“Mele and Fiona must be in hiding or hurt. I don’t know what to do!” Nell got up and paced the room too. “Our clan’s land is a two-hour run from here, all the way at the south end of the island. But I’m not sure our father can do much better than me.”
“What does that mean?” I waited, and when neither said anything, I screamed, “What does that mean?”
Rue swallowed. “Maybe if she’s in a restorative sleep, she’ll eventually wake up on her own…”
I strode closer to the bed and leaned toward Nell, narrowing my eyes.
“But…” I swallowed. “You don’t think that’s what this is.”
Nell shook her head, but this time, Rue answered.
“Kaja’s vital signs aren’t strong enough for this to be a restorative sleep.”
Which meant she was dying.
No way in hell would I let that happen.
I paced the room, frantic to think of something… anything…to save my friend. The colors of the sky deepened to black as I stared out the window, and then the answer hit. With a triumphant grin, I spun toward Kaja’s sisters. “Didn’t Justice go to Dark Row and get a potion to heal me?”
Nell’s eyes widened, and Rue paled.
“We need to go there. Surely we can find a potion maker there who can heal her.”
Nell glanced at Rue, and my gaze followed, but Rue dropped her chin to her chest.
“Well?” I asked Nell. “Can we do it?”
After a hard swallow, Nell said, “I don’t know how to get there.”
Crap. That was the reason I needed them; I had no idea either.
“Rue?” Nell prodded, her voice filled with sympathy. “Please? It’s for Kaja.”
When Rue lifted her chin, her eyes swam with tears. She nodded, but her expression was lined with terror. “We’re going to need a boat.”
There was a story there, one I wanted to hear later. Right now, I didn’t care how Rue knew how to get to Dark Row; I just needed to get there.
As for a boat … pretty sure the selkies were royally pissed with us right now, but if I had to swim with the murderous warriors to save my friend, so be it.
“I know where we can find one,” Nell said. “Let’s get Kaja and head out.”
The night was pitch dark. The campus lights remained off, but we weren’t the only ones carrying a makeshift stretcher with a body on it. I saw at least a dozen bodies still on the ground on our way to the boat docks, most of them royal guards.
We left the campus proper and wound down a set of steep wooden stairs to a dock. Several boats were moored there, at least a dozen, and I nearly bumped into Nell when she drew to a stop.
“Are you sure it’s safe for me to return?” a man growled, his voice familiar. “Protect the ruler above all. Remember?”
Oh. My. Frickin’. Mother. Mage.
I knew that voice.
Nell pushed us off the path and into the shrubbery surrounding the dock.
“Yes, sir,” another man said. “The attack is over.”
I watched, feeling equal parts fascination and disgust, as King Declan snapped his fingers toward a boat, and two guards disembarked, joining the three other shifters on the dock.
“Malik, I want every student and teacher with an eyewitness account of the attack to be in my office in the morning. I will find which clan is involved in getting these usurpers on my island and obliterate them!”
