Defeat pulsed through her, the weight of all her past failures an anchor around her neck.
Still, she ran. Despite the burn in her lungs, her arms, her legs. Despite the looming exhaustion. She wouldnotgive up. After everything they’d been through, all they’d survived, she would climb that wall.
They jumped over a knee-high stone barrier that acted as the village limits, only to then contend with the island’s natural setting. Waves of tree roots arced in and out of the ground like a sea snake. Ivy dripped from branches, and streams of water wove throughout the forest. Shadows twisted around them, while low branches snagged at their clothes.
Behind them, the footfalls grew heavier and louder, a burgeoning storm on their heels.
That despair Selene struggled to hold back began to swell. This was the Drynopian people’s land—they knew how to navigate it. These obstacles only slowed her down. Time was closing in, and she feared that, even if they made ittothe wall, they’d never make it over the top.
“Faster!” Selene shouted as she dodged a jutting root. She could just see the stone wall through the thick tangle of trees.
Branches snapped underfoot, and a flash of movement caught her eye on the left—one of the guards had closed the distance enough to reach out, just a few strides away. She barely had time to dodge right, veering back toward Petrina, who swore under her breath as she stumbled over a hidden stone.
The wall loomed into view, but even as it appeared, the guards’ voices grew louder, their weapons glinting through breaks in the trees, and every heavy footfall struck like the tick of a clock.
Branches lashed at Selene’s face, adding stinging pain to the burn of every muscle in her body.
“No. No, no, no,” Petrina said, her steps faltering and a pang of desperation in her tone.
The wall towered ahead, unyielding, but so did the guards. Armed men flooded the clearing in front of them.
They were surrounded.
There was no escape.
Chapter
Twenty-Nine
Desperation.
Desire.
Duty.
“Augustus. Please hurry.”
Selene.
Trouble.
Augustus let his heart lead him over the side of the boat. He splashed into the water, ankles rolling on stones, every step a struggle between him and the weight of the water.
“Stop that!” Lili’s voice filtered through his mind like smoke. “What are you doing, you idiot? Get back in the boat.”
Roslyn had similar things to say.
Augustus didn’t care. He fought through the waves—he could get to the shore faster if he walked, surely. The boat wastoo slow.
Beside him, Oskar struggled through the water similarly. “I hear you. I’m coming.”
“You hear her, too?” How strange. He thought it was all in his head. His bond with Selene was so much stronger than he ever imagined.
Oskar pushed forward, his full attention on the path forward. The others, too…all the men. They rushed toward land. They loved Selene somuch.
“Augustus, find me. I’m here.”
“I’m coming,” he said. “We’re all coming.”
