When I finally find them, I stop.
“Callan.” Leo turns a tear-stained face to me. “She stopped talking to me.”
I take it in. Take in the arms, wrapped carefully around him and wound into the rope so deeply that it cuts into her already injured wrists. The boots, twisted almost unnaturally and wedged into gaps too small for her feet.
Selene doesn’t move as I reach them. Her head lolls.
But she does not let go of the rope, cradling Leo where he rests, his legs wrapped around her waist and his arms around her neck.
“You found us.” Leo’s lips look almost as blue as hers in the faint light of the seven moons above us. Almost. “It’s…c-cold out here. Did you know Selene can fly?”
My eyes close. And my voice, when it comes, is choked. “I knew she would. I need to get you both back to the ship.”
Selene stirs, and my heart beats faster. Her mumble is almost silent. “Take him.”
The refusal is immediate. “I’m not leaving you here.”
She’s almost spent, if not long past it. And the moment she lets go of Leo, she’s going to fall.
This time, she won’t have the strength to fly back up.
Carefully, I push her hair back. “You seem to have a habit of almost dying on me, Selene.”
Her lips barely lift, but her eyes don’t open.
“Callan,” Leo whispers. He leans back, so I can see the jagged slash across her chest. Blood still oozes from it.
The wraith had sliced, and she had stumbled back on the deck. And still—still—she did this.
I can’t stop myself. My lips press to her sweat-soaked forehead, breathing her in. “You’re a miracle, Selene Amaris. But you’re not done yet.”
Her eyes crack open, the faintest glimmer of dark as her words slur. “It’s cold.”
Yet sweat runs down her face, her shirt—my shirt—plastered against her skin. Leo bites down on his lip. “What do we do?”
Another thread beckons, although there are few left to cast. I reach for it, tug it free. There’s more resistance this time. But energy burns through my body, chasing away any trace of exhaustion as I carefully climb over them and brace my bootsagainst the ship. Tugging on the rope that holds me, I test it. “I’m taking you both with me.”
“No.” Selene almost sighs. Her body is tense against mine, her wings crushed between us as she refuses to let go. “You need to take Leo, Callan.”
“You’re bringing him back. Leo, hold onto her.”
Leo presses himself into Selene, gripping her tightly before I wrap my arms around both of them, pulling them into me. “Let go, Selene. I won’t let you fall.”
“I can’t.” The words crack. Carefully, I reach forward. Her hands are tangled, and it takes more than a few moments to free her from the knots she created to hold her in place. When I tug her boots free, a pained cry slips from her as she slumps into me. My face presses into the silk of her wings as I adjust my hold.
“I have you.” Mouth dry, I grip them both. “Going up.”
Keep the ship steady. I focus on the rope and let the maegis free.
The three of us jerk upward. The air whistles past, the toes of my boots scuffing against the side of the boat as the rope pulls us up.
“Grab them!”
Sol’s hands are there, wrapping around Leo and pulling him over the railing.
Distantly, I hear Leo reuniting with everyone else, but I can barely focus on keeping my hold on Selene, lifting her over the railing. She slumps against me.
“I’ll take her.” Sol’s voice sounds choked. “Give her to me before you fall. Your ears are bleeding.”
