They’d shuffled only a few steps before Jade rushed from the jungle in front of them, her hair windswept with sticks caught in the tangles. She stared at something directly behind Isla and Rynn, and with a lurch forward, cried, “Look out!”
Rynn instantly put his hands around Isla’s shoulders and threw her to the side, his body landing on top of hers. His anguished shout of pain made Isla’s heart burst. A huge explosion of fire rammed into the trees directly ahead of them, barely missing where their bodies had just been.
“You shouldn’t have done that! You’ll only make your leg worse!” she shouted beneath him as she tried to roll him away. “We’ve got to get you out of this.”
She helped prop him up. In a flash, he lunged away and snarled at her, his eyes harsh and unforgiving.
This wasn’t Rynn.
“I imagine you would be pleased if I died right here, would you not? I saw the way you spoke to him,” he spat. “You have been with him this whole time.”
“Rynn, you’re hurt, and Sebastian’s in your head—”
“Do not say his name to me!” he roared as he tried to stand but crumpled beneath the weight.
She reached forward with a gasp. “Let me help!”
His body went limp.
Isla screamed as his head hit the rock beneath him with a loud thud.
While Rynn had told her they could heal from any wound, she hadn’t truly believed it was possible. Surely, the severe injuries in his leg and head would kill a human. But relief coursed through her as she rushed to him and felt his faint pulse fluttering under her fingers.
A strangled shout drew her attention back to the main area of the beach. Her mouth dropped open as her eyes swallowed the scene.
Kai and Aidan were several yards apart, Jade right between them, her arms flung out to her sides. Thick vines shot from both the ground and Jade’s outstretched hands to wrap around the fire and water elemental, lifting them several feet off the sand. Sparks ignited in and around the vines that held Aidan like he was trying to incinerate them, but Jade had grown wiser: she continued to replenish the ones he burned, the dark cords full of leaves and thorns weaving around themselves and strengthening their hold. Kai and Aidan’s faces turned red as the vines tightened on their necks.
If Sebastian didn’t release his control over Jade’s mind, she was going to strangle them. Would they come back from that?
Their plan to take on Sebastian as a unit was failing. The elementals had been wholly unprepared for the damagetheywould cause one another. They were running out of time.
There was still one option left.
In a snap decision, Isla raced to Kai. Kai’s eyes grew wide and cords filled her mouth, her face reddening even more as they blocked her from breathing. The water elemental saw Isla coming and met her gaze, wildly pointing her head to her right. Isla stared at her for a second, then looked around the sand in confusion.
A glint of steel caught her eye.
Her heart slammed into her chest. She sprinted to the glimmer and let out a cry of relief. It was the dagger; Kai must have dropped it at some point in the fight.
Isla took several breaths to prepare her mind for what came next. She couldn’t let the dagger shape her emotions and rage against the elementals. She had to keep her focus.
Breathe in.
Breathe out.
Isla reached out a hand and curled her fingers around the golden hilt, her reflection shining back at her from the bright ruby.
A familiar shock bolted through her.
She knew what she had to do.
Chapter Fifty-Eight
Isla
IslawalkedtoJade,her spine straight and her will strong. Jade hadn’t even noticed her pick up the dagger.
Arrogant, unobservant elemental.
