Aidan snorted. Kai took the dagger from Bri and set it down on the deck within reach of Isla’s fingers, then backed up. All of them looked on edge: clenched fists, rigid jaws, tense shoulders. Kai imagined they were thinking the same thing: if Isla reacted badly again, how could they subdue her without hurting her? Kai still felt guilty for what she’d had to do underwater; she didn’t want to repeat that scenario.
She watched with bated breath, her hand flexing at her side, as Isla inhaled slowly, fingers inching toward the blade and pausing right before reaching the handle. “Here goes nothing,” she said, then grabbed it.
Exactly like when they were underwater, a blast of energy rolled out from the girl, her eyes fluttering shut as her head rolled back. A shudder went through Isla’s frame before she opened her eyes and glared at all of them.
“Oh, boy,” Aidan muttered.
Bri ducked in front of Isla, tearing her attention away from the elementals. “Okay Isla, it’s just me. Talk me through what you’re thinking. What does it feel like?” Bri asked, putting a steadying hand on her friend’s arm.
Isla gritted her teeth. “It’s…not as strong as last time. I think—I’m fighting it. But it’s still like my mind is—is telling me the easiest solution would be to kill them.” She shot a dark look at Kai.
“But you’re not trying to stab anyone. I feel like that’s progress.” Bri turned to the others and shrugged. “That’s a good thing, right?”
“Brielle, don’t—” Jade shouted, right as Isla took advantage of her friend’s lack of attention and shot to her feet. Isla locked eyes with Aidan and, in one breath, launched the dagger hilt-over-head, straight at Aidan’s face.
His arm snapped up and caught the handle an inch before it settled between his eyes. He lazily flipped the dagger in his hand and remarked, “I don’t think that was a good thing, Bri.”
Kai’s heart skyrocketed into her throat, and she struggled to swallow it back down. She turned back to Isla, who jolted like she was waking from a dream, paused, then threw her hands over her face.
“Aidan, I’m so sorry! I really thought I was fighting it that time!”
“It’s alright, nothing I can’t handle. Hey, Bri: next time, maybe don’t do that, hmm?” Aidan quipped, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth.
Bri winced. “That’s my fault. I’m sorry, too.”
“Next time?” Jade exclaimed. “We want to give it back to her after that?”
“She said she was fighting it, right? Considering we have only a few hours until we reach the island and the king’s ship catches up…yes, I think we need to keep doing this until she has it fully under control,” Kai responded. “And while we’re at it, we need to hatch a plan for when we get there.”
“It’s the middle of the night,” Jade muttered.
Bri groaned. “I’m going to need a drink.”
“Make that two,” Kai piped up.
“I do not like this,” Rynn said.
“What’s new, brother?” Aidan clapped Rynn on the shoulder as he walked away and grabbed a couple of barrels for them to sit on.
“Alright,” Isla rolled her shoulders as if preparing for a fight. “Give me the blasted dagger.”
Chapter Fifty-Two
Isla
Islatrailedherfingersthrough the warm bath water, the contrast between it and the cold waves that had encompassed her mere hours ago shocking her skin. She still smelled like salt, no matter how hard she scrubbed with the soap the crewman provided when he brought buckets of steaming water to her little tub.
They had spent a couple of hours working with the dagger, trying to lessen its frustrating hold on her. By the end, Isla could hardly keep her eyes open as the first light of the morning broke over the horizon. At least they’d made good progress.
She’d described the way the dagger took over her emotions, how she had been in complete control of her words and actions and had done everything of her own volition. The power instantly twisted her thoughts until she truly believed what she was doing was right. The elementals had listened and confessed that it sounded similar to the way Sebastian’s mind manipulation worked.
There were differences, however. One was that the king had not appeared to her, so it had to be the dagger’s doing. Another was that it was herownvoice inside her head, not an outside force feeding her words. And, she could fight it, which was something the others claimed they could not do. Each time she wielded the dagger, those vicious thoughts grew weaker and weaker while her own emotions became clearer. The final time she held it before they decided to call it quits, she’d been able to suppress the urges to mild irritation, like an annoying gnat that wouldn’t leave her alone.
Which was much better than a possessed elemental killer.
She may have thrown the dagger once or twice—okay, six times—at them. And, alright, she’d also kicked Rynn in the groin, though she wasn’t entirely sure she could blame that one on the dagger.
But she’d promised them all of that was done now. She didn’t want to know what would happen if shedidmanage to kill one of them with the dagger—would it cause catastrophic damage to the balance of nature? Would everything go on as normal? She was thankful she could control it better so they wouldn’t have to find out.
