Defensors swarmed the balcony.
Vex couldn’t breathe.
Cansu teetered forward, airborne. She was going to make it—
Defensors caught her around the waist and hauled her, kicking and snarling, out of sight.
Even if Vex hadn’t been on a boat, the world would’ve shifted.
“Cansu!” Nayeli tore to her feet, dripping water across the deck. “CANSU!”
“Nay—stop!” Edda grabbed her. “Don’t draw their attention! We knew this could happen—she’s alive, she’s a prisoner, but she’s—”
“A prisoner ofElazar,” Nayeli clarified, trembling.
Vex wasn’t sure how he had room for worry alongside his grief. He stayed crouched on the deck, staring up at Nayeli, realization sinking in a slow shudder down his arms.
He’d left Cansu. Like Ben. Like Lu.
“He’ll kill her,” Nayeli said to Edda, dark eyes red with tears. The raiders who’d been driving the steamboat stayed in the pilothouse, their faces mirroring Nayeli’s concern.
“Not immediately.”
Behind them, Kari’s dark hair stuck to her cheeks, her eyes glassy. She was definitely where Lu got her Tuncian traits—golden brown skin, curly black hair, round dark eyes.
“I heard that Elazar holds most of his captives in Port Camden until he can decide what to do with them,” Kari continued, looking to the northeastern jungle. “He only left the Senior Councilmembers here so he could make it look as though the Council had allied with him.”
“Are you sure he’d use—” Vex stopped on a hard wince. He’d almost asked,Are you sure he’d use the Port Camden prison?But of course Elazar would. The Port Camden prison was one of the few places on the island that Argrid had held until the war’s end. It was a fortress.
Nayeli flew to her feet and pointed at the raiders in the pilothouse. “To Port Camden.”
“Nay!” Vex shot up. “It’s a day’s ride to Port Camden. We can’t—”
“I’m not leaving her!” Nayeli whirled on Vex, voice raw. “I know you’re hurting, and I can’t make you not miss Lu. I can’t make Ben safe. But I can damn well make sure Cansu doesn’t suffer the same fate. I won’t lose her.”
Did Vex imagine the emphasis she’d put on that lastsentence? Iwon’t lose her.He gasped, her words a punch to the stomach. “Ilost them?”I did, damn it, I did.
“You know that wasn’t what I meant.”
“No. You’re right. I let Lu die. I lost Ben. I left Cansu. It’s my fault. Go—go to Port Camden. You’re better off without me.”
Why was he arguing? He owed Nayeli, but he couldn’t feel anything.
No. That wasn’t true. He felt anger. He felt rage. He felt hatred. And he loved Nayeli enough that she was one of the only people he could show his emotions.
Nayeli screamed. No words, just noise, and it scraped Vex clean out.
“He could be there” came Edda’s soft voice. “Ben. He could be in that prison.”
Vex closed his eye. If he hadn’t been so set on being furious, he might’ve seen that too.
“Damn it,” he muttered, tapping his fist to his forehead.
“Why?” Nayeli shot at him. “That’s good, right? It’s worth it to you to go now.”
Vex’s brain yelled at him to stop being an ass, but he ignored himself. “No, it’snotgood, because our best chance of getting into that prison is to talk to Nate.”
Edda groaned. Nayeli did too. “Shit.”
