She wears a tight-fitting suit of turquoise blue, her black, curly hair splayed out in the water. Around her face is a translucent bubble. I watch carefully as her chest heaves in and out. An air bubble for breathing … Ingenious.
“Ignoring me again, Rosalina?” Kairyn breathes, and I quickly tear my gaze back to him. If he turns around, he’ll see her.
“No,” I say. “I mean, I’ve told you everything I know.”
“We both know that’s not true. You are my brother’s mate. Surely, you know of his intentions. Where he could be hiding out. Unless he abandoned you? I wouldn’t doubt it. He abandoned me, after all.”
“Why don’t you get rid of this anti-magic air, and I’ll ask him through our mate bond for you?” I force a smirk and chance a look past his helm again.
The girl has reached the glass and holds up a pointed silver tool. A flash of red explodes where the tool meets the glass. My heart hammers against my chest. She’smeltingthe glass. What kind of fire burns underwater, let alone hot enough to melt glass this thick?
Kairyn stills, then begins to turn.
“Wait!” I cry and grab his arm. We both look at my hand on his armor. Quickly, I retract it. “I do know where he is. I’ll tell you. Just don’t send me to Sira, and I’ll tell you everything. What Ezryn’s doing, where Dayton’s token is. All of it.”
In this one way, Kairyn is similar to his older brother. His body becomes perfectly still, a near statue as he contemplates my words.
Then he looks behind him.
The girl has burned a half-circle into the glass, about two feet long. Her eyes widen as Kairyn looks at her, the expression of surprise strangely familiar.
Kairyn lets loose a bellow. “Guards! Deploy the outer defenses!” He rounds on me. “Treachery! I knew you were lying. You would not so easily give up your mates.”
Of course I wouldn’t. I would die before I let this monster touch one of my men again. Though, his choice of wording is wrong. Dayton isn’t my mate, as much as my heart wishes him to be.
The whirr of the tool becomes audible as the girl quickens her pace. She waves frantically at me, and her meaning is clear.
I’m getting out of here.
I spring past Kairyn, placing my hand close to the glass. It shimmers with heat. Within her little bubble, the girl smiles as I approach, then refocuses on her work. I see now she’s making a circle in the glass. Once it connects all the way around …
“A rescue attempt? How valiant,” Kairyn says. His heavy footsteps reverberate behind me. “Good timing. My defenses are starving.”
A chill runs up my spine as two dark shapes appear in the water behind the girl. She doesn’t notice, too intent on the melting circle. The shapes grow larger and larger until I make them out—
I slam a fist on the glass near her face. “You need to get away now! Go!”
Her light brown eyes widen, and she turns. Two massive sharks torpedo toward her, jaws opening. These are no ordinary sharks, appearing as if they swam straight from the abyssal depths. Sleek and sinewy, their skin is a sickly shade of indigo, almost opaque, as if absorbing every iota of light that attempts to cut through the water. Long, needle-like teeth jut out from their gaping maws.
She kicks off from the glass and darts upward. The sharks surge after her.
Kairyn places his gloved hand in the middle of the melted circle. The smell of burning leather hits my nose. “How irritating,” he murmurs. “Regardless, her blood shall soon paint the glass.”
No, no, no, this was my chance to escape. That girl is risking her life for me. She was so close—the burning circle is almost completed. If only she had a chance to finish.
Adrenaline surges through my veins. I have to get out of here. I don’t know what’s happening to Castletree or my friends or the rest of the realms. My father is sick. My mates are lost, two of them still cursed.
I willnotstay caged.
The heat from the burning glass wavers across my cheeks. Just outside of that is freedom—even if it’s freedom in death. I need to break the glass. But I don’t have a tool like she did. I would need something strong to crack it open.
Something like Spring steel.
“Hey, Kairyn,” I whisper. “That armor looks heavy. Ever tried swimming in it?”
He tilts his helm at me, and I strike. I grab him around the shoulders andpush. He’s huge, but I use the force of his body against him, sticking out my leg so he trips over me. With a roar, I shove his stupid owl helm straight against the heated glass. The sound is a sickening crunch as the helm smashes into the weakened barrier. Shockwaves ripple through my hands. I stumble back and so does Kairyn.
We both take a breath.
