I refuse to let him win, to let him use me for whatever horror he has in store for Letum. Everything he touches falls to ruin—I won’t be one of them.
The chair legs scrape against the stone as I leap upward, charging toward where Marina stands frozen. Though I’m almost a head taller than she is, she raises her chin and plants her feet like she’s readying herself for an attack. And maybe sheis. Despite what the king has done to her, Marina has shown her loyalty to him in almost every instance.
Perhaps it’s fear that keeps her compliant, or maybe he’s held her here so long, she believes she loves him. I know what it is to be kept in isolation, the fear of losing yourself in it driving you to latch on to the one thing that reminds you of your humanity—even if it's what hurt you.
Whatever drives Marina’s loyalty, I need to be careful of it. She could just as easily betray me as help me, and I couldn’t even blame her for it.
This would have been easier if I’d never sat down in this damned courtyard. If I’d never gotten comfortable and let my guard down. It’s unsettling, how easily I’d relaxed in the presence of strangers, in the home of the King of Death. A warm smile, a pretty place, a good meal—that’s all it had taken to disarm the years I’ve spent building up the wall around me. One moment, I’d been determined to escape, and the next, I was ready to lay down and expose my throat.
Something near grief washes over me, and though I try to swallow it down, it rises up and lashes against my skin. What was the all the pain for if I’ve learned none of its lessons?
Marina watches the thoughts race across my face, the rare vulnerability of my self-flagellation. She raises her hands and makes a sign, one I recognize:Sam.
I stare at her hands, as Adira’s words from earlier come rushing back to me.The island amplifies your natural power.“His power…it’s—it’s to calm people, isn’t it?”
Marina nods, and I wonder why she told me. Whether it was to ease my regret or compound it.
The sense of safety, of warmth—none of it was real. It was all Sam. The betrayal stings, and I wish it didn’t. I should feel vindicated that I hadn’t been foolish enough to let my guard down willingly, but instead, I only feel violated.
“Is he gone?” I ask. “Tiernan, too?”
Again, she nods. Her expression is indecipherable as her hands form two sharp signs, ones I don’t recognize. I furrow my brow, struggling to determine what they mean. Finally, with a huff of irritation, Marina uses her pointer finger to trace letters in the air.S-t-r-a-y-e-d.
Then she makes the signs again.
“The Strayed? Sam and Tiernan are out dealing with the Strayed now?”
A solemn nod. We stare at each other again, Marina wearing that intense expression I don’t quite understand. Does she want to help me? Does she want to leave with me? Will she run to her king as soon as I try? I think of the gnarled skin on her back and decide to take the chance. If there’s one thing I’m familiar with, it’s pain. How it transforms you, how it warps your decisions and steals your agency. Maybe Marina needs a reminder of who she was before it.
“Marina, I need you to show me the way out of here.”
Chapter thirteen
Marina leads me to a small gate at the back of the courtyard, hidden behind one of the glimmering trees. Together, we walk down a small path that winds between the main keep. Everything is still but for the sound of our footsteps on the dew-slick cobblestone and the distant crash of the surf against the cliffs. Letum is always dark, but I’ve begun to notice there are shades to the darkness depending on the time. Right now is the deepest sort, a black velvet shroud blanketed across the kingdom.
We walk in a stilted hush, like the world around us holds its breath. And as we step out from the cover of the Lunaedon and out onto the palace grounds, it feels as if it’s frozen entirely. Marina leads me in the opposite direction of the gates to an outbuilding. Though much smaller than the castle itself, it is crafted of the same obsidian stone and identical intricate details. Marina marches up to one of the many arched doorways neatly lining the front of the building and presses her hand to the spiral carvings.
The door vanishes, revealing a horseless carriage identical to the one we’d taken to the city. It’s gilded exterior gleams in the soft lantern light, the eyes of the skulls carved into the front glowing eerily in the darkness. Marina’s gaze darts around warily as she ushers me forward.
Digging my heels into the ground, I spin, meeting her eyes in the shadows. “Come with me.”
Though my voice is pleading, it isn’t hopeful. Even so, my heart drops as her delicate mouth thins into a line, and she gives one curt shake of her head, before gesturing again for me to climb into the carriage.
“Please, Marina,” I implore. The scars on her back are imprinted behind my eyelids, a permanent reminder of the cruelty carved into her skin. When the king finds out she helped me escape, he’ll be furious at having lost his prize. I can’t leave her here to be brutalized. “We can go somewhere he’ll never find us.”
Marina laughs softly and shakes her head again, as if the very idea of escaping the king is ridiculous. What she doesn’t understand is I’ve been disappearing my entire life—shedding my skin and becoming something new before anyone realizes I’m gone. It doesn’t matter that I don’t know the geography of Letum. Fading into the night is second nature, now more of a base instinct than a decision. I can keep both of us from being caught.
“You don’t have to stay here—you don’t have to stay where you were hurt, Marina. You can be safe.” Even as I speak, I wonder at the truth of it. I can’t remember the last time I felt safe, not without Sam’s power manipulating me into feeling so. Falling through realms hasn’t changed that facet of my existence: nowhere is safe for someone with secrets like mine.
Marina hands me a lantern, then points to the ground and signs. Then she points to the forest surrounding the palacegrounds and makes the same sign she made in the castle when we spoke of the Strayed. Her meaning is clear.Here, safe. There, not safe.
She’d rather stay with the man who stole her wings and her voice, than take her chances on the outside world. I don’t know whether to be furious or horribly sad. Taking a leveling breath, I try one more time.Then you’ll leave. Just like you always do.
“He isn’t safe, Marina—he…hehurtspeople. He murdered Jamie in cold blood. He’s stolen your wings and your voice. Someone safe doesn’t do those things. Please…just come with me.”
Marina’s expression shutters, her gaze melding into steel, and her mouth turning down in disproval. Despite everything he’s done, she doesn’t like when I insult Niko. It’s this, more than anything, that pushes me to get into the carriage without more protest.
She’s been trapped here with him for too long, and I don’t have time to unravel the manipulation and deceit. Not if I want to keep myself from being trapped here, too.
