Get yourself together, girl!Even though Adela was nowhere near, her voice still lived in Eira. The pirate queen was forever a part of her. Guiding her when she needed it most.
Another shot rang out,whizzingpast and exploding against the dirt road, leaving a deep pockmark. They were trying to shoot through the wind. Cullen’s magic was deflecting it, but not outright stopping it.
She looked to him, instantly finding his magic. She’d know it anywhere, his powers as familiar as her own. With a thought, she deepened his access to his power.
Another flash drew her attention. Eira braced herself but this time it never made it to them. Cullen unleashed a primal roar and with it a staggering—nearly frightening—amount of power. The winds roared, picking up not just dust and loose debris, but ripping through entire buildings. They turned into a dusty gray wall of stormy violence.
“Go.” Eira barely managed the word through gritted teeth. Ducot did as she commanded. She wrapped ice around her thigh, holding flesh and bone together in a clumsy splint. With every step, she adjusted the amount and placement, trying to find the right combination to allow them to break into an all-out run.
Together, they ran into the fields, Cullen’s magic still howling in the city. Alyss’s hands shifted and spun magic to hide their tracks. Eira’s own powers arced above them, lacing with Olivin’s as their fingers and breaths had two nights ago, casting a cloak of invisibility over them.
They ran away from the town, away from the road that had knights in the distance racing toward the commotion, and away from the grief that was being left behind.
They stopped by a stream. The sun was low in the sky. Blessedly, between the chaos and their magic, they’d managed to give the knights the slip. But the going was slow through the fields and it wasn’t until they came across a canal made to water the crops that they stopped to catch their breath and recover their strength.
Eira immediately collapsed.
Alyss was at her side in an instant. “Let me see.”
No sooner had Eira’s magic withdrawn from her leg than Alyss’s appeared. The woman moved her hands over Eira’s mutilated flesh, fingers twitching as if tugging on invisible threads. Her flesh knitted and Eira let out a sigh as the pain began to fade.
“How is it?” Alyss asked.
Eira bent and straightened her leg. “Good as new.”
Her friend gave a heavy sigh and shook her head. “That was too much…too close.”
“I’m fine.” Eira rested her hand on Alyss’s.
“This time. But what about next time? Or the time after?” Alyss’s emerald eyes searched Eira’s.
“Alyss—”
“I can’t watch another friend die!” The words nearly choked her. They had Eira by the throat as well.
“I won’t, Alyss. I’m not going anywhere.”
“What if it wasn’t you?”
The question was truly one of Eira’s worst nightmares.
“I won’t let anything happen to any of you. Not after…” Eira couldn’t bring herself to say Noelle’s name.
“We’ll look after each other,” Cullen chimed in.
Alyss’s face jerked in his direction, brow furrowing. “Look after each other? Is that what you called that?” Her tone was harsher than Eira had ever heard it.
“What’re you talking about?” Cullen wiped sweat from his brow.
“You practically destroyed that town.”
“But I did not.” To his credit, Cullen didn’t flinch, even despite his history. “Only a few homes by the gate were damaged. There were no casualties other than those in the immediate area—which were almost all knights.”
Alyss stood and took a step toward him. “It was an unnecessary risk.”
“We had to get out alive, I tried as best I could to minimize the impact, but sometimes there will be collateral damage,” he said calmly.
“You could’ve hurt innocent people,” Alyss said. Cullen merely looked away, perhaps in guilt, perhaps because he was done with the conversation. Alyss stilled, leaning back slowly as horror widened her eyes. “You knew it and didn’t even care.”
