The image of the swirling gray sky seemed to waver, and I realized therewassomething there — something magical, like a ward or . . . a portal.
Just then, Adriel clambered into the chamber, glowering at our rescuer before making a wide path around him to reach the portal that would take us back to Dorthus.
“This is it,” he said, staring through the shimmering veil that stretched out over the rising tide.
“Come with us,” I said suddenly, turning to the vampire. “Be free from this place.”
Sorsha gasped. Adriel looked murderous. But I held the vampire’s dark gaze, scouring the corners of my mind to remember where I’d seen him before.
The male’s haggard face seemed to soften, but then he shook his head. “I am bound to the Watchman by more than just chains.”
I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but Adriel cut me off. “Lyra, we need to go.”
Right on cue, water rushed into the chamber, washing over the tops of my boots.
I nodded, still holding the vampire’s gaze as I crossed tothe portal. Sorsha followed, moving along the edge of the wall to keep her distance from the vampire.
Adriel waited for her to step through the portal, and I held my breath as she jumped. Even though I knew it was there, part of me still expected the princess to plummet into the icy waves below. But she merely vanished.
The royal guard went next, shooting my rescuer one last glare before leaping over the edge into the shimmering abyss.
More water gushed into the chamber, lapping at my ankles. It seemed to hiss at me as it seeped through my pants, as if it sensed I was about to escape.
Shuddering, I edged toward the portal, heart hammering in my throat. The air over the crashing waves seemed to shimmer, distorting the silvery forks of lightning slashing down from the sky.
Reluctant to leave the vampire after he’d saved my life, I turned. But he was already gone.
Chapter
Eight
LYRA
Ilanded painfully on my side, my shoulder screaming as it slammed into the ground. The scratches along my face prickled in the howling wind, and dust coated my airways.
Planting a hand in the sloshy layer of rock, I pushed myself up and opened my eyes. The portal had dropped me on a desolate spit of land covered in coarse black pebbles.
No, not pebbles.Cinders. The air was choked with ash and dust, blotting out the sun.
A sudden gale swept across the landscape, and I held up a hand to shield my eyes. Squinting through the cloud of debris, I scoured the area for any sort of landmark, but the blackened, cinder-covered earth stretched as far as I could see.
Then it hit me.
Cinders.
A volcano.
The portal had dumped us in the Barrens of Dorthus.
Adriel was already on his feet, donning the tatteredlinen shirt that he’d shed to swim beneath the Tower of Souls. He stared at the garment in distaste before his wings ripped through the back of the shirt, unfurling behind him. Like Kaden’s, Adriel’s wings were black and membranous, each tipped with a sharp talon.
My stomach clenched with unease at the sight of them. Adriel summoning his wings meant that he thought we might have to make a quick getaway.
I turned to Sorsha, who lay sprawled on the ground, her hand clamped over her neck. Blood dribbled down her shoulder, and her skin was unnaturally pale.
“Are you all right?” I asked, kneeling beside her to get a better look at the wound. A series of gashes marred her smooth skin, and I realized the violence of the fangs’ removal had made the wounds much worse than a typical vampire bite.
The princess gave a quick nod and got to her feet, though she looked more shaken than I’d ever seen her. I thought about offering to draw a rune to heal her, but so far I only seemed to be able to wield my magic successfully in the face of imminent peril. Even with her own power depleted from centuries spent on the Isle of Cragsmuir, I suspected the princess would have a better chance of healing herself.
