Mizikiel takes a breath and exhales. “Iwillfind out who sent you. If there is a plan to oppose me, I will root it out. Nothing will stand in the way of what must be.”
From behind us, Joe speaks, his voice mechanical and flat. “There is an attack on the obelisk.”
Mizikiel scoffs. “Let them attack. They won’t get to it.” He closes his eyes briefly. “More troops have been dispatched. We’ll have the culprits in our custody soon enough, and these cells…they will be home to all who try to oppose me for the rest of their short lives.”
He turns away, taking me with him, and I know what I need ta do. The attack on the obelisk is the sign. It’s a diversion for Chandra to get to a portway and find Leela, which means it’s time to make my escape.
But I won’t be doing it alone. I’m teken me friends with me.
Chapter 30
YOU CAN KEEP THE PRETTY
LEELA
The sea surrounded us. Endless, gray, and choppy. The storm had ebbed after raging for days, but the winds were still high, whining and whistling across the waves, slapping my cheeks until my skin was numb. The storm would rise again soon enough, so we had to work fast.
Sea spray rocked against the sides of the boat, spilling onto the deck, leaving it awash with foam that swished about our boots before draining back into the ocean.
The ebb and flow reminded me of my dreams. Dreams filled with Araz. He’d visited me every night, and gods, I’d devoured those moments with him, clinging to slumber as long as possible simply to stay in his arms.
Sleep had never been so glorious.
But he hadn’t come to me last night, and the knots in my belly told me that something was wrong.
I needed to get to him fast.
Today.
If the structure hidden beneath the waves was indeed a portway, then I was going through it.
Rajnanga, our Shattiraksha ride, slowed and came to a stop, raising his humongous head from beneath the waves to release a loud baying sound. Foam dripped off his leathery hide in a waterfall meeting the sea.
Behind us, his bale came to a stop, their leathery heads breaking the surface of the ocean to bay in response. Their massive frames formed an arrowhead formation with us at the tip.
“This is as far as the Shattiraksha will go,” Jasha said from his place at the ship’s wheel. There was no need for him to steer while Rajnanga was awake, but he’d kept the post regardless. “What lies beneath the waves beyond could prove lethal to the bale, and being a warrior does not exempt them from self-preservation. They fight to protect the Isle, and the creature beneath the waves lives only to guard the artifact buried here. It has never been a threat to us.”
That made sense. “We’re grateful for you bringing us this far,” I called out, hoping that Rajnanga heard me and understood.
The Shattiraksha turned his head slightly, one huge eye rolling to fix on me.
Yeah, he heard me. He understood me. We were old friends, he and I. The battle turtle had survived a sea serpent attack alongside us during the sea trial and had been gravely injured. He was healed now. As strong as ever and still leader of the bale.
“We should go over the plan once more,” C’ael said, pulling me out of my thoughts.
The water djinn who’d volunteered to come with us gathered close. There were eight in total on this ship and several more on one of the others, all under Ramashi’s command.
The plan was simple. Cause a distraction to draw the creature away from the artifact so that C’ael and I could get to it and escape to the sky world.
The only issue was activation of the portway—if indeed it was a portway. We didn’t know if it was operational or not. What we did know, courtesy of Bhartina, was that the rumored sea portway could only be activated by the Deva and Asura gods. The fact that the devouring force had been targeting the land portways told me this must be true. They must have known that only the land portals could be activated by them.
The Authority had placed restrictions for the sea one. But I had Deva blood, and C’ael was connected to me. We hoped that was enough for us to pass through. As for activation, we’d have to see what happened once we got there. Heck, for all we knew, the artifact might not even be a portway.
But my gut told me that it had to be. Why else would a massive eel make this their territory? Why would they guard it with such ferocity? The settlements around the land portways were indication enough that the Authority would do anything to protect the entrances to their sky world. Somehow luring an electrical eel to this location and manipulating it to make this area its home wasn’t so much of a stretch.
I tuned in to C’ael as he went over the plan.
“I’ll go ahead,” C’ael said. “I’ll get it activated in time for Leela to get there, and we can pass through it quickly.” He said it with such confidence that I believed it would be that easy. He turned to the djinn. “That’s where the Evalia siblings come in.”
