Her heart sank. He’d had the key all along. He could have let her or Amalie go atanypoint, and time and again, he’d chosen not to. Vaasa ripped the door open. Amalie’s body stood there, the chains around her wrists and neck tarnished. She was well cared for, but the iron manacles on her wrists looked rusted.
“Fuck,” Reid whispered from behind Vaasa.
Veragi stepped forward like she had all the strength in the world. “Help me get these off of her,” Vaasa demanded as she started pulling at the chains.
Without hesitation, Reid lifted his sword. “Move.”
Vaasa scuttled back as Veragi spread her wrists as far as they could go. Reid swung down, his sword cracking against the chains, and the tarnished links fractured. They slid to the floor.
Darkness burst forth from Amalie’s body, tendrils of magic licking the air in angry snaps. Reid jumped out of the way as a miserable keening broke from Amalie’s throat. The glowing white of her eyes grew brighter, and Vaasa lifted her arm to cover her vision. In seconds, it was over, and Vaasa stared at her best friend.
Only it wasn’t her best friend. It was wild, white eyes. There was no trace of Amalie staring back at her.
“Is she alive?” Vaasa whispered.
Veragi met Vaasa’s gaze and gave a strong nod. “I would not kill her.” The goddess’s voice threaded the air, a dark and powerful Icrurian that reminded Vaasa of Melisina.
“We need to go,” Reid urged as the door on the other side of the hallway was thrown open. Three guards sprinted toward them. Veragi’s head whipped their way. Vaasa startled. She lookednothinglike Amalie. Gone was the kindness, the warmth, the care. All that remained were harsh lines and malice that caused even Vaasa to step back. Veragi lifted her arms with grace and squeezed her hands. Magic flew through the air, whizzingtoward the guards, solidifying into sharp points just before it made contact. Those edges pierced their chests.
Their bodies halted and sank to the floor.
The magic disintegrated into black smoke, wisping out from the dead guards like steam off tea.
Vaasa stared at Veragi, and all she could think of was Julianna.
“This way,” Reid said, clutching Vaasa’s hand and running back to the stairwell entrance, neither of them having the time necessary to ruminate on what they’d just seen. She held tight to Reid’s hand, and they fled back down the stairwell and out the same door they had taken to enter, sprinting down slippery steps with as much skill as they could manage. Snow fell from the dark sky, cold drops of it splashing off Vaasa’s cheeks. She looked over her shoulder to see Veragi following, body uninhibited by the weeks in this prison, by the things that had been done to her, by the cold.
Sachia and the rest of her crew were pressed to the cliffside, staring down at the ladder they had used to climb up. “Shit,” Reid growled, looking down at the space below the bridge. It was littered with lamplights. Guards swarmed the ladder, at least fifteen, too many for them to fight.
“This way,” Vaasa yelled, trailing the perimeter of the cliff until they landed on a pathway that led to the Last Crossing. If they could get across the bridge and take one of the boats on the other side, they could get out. They’d have to fight their way through, but there were likely fewer guards on the administrative side of the island, all of them having run into the prison with the pealing of the bells. In the distance, fire still raged along the Mekës coastline, flames lighting the black sky.
Footsteps pounded behind them, the sound of Asteryan commands blaring through the snow as guards chased them onto the bridge. Sachia and her crew swarmed behind them—
Vaasa’s stomach turned over on itself, and suddenly, fire erupted within her.
Shescreamed.
Her knees cracked against the ground. Magic tore from her very bones. The world flipped and scorched her from the inside. Reid howled her name, his hands wrapping around her waist and trying to pull her up as the guards closed in on them. Vaasa couldn’t get up. It was the most excruciating the magic had been since the very first moment she’d bargained it away, her muscles torn and her body ripped apart in defiance of the force being stolen from her. Vaasa wailed again, fisting her hands in her hair as agony eliminated all other things from her mind. A splitting crack boomed from the left, and Vaasa gasped, falling onto her hands despite Reid’s grip.
“Going somewhere, Vaasalisa?” came Zetyr’s ancient voice.
CHAPTER
40
Veragi screeched, a bloodcurdling, angry cry. It was not Ozik who stood on the opposite side of the bridge, just like it was not Amalie who stood at Vaasa’s side. The sheer enormity of power emanating from both deities bounced around the bridge, making even the air feel heavier.
Run, Ozik’s voice curled into her mind.
Remember our bargain, Vaasa hissed across their bond, her hand still clutching her abdomen.
One breath. Two. She lifted her chin. Zetyr stood across the bridge in front of all the guards. Crimson glowed in his eyes, entirely consuming the pupils and whites, just like Amalie’s werecoated in white. Dark webs protruded upon the skin of his neck and cheeks.
And on his knees in front of the deity…
Roman.
Vaasa’s heart dropped into her stomach. The guards behind them fled, emptying from the bridge with terrified shrieks. Zetyr raised his hand and twisted, pulling his fingers into a fist.
