Theo didn’t know how he couldn’t see it before. That same smirk graced her lips, and those eyes, ones he saw for years and smiled and laughed with.
“Nate’s little sister,” Theo breathed, grasping his knee.
Isabel stiffened at the sound of her brother’s name. Her feet continued to carry her back, but she raised her sword and pointed it at Theo. “Don’t you dare speak his name.”
“You’ve known. You knew who I was in Duncaster,” Theo said. “Why are you with Deavopan, the Accords?”
“Your father sent him to his death!”
Theo didn’t need to stand any closer to know tears streaked her cheeks. “Elizabeth, your parents—”
“It’s Isabel,” she spat. “They lost it when Nate died. Your father destroyed my family. You have no idea what life is like outside the safety of your manor walls, and you never will.” She turned and ran.
Theo forced his body forward, limping as he attempted to chase after her. Nate’s death had driven her to treason, to desert her own people. Esaias grabbed a hold of his arm, halting him as Isabel disappeared, lost to the darkness.
“She’s a traitor!”
“It’s Nate’s sister, Esaias. I can’t leave her.”
“You will, because we have greater problems. We need to get you inside,” he said, eyeing Theo’s leg.
“I’m fine,” Theo lied, already feeling his knee swelling against his trousers. “We’re going to the beach.” Theo needed to find Adelaide first, then he’d track down Isabel.
“Adelaide,” Esaias breathed.
Theo took another limp forward, summoning whatever he had left to fight.
“Theo, what if—”
“I won’t entertain what ifs,” Theo shouted at him. “I’m going to find my sister.”
Adelaide could be fighting for her life on that beach or worse. Theo ripped the remnants of his shirt and wrapped it around his knee, biting his lip against the ache. He clawed at the fissure in his mind, begging it to restitch and hold the pain.
Esaias nodded, and they took off toward the beach, taking the empty path along the southern border. A few duels were scattered about, but it wasn’t the chaos ensuing past the gardens. Theo stopped upon reaching the sand, his knee threatening to buckle on the uneven terrain. He couldn’t force it back without allowing the creature to fully infest his mind.
“Are you sure you’re able to fight?” Esaias asked, staring at Theo’s swollen knee.
“I can fight,” Theo hissed, but the swelling was already pressing against the wrap. He had to keep moving, for Adelaide.
“Is that…?” Esaias pointed to a discarded jacket.
In a mix between a shuffle and limp, Theo dropped before the jacket and grabbed the leather coat in his hands.Adelaide. His eyes skimmed the dark surface of the beach, hoping she’d found a place to stand her ground, but all he saw were drag marks in the sand with a trail of blood leading to the water.
“Knowing Adelaide, it’s not hers,” Esaias whispered with a hand resting on Theo’s shoulder. “We’ll find her.” He sheathed his sword and ran to a longboat.
Adelaide’s jacket slipped through Theo’s trembling fingers. He couldn’t bear another loss or what Adelaide was enduring on Deavopan’s ship. It was the war all over again, his squad and now his sister. He took a ragged breath and stood.
As they rowed through the violent waves of the ocean he loved dearly, he scanned the waters for the rest of their fleet. No other ships lurked inthe darkness accept the single galleon wading in the bay. They reached the hull, and Esaias grabbed the rope ladder and began to climb.
Esaias scaled the ropes, and Theo followed him, attempting to push the pain deeper with each step. Theo braced himself against the hull, taking short bursts of air through pursed lips. He hefted himself up.
“I’m a soldier,” he repeated to himself. “I fight and I live.” He wheezed as he climbed. He wanted to crumple to the ground but couldn’t. He wouldn’t. Adelaide was aboard this ship.I fight and I live.
Theo and Esaias climbed over the railing. The emptiness set the hair along Theo’s neck to spike, and he gazed eerily around the ship. They moved across the wooden planks, each one creaking below their steps. Not a single soldier emerged to challenge them. The rain pelted their skin, but maybe the roaring of the storm hid their arrival.
He spotted the opening in the floorboards leading to the lower decks. Readying his sword and dagger, Theo moved as swiftly as he could across the open deck to avoid being spotted. He ignored any bits of growing emotions swirling within, but they still lingered in the back of his mind. He needed to control them or they would get them killed.
“What are you two doing here?” a woman shouted through the rain.
