Sol stretches, wrapping his hands behind his neck. “I’ll kiss the ground at your feet when we land in Asteria.”
Rio snickers. “You’ll be too busy kissing Matthias. Maybe we should say goodbye now, since we won’t see you for days.”
Grinning, holding onto that lightness, I turn my attention to the crashing waves that line the sky. Roaring, deep blue waves fill the small space between us and the edge we need to cross, foam spraying up and flicking over my exposed skin as waves smash into each other, the water churning in growing agitation.
I can see the jagged edge of the Never clearly now,Volatusclose enough that the ship almost touches the dark void waiting for us. “Brace. All of you. And look out for wraiths.”
Chapter twenty-one
Selene
Beside me, Esme wraps her hands around the wooden railing. “You should hold on.”
Callan’s dark hair dances as the breeze grows stronger. Wind whistles around my head, tugging tendrils of hair free and whipping them across my cheek as I copy her movements, gripping the cool wood tightly. “He’s going toliftus? Across that void?”
Gods. I can barely breathe at the thought of it, especially after seeing the strain on his face earlier from removing the copper. My eyes travel across the ship, taking in the hundreds of boxes. Each one packed with goods. Even the weight of the ship alone—
“How?” I whisper to Esme. Everyone else is silent, watching Callan as he stands, his head cocked slightly to the side as if he’s listening to music none of us can hear. “How is this possible?”
The maegis it would take to do this—not just once, but to carry us however far the void stretches, until we reach Asteria—I cannot fathom it. Have never heard of such a thing. “I’ve never known maegis to be that strong.”
“Let us hope it’s strong enough.” Esme glances around us. On her other side, Rio shifts closer, his own hand choosing a spot to grip between her arm and body, until they’re almost entwined. “This is the heaviest load he’s ever carried.”
“He’s strong enough,” Rio mutters. But his eyes stay on Callan too, his face tightening. “But he’s been casting since we left Terrosa.”
My mouth dries. “What do you mean?”
“The Guild was hunting you.” Sol’s hissed words a few feet away have my head swiveling. The familiar glare is back, crossed with worry. “They thought we knew something about their murderer. We couldn’t afford to wait, so Callan used maegis to get us out of the harbor faster.”
I don’t understand. Esme reads my confusion, my furrowed brow. “He’s been delaying the pretium,Selene. Once Callan stops casting, Caelum’s punishment will hit him and hit hard. He may not have been able to recover before he needed his maegis again to cross the Sea of Stars, and so he has not dared to stop. He’s already exhausted. He hasn’t slept since we set sail, pushing the ship to move faster. He is racing against a clock and has no idea how long before it will stop.”
A set of boots and a pair of leather pants cost her a memory. And Callan has been casting fordays. Will lift an entire ship, with all of us on it.
My breathing staggers, turns choppy as I stare at him. Reassessing what I thought I had learned about Callan Edgeborn. “I thought he was lazy. Lounging in his hammock and watching the rest of us work.”
Esme snorts softly. “He hates every moment of it, I assure you. But he was trying to save his strength, to rest as best he could. The rest of us do what we can to lighten the load.”
And yet he still used his maegis to unbind my wings from the copper that held them, and never mentioned any of it. “What is the pretium for a gerent? What price will he pay? His memories?”
No. Merrick told me. He had said—
Pain.
My gaze pulls to Callan’s back and stays there.
“Worse.” Esme’s whisper is bleak. “For him, it is worse. Every time, he risks it being the last. We won’t know until we get back.”
“He will hold it,” Sol says, his voice tight. “For as long as he can. And if he can make it back, Matthias will fix him up.”
Rio smiles at me across Esme’s head. But it doesn’t reach his eyes. “He’s going to be fine. Stop being dramatic, all of you.”
I look across to where Merrick shifts. He’s seated himself on the floor, Leo between his legs and a thick arm wrapped around the small boy’s body. Leo’s hands grip the leg of his pants tightly, Merrick’s other arm wound around a railing, tethering them.
If we fall, then holding the railing will not help us.
Nothing will help us if Callan’s maegis runs dry.
“This part can be rough.” Esme sighs. “Once we’re in the air, it’ll smooth out.”
