“Father. It’s me. Winnie.” My voice comes out breathless. “Please.”
But my father, or whoever this man—this creature—is, shakes his head. The recognition disappears from his eyes. I step back, raising the chunk of earth, but he closes his eyes and vanishes from the spot. More Zenith members begin to jump away.
They’re … fleeing?
The sovereign is nowhere in sight, and the big cat is still grappling with Tiernan. The animal’s head whips toward me, its face riddled with bald patches within the fur. Then suddenly, the cat morphs into human form with tattered clothing hanging off her body. She knocks Tiernan out with a swift cuff to the temple, then grabs the discarded red cloak before vanishing along with Tiernan.
There’s no one left, save for Radika, the stiletto held to Neris’s neck from behind.
My knees quiver as I root my feet. “Radika, it’s over!” I shout. “Everyone’s gone. What do you want?”
“The stone,” Radika says simply.
My lips tug down. I’d thought it lost but, sure enough, there in the grass lies the stone. My memory of the discussion I’d overheard returns; the stone is needed to be given willingly for it to work. I pluck it from the grass. The white bits are still red from the cuts in my palm. From the pocket watch that I melted.
“Winnie,” Neris’s voice sounds far away with my pulse still pounding in my ears. “Don’t give it to her. Let her kill me. You’re more important. The world needs you.”
I look at her with exasperation while she remains still, her head pressed back against Radika’s shoulder, her chest rising and falling rapidly.
“The world needsyou. Ordinary doesn’t make you unimportant!”
“Oh, for the gods’ sake,” says Radika, impatience lacing her voice. “Give me the stone or I will pierce her thro?—”
Her words are cut off as darkness surrounds her legs like fog, vines of shadows looping around and around her body. She drops the blade, shuddering. Then she claps her hands over her head and falls to her knees.
Neris clutches her throat, shock filling her eyes as she backs away from Radika. I glance around as a woman with hair pulled back into two thick braids approaches, shadows clearly swirling around her hands even in the darkness. On her left side is a shorter woman holding a bow, a quiver strapped across her back, and on her right is a taller woman with several long braids down her back and a sword in hand. The Shadow Wielder drops her hand and the vapors dissipate.
It’sher. I’m not sure whether to be afraid or relieved, but Neris runs to stand beside me. “Are you alright?” I ask, not taking my eyes off the three women approaching.
I should know better than to turn away from the enemy, but I suddenly hear Radika’s voice, speaking in that language I’ve heard her utter in the past. I turn to her as her hands start to glow purple from where she’s kneeling on the ground. But she stops abruptly, clutching at the arrow shaft that appears in her chest.
A sick feeling overcomes me, bile searing my throat, pain stabbing through me so fiercely that I break out in a cold sweat. Ashingfills the air as the taller woman pulls a sword from her belt while the shortest of them grabs a fresh arrow from the quiver strapped across her back.
Radika coughs, then closes her eyes and disappears from the spot. When the women are close enough, wide brown eyes meet my gaze.The Dreamwalker.
I nearly laugh with relief, but I can hardly breathe—my chest is on fire.
“Winnie?” The Dreamwalker’s soothing voice pulls my attention.
I nod and Neris links her elbow with mine, holding me close. She’s shaking like a leaf, truly scared.
The Dreamwalker takes in our surroundings, then swallows so hard that it’s noticeable. “Where is he?” she asks. “Where is Tiernan?”
Chapter 64
We arriveto absolute chaos and no sign of Tiernan anywhere. “Where is Tiernan?” I ask Winnie. I hate for it to be my first words to her after everything, but I’m certain more Zenith members will be after us soon. We need to get Tiernan and get out of here before it’s too late.
Winnie mutters something, but she’s looking away while she says it.
I tilt my head to try and catch the movement of her lips, but she’s lost in her thoughts. “Please, look at me,” I say. She turns back to me, her brows furrowed. I point to my ears. “I can’t hear, but I can read lips.”
Surprise washes over her face through evident pain and exhaustion. “Apologies,” she says. “He’s been taken by the sovereign’s enforcer. I don’t know where to.”
“Where was he last?”
“The brig.” Her eyes dart down to my hand that’s trembling from the use of my powers. Ava sheaths her sword and glares at Winnie and her friend. Winnie glances around, her eyes homing in on a dead body in a uniform like hers. She holds her hand out and something flies through the darkness and into her hand. “I can take you to the brig,” she says to me. She opens her palm, avanishing ring resting atop it. “But I need one of your friends to getmyfriend out of here.”
The blond begins to speak, but Winnie shushes her.
