Carver’s smile actually reached his eyes. “Atlantis must be good for you.”
“Sure.” She spread her hands, shrugging. “If it doesn’t get me killed.”
Her words murdered his smile. And she regretted them.
“Canyou die?” Silas asked, utterly serious.
His question was so ridiculous that her snort carried true humor this time. “Yes—definitely.”
“Let’s try to avoid it,” Carver muttered, his humor still dead.
Bellanca understood. He’d seen her nearly die in Thalyria, and she’d believed him lost to her just days ago. His terror as he’d clasped her hand and she’d breathed what should’ve been her final breaths was so real to her now after what happened in the cove. And she should’ve known what it meant—that he was already on the path tothem, all steady steps ahead while she’d still been stumbling along.
“Bellanca…” Dex rubbed the back of his neck, hesitating. “Can I see your magic again?”
A smile slid back onto Carver’s face. His brows rose. “Impressive, isn’t it?”
Carver’s friends both nodded, some of their awestruckwonder veering toward boyish enthusiasm now. Emotion panged in her chest. She was glad to be getting to know them better, and under honest circumstances. And most of all, she was glad they’d lived up to Carver’s expectations. She’d have been obliged to show them her unforgiving side if they’d disappointed him.
She smiled. “Why not?” Stopping on the hillside, she ignited. Flames snaked through her hair, swirled down her arms, and gathered in the palms of her hands. She held them up like torches and added a hint of sun-flare magic, careful to keep it close.
Dex’s eyes widened. Silas took a step back, the heat reddening his face. Sweat popped out on their foreheads, and she sucked the magic back inside, not hating how impressed they looked.
“Your eyes…” Silas murmured. “They glow.”
“And the perfume… Like fruit and sugar.” Dex inhaled, long and loud.
“Hey, that’s only for me.” Grinning, Carver gave his friend a shove, pushing Dex away from her.
Smiling at their good-natured roughhousing, Bellanca said, “That’s Atlantis.” Her gaze sailed over the valley and out to sea, her heart unexpectedly swelling with a surge of belonging. “I always sparked and flamed up, but I never used to have shining eyes or luminous hair or that cherry smell. It’s like…” She paused, searching for how to describe the feeling. “It’s like my magic telling me I’m home.”
“Home.” Carver’s eyes softened, sweeping over her face, and she heated from the inside out without a hint of magic. Warmth didn’t prevent her shiver, and the silent communication that passed between them carved itself into her soul, as real as any words written in ink on parchment.Ourhome. Sheswallowed, pushing the message deeper, so deep it could never leave her.
“It’s a good place to live most days.” Smiling broadly, Silas clapped Carver on the shoulder, drawing Carver’s attention back to him. “And I have a feeling it’s about to get better.”
Carver smiled back at him, nodding. “And we’re glad not to be alone in this anymore.”
“Yes,” Bellanca confirmed, nodding, too. It was true, and the gods knew she’d always wanted to be alone in everything. Atlantis had definitely changed her.
Or maybe she’d just changed all on her damn own, because that was what life did to you.
They continued up the hill, a new sense of ease settling over them. There’d still be questions, but there was camaraderie. There was trust. There were friends, and Bellanca couldn’t wait for Atlantapol to come into sight beyond the rise. She missed everyone at Spiro’s.
So much danger still clearly lay ahead, but somehow, hope filled her chest to bursting. Place. Friends. Carver. Kingdom. A sense of purpose she’d never known. It was almost painful in its beauty. A new beginning, and it was theirs.
The hot blood pumping through her started to turn ice sharp and steely cold as her footsteps carried her toward everything she’d never thought she deserved and now refused to live without. Anyone who tried to take her home, her happiness, or her island would discover exactly who Bellanca Tarva was deep down.
And they shouldfear.
Chapter 32
Carver knew Bel had been steering her thoughts away from Cleito, and he wasn’t surprised at how forcefully they came back once Dex and Silas left their company to go home and make sure their families stayed out of sight and, even more importantly, out of the main temple square tonight.
Her grief and rage festered as they crossed the agora in the shadow of the castle and then bubbled up like lava as they passed the huge marble-paved square, the wall lining the harborside portion of it just waiting for the next sacrifice to happen. They finally rounded the port and cautiously approached their building and top-floor rooms. Could Eryx have linked whipping Carver to the fire whippinghereceived? Just in case, they stayed on the lookout for soldiers who might try to intercept them. But the coast was clear, and by the time they made it upstairs and inside, Bel wasn’t just heartbroken. She was fury incarnate. She barely kept her magic in and then flared up with a growl the second they closed the door.
“Let’s not burn down the building,” Carver warned, despite understanding her wrath and rattling with his own.
Her nostrils flared in protest, but she dampened her fire. “Hera took my sister. Shekilledmy sister.” She stomped over to the sink and opened the water valve. She washed her hands, arms, and face and then smoothed her dampened hair back, taming the remaining flames. The heat of her made herhead steam. “I don’t even want that bath anymore. I want to scream.”
