Vance’s black eyes lower to Mestyla. “I’ve asked Daya.”
He keeps his arms crossed for so long that I assume Isla’s grandmother has refused to let him make a Serpent of my niece. But then he crouches, frees the dagger from Mestyla’s chest, and holds it up to Isla who blinks hard before taking possession of it. As fresh blood dribbles off the short blade, my fiancée steps back.
And back.
Suddenly, she freezes, stares down at her hands, and shudders. “This is… This is the image from the prophecy.”
“You’ve all lost your fucking marbles!” Ksenia stumbles forward, her bound hands and long skirt causing her to trip as she runs toward Vance who’s stooped over our niece, already lapping at her wound.
“Do not interrupt him.” I enclose the Serpent and Mestyla inside a dome of air that she desperately shoves against.
“What do you think she’ll do if his venom takes?” Ksenia screeches.
She’ll tell me truth.
“She’ll come after me! She’llkillme!” Ksenia’s voice splinters the air.
“I won’t let her.” My cheeks tick. “Unless you betrayed our family, that is.”
A hailstone streaks down between us. I craft a second shield over my head and Isla’s, then stretch it out just far enough to also shelter Ksenia from the fast-approaching thundersnow.
My sister glances up at the sky, mouth pinched in shock that I’d guard her from the elements. In truth, evenI’mshocked. I could claim my protection is a kneejerk reaction born of habit, but that would be a lie. Deep down, it’s a final attempt to cling to the possibility that our familial bond isn’t beyond repair.
Stare affixed to mine, Ksenia backs away. And then she whirls and trudges back to the sleigh. The silence of her retreat…of her rejection tolls through my marrow.
“Make sure she gets on the sleigh,” I instruct the soldier standing behind Vance, the sword-happy one currently lobbing fire at the hailstones.
He seems loath to go after her, nevertheless, he follows orders. I even catch him exchanging words with my sister, who hisses at him to be quiet.
Aodhan flies after them, swerving to avoid the incoming orbs of ice, before plummeting on the bench seat beside Ksenia.
Isla sidles near me and rests her head on my shoulder. “To give her a second chance is incredibly noble of you.”
I think she means Ksenia, but her attention is on Mestyla. Would she think less of me if she knew that my objective wasn’t honorable? I tug the dome of air that entrenches Vance and Mestyla over our heads to free one of my hands, then curl my arm around Isla’s waist and hold her tight.
A raspy gasp suddenly rents the air, followed by a possessed spasm. Mestyla’s body jerks and trembles as Serpent magic floods her veins, painting her milky eyes black, and her white hair burnt-carmine.
She slaps a hand across her forehead, where a trickle of black blood heralds the advent of a tusk. Upon seeing the stain, her lashes reel high. She gawks at her maker, whose mouth and nose are still scarlet with her old human blood, then at Isla, then at me.
“We’ll have to head into the ocean to complete the change,” Rossi says.
A rush of air slips through Isla’s teeth. “But the orcas?”
“They know their place.” I’d heard the Serpent had braved my oceans and had drawn quite the crowd doing so. “The only catch will be getting in and out of the agitated surf, since Imogen has yet to return, and this girl probably doesn’t have the faintest clue how to swim.”
“I’ll fly you there,” Isla volunteers as Mestyla watches on likewe’djust been turned into mythical creatures.
Vance wipes his mouth on his knuckles. “When you’re in your other form, can you reach out to your father to check on Imogen? I know she’s busy with Salom, but she hasn’t been replying to me, which isn’t like her.”
43
KONSTANTIN
Isla’s stare trips off the new Serpent and lands on Vance. They carry out their chat in Serpent, making me wish I’d taken the time to learn this foreign tongue.
“Do any of you have news from my general?” I bark at my soldiers over the galloping blusters of wind.
“He left for Voshna on a Crow,” one of them replies unhelpfully.
