“No.” Sol’s voice was foreign in her own ears. “No more killing.”
Jonah blinked at her with an unreadable expression, his lips tight in contemplation.
“I will change their course,” Phil said. “I will send them North.”
Sol didn’t wait to watch the boy work. She wordlessly sank to her knees beside Cas, searching for his wound.
“Cas,” she said softly, pressing the pulsing gash on his side. It nearly missed his reinforced suit. Cattya knew just where to strike.
Behind them, Jonah continued his attempts to Earth Call, reciting sermons for forgiveness from his goddess.
“Out of all the ways we could have died, I truly didn’t think copper poisoning and Jinn dessert would be one,” Cas said, frowningslightly at the wound. “Very anticlimactic if you ask me.”
“We aren’t dying,” Sol said dryly. “How do I fix it?”
His gaze flicked up to meet hers. “You don’t. Copper poisoning is fatal.”
“There has to be a way.”
“There is not.”
“There must—” Sol didn't realize she was yelling until he placed a hand over her own, the other on her shoulder. She shook him off. “There must.”
This couldn’t be it. After everything.
The sounds of the ship faded with a caress of the wind, the residue of it accelerating the raft’s demise. Sol felt Jonah and Phil’s utter panic as they treaded water. Cade’s body, still strung to the post, sank into the waves with it.
Sol sobbed. She pulled Cas into her arms and collapsed against him as he held her gently, his blood already spilling into the sea around them, making the already scarlet water darker. She kicked into the ocean to keep afloat, Cas doing the same.
“It’s only copper,” she sobbed. “It’ll be okay, right?”
Cas laughed slightly against her, pulling back to peer at her. “It’s our only tangible weakness as Wielders.”
“It’s a stupid one!” Sol whined, struggling to keep herself afloat while still clinging to him, unwilling to let him go.
Jonah and Phil swam to their side.
“Not to alarm anyone, but...” Phil’s words trailed off as motion resumed beneath them.
Sol shut her eyes.
Would they kill him first now that they’ve tasted his blood?
Cattya’s body was nowhere in sight, did they drag her to their lair?
She sobbed harder.
“I must admit, although you look nothing like Irene, you’re just as skilled with a blade, Yarrow.”
Cas held her tighter, unsheathing his sword with a free hand between the crashing current. Sol didn't miss his grimace, or how the color quickly drained from his skin.
Jonah did the same, shielding Phil.
The Mind Slayer let out a caw of laughter as it floated before them. “Oh, please, you’d be no fun to kill right now.” It angled its head, its shorter black hair dipping into the water. “I like my prey to have a fighting chance.”
“Speak for yourself, Silas.” Another Jinn peeked through the current. “I’ll take them all if you want.”
Sol wasn’t sure how quickly the copper would dull Cas’s magic, or how instantly it worked in his system, but the remnants of a Ward flickered around Cas’s wrists just enough to make the Jinn flinch.
