“Aelie.”
Henrik’s voice came from above, calm as a prayer. I didn’t look up. I could hear the guards spreading out, surrounding us.
“You cannot escape.”
“Ignore him!” Rheya’s fingers dug into my shoulder.
Henrik’s boots crunched closer. “Surrender now, and I’ll be merciful. You have my word.”
The same word he’d given when he’d promised to treat us fairly. I’d seen his mercy—it left scars.
The rune writhed under my fingers, resisting with a malevolence that felt personal. Violent energy slammed through me, and my whole body spasmed. Light crawled up my arms in branching patterns of blue fire that were almost beautiful until the agony hit me.
I screamed.
Rheya grabbed me, but I shook her off.
Blood smeared the grate where my hands had slipped, skin torn away in strips. The pain surged again, worse this time, drilling through my bones like they were splintering from the inside out.
“You’re burning! Stop!”
“I can’t.” The words barely made it past my teeth.
Henrik was shouting, but magic boomed in my ears, drowning out everything except the rune’s resistance. My vision blurred, the world narrowing to this one impossible task—break it or die trying.
Blue lightning lashed outward with a crack. The shockwave rippled through stone and iron. Bars warped intotwisted shapes. The embankment buckled, deep fractures racing through ancient mortar, and the first slab fell.
Then the water came.
It smashed through the weakened barrier, surging into the canal, which began to overflow.
The force knocked me backward into the churning water. I went under, slamming into the canal’s wall. The current pinned me there, crushing my chest. I swam up, desperate for air?—
A hand snagged my wrist.
Strong arms hauled me up onto the canal’s edge. I gasped, water dripping everywhere. Henrik’s face contorted with rage as he gripped my shoulders.
“What the hell did you do?”
Below us, water roared through the canal and into the streets. Runecloaks rushed through the flooding alleys, yelling for people to get to higher ground. A bell tolled.
Rheya.
She clung to a beam in the canal. She looked up at me, eyes wide with terror. I couldn’t hear her over the rushing water.
Another surge was building behind the gate.
“Hold on!” I shouted.
It crashed through and slammed into her, swallowing her in white foam. When it passed, the beam was empty.
I screamed and lunged toward the canal.
Henrik’s arms locked around my waist, yanking me back. I clawed at him, kicking, thrashing.
The water churned, carrying debris. She was under there. Trapped.
I had to run. I thrashed against Henrik, but my limbs were too heavy. Black spots burst across my vision. The rune had been too powerful.
