engine. With a deafening roar, the mechanism exploded into fire and smoke.
The ship bucked violently, tilting hard as alarms shrieked across its deck. Cain staggered, grabbing the rail. "Axel, engine's gone!"
Ash didn't stay. He tore his blade free, shadows scattering into the wind as he kicked away from the wreck. The momentum carried him back through the air until he landed on the balcony of his floating house, sword vanishing in his hand like smoke into smoke.
The airship veered dangerously, coughing black plumes. Axel cursed, slamming his fist against the rail. "Damn you! This isn't over, witch-boy!"
Cain wrestled with the controls, barely steering the wounded vessel southward. The craft limped into the distance, smoke trailing like a dying comet until it vanished from sight.
Juliette stood frozen, wide-eyed, clutching the ribbon at her hair as though it might ground her.
Ash exhaled slowly, shadows curling back into nothing. He didn't look at her or Leo, just at the fading trail of smoke. His voice was calm, almost casual.
"They'll be back."
Juliette's heart thundered in her chest. She'd pressed herself against the balcony wall during the chaos, every muscle locked, ribbon clutched so tight it hurt. She knew what this meant. They weren't just random attackers. They were here for her.
Her rescuers.
And yet…
Her eyes flicked to Ash, standing at the railing with smoke still curling behind him. He hadn't looked back once to see if she was safe, but the evidence was plain: if not for him, that airship would have torn their home from the sky.
Leo was the first to break the silence. "That was… close." His tail swished nervously, but he still looked at Ash with awe.
Juliette swallowed. "They were here for me," she whispered.
Ash finally turned, black eyes unreadable as they settled on her. His tone was flat, like he was stating the weather. "Of course they were."
Something inside her twisted. These men, whoever they were would've taken her back to safety, to her father's castle, to familiar halls and warm guards and the life she'd always known. That should have been a relief.
But the thought of being caged again, of losing the ribbon she'd just tied back into her hair, of never setting foot in a village or laughing with Leo in the market, made her stomach knot.
She realized with a start that she didn't want to go back.
Not yet.
Ash turned back to the sky, his voice low. "They won't give up. Next time they'll come with more firepower."
Juliette's grip on her ribbon tightened. The choice should've been simple. Run to her rescuers. But instead, she whispered under her breath, almost to herself:
"Then I'll just have to make sure I don't get rescued."
Leo blinked at her, surprised. But Ash, standing at the railing, gave no sign he'd heard.
Not that it mattered. Juliette felt it, the decision blooming inside her.
For better or worse, she wasn't ready to leave the witch boy without a heart.