“I need to bathe. Or wash.” The words come out jagged, almost snappish. “Please.”
I still, taking her in again. Her skin, already pale, has a faint sheen of sweat over her brow. “Is it your wings? Are they hurting you?”
I haul myself to my feet. But Sol gets there first, blocking my way. His words are scathing, and Selene flinches back. “Selfish little brat. You’ve been told what he’s risking to keep this ship going. And you want abath? To add to the extra weight he’s already carrying because of you?”
Her black eyes wipe to a blankness that tightens my chest. Her shaking increases. “Please. I need to feel… to feelclean. I’m sorry—the mud—,”
“Solomon,” I say quietly. “Get out of the way.”
“No,” he snaps. “You’re pushing yourself too damned hard because of her. If the little spoiled faeyte wants to bathe, she’ll have to wait until we get back. My apologies if the conditions don’t meet your expectations,Selene.”
Anger surges in my chest. “That’senough.”
But Selene stills. Her eyes fix on Solomon, devoid of stars. Devoid of any emotion at all. The trembling vanishes, replaced by a motionless stance that has even Sol unfolding his arms, staring. It’s as if she stops breathing, stopsliving.
When she speaks, it’s as if she’s no longer here at all. “Would you like to hear a story, Solomon?”
Irritation flickers with confusion in his stare. “We all have stories.”
“Stories are important,” she whispers.
Sol jumps back with a curse as my eyes grow wide. His hand drops to the sword at his side before my hand grips his, stopping him from pulling it. “What maegisare you casting, faeyte?”
“Be still,” I snap. Shoving him behind me, I take a step closer to her. She doesn’t see me at all. Selene’s eyes are lost to a void that I cannot see. But herhands. “Your palms are glowing, Selene.”
Nothing. She gives me nothing. The hair raises on the back of my neck.
I feel eyes on us. Hear Rio’s short curse, Esme’s hush and Leo’s whispered questions. When Merrick appears beside me, I don’t dare look away. “What in Ellas is this?”
He knows the ways of the faeytes better than any of us. But his brow is furrowed. “I’ve never seen anything like this. The palms indicate a reading is taking place. It’s a type of shadow maegis. But she’s not touching any of us.”
Shadows creep from her upturned palms in slow, unfurling movement. Sol swears behind me. “Knock her out. I don’t want my damned fate read.”
“Shutup, Sol.” Esme creeps closer, her features twisted in fascination and fear. “Selene? Can you hear us?”
Selene doesn’t move. But more shadows unfurl, spilling from her palms like ribbons. One, after the other, after the other.
“Give her some space.” Rio grabs Esme’s arm. “Don’t touch them, Smee. Leo, stay close to me.”
I reach out my hand to a slow, curling ribbon. It darts away like smoke, vanishing and reforming as it twists around my hand. The barest brush of a feather against my skin.
“The girl was in the water when the world cracked and burned.”
Selene’s low words have my eyes jerking back to her face. It sounds like her, and yet… not. Older, and yetyounger, two voices entwined in a way that sends chills racing down my spine, wrapping around my throat.
The shadows explode. We all jump back, hissed curses coming from around me as they surround us. Merrick’s voice rises. “Give them space. A circle. Get back.”
We follow his instructions. Until we’re standing in silent witness to the twining, pulsing shadows, illuminated by Selene’s light. They shift and reform, until the picture grows clearer, filling the circle.
Shadowed waves churn and crash beside a tall wall. My eyes fix on the small, dark figure that stands atop it, surrounded by other, looming silhouettes. The arms spread wide as it tumbles back, off the wall, toward the waves below.
My heart stops beating.
Iknowthis scene.
Know it as well as I know myself, only from a different perspective. I remember how she stood, defiant and tall, her chin lifted as they closed in with swords drawn.
I was not fast enough. Could not keep up with her, no matter how hard I pushed myself as I chased the faeyte through the blood-filled, screaming streets of Asteria. Determined to save one, justoneof them, even if the others were lost.
