He’d grown much better than Erinna realized. Her throat ran dry as she watched him move back to the crumbling archways, disappearing among the throng.
Another concussive blast rattled the dirt beneath her feet.
Move, move, move, move. She scrambled farther into the thick vegetation, willing her legs to carry her away from the fray.
A piercing wail assaulted her ears and froze her once again. Someone had gotten to Inez.
Erinna’s chest constricted. She couldn’t just hide. Not while Inez was out there. She’d already lost too much, watched too many people slip through her fingers.
Not Inez. Not here.
Sweat built on her palms. The familiar prickle of Talent bloomed beneath her skin. Ice made its way slowly through her veins.
No. She pushed it down, forcing it into slumber. It would only get in the way at best.
Erinna launched from the thicket. She couldn’t let Inez die here. She didn’t know if her heart could take the loss.
A blast shattered the earth inches from her feet the moment she broke cover, spraying dirt and stones across her shins.
They’d been waiting for her.
Erinna skidded to a halt, scanning desperately for an opening. Four mages—robes marked with academy sigils—and at least a dozen pirates locked in brutal close combat. Too many. Too clustered. No clear path through.
A wet, choking sound erupted beside her.
The elemental mage who’d nearly blown her apart staggered forward, hands clawing at his throat. Blood fountained between his fingers in a scarlet spray, and he crumpled, convulsing once before going still.
Erinna could feel Kane before he spoke. Heat rolled off him in waves. “You need to keep moving, Erinna. Fight or hide. Staying still is death.” He dripped with sweat, hair plastered against his face. Blood stained his clothes and spotted his cheek. Wild fury danced in amber eyes.
“Inez,” Erinna croaked.
Kane hardened. “Go. I’ll find you as soon as I can.” Another piercing scream assaulted the air. Kane’s face distorted in hatred, one of his crew was gravely injured and screaming for help.
Before he left, Kane snatched Erinna’s hand and pressed the hilt of a dagger into her palm. “Please, don’t die.” The words came out raw, barely audible, before he disappeared into the battle once more.
Erinna clenched the dagger, the hilt still warm from Kane’s hand.
Fear, grief, and fury rose to her throat in a tangled web that threatened to unravel her. If she fought alongside the crew of theHellish Rebuke, that would all but seal her fate as a traitor.
If she ran to Damien, threw herself into his arms, and begged for forgiveness, that would be the end of her journey. She’d never get the chance to finish what she started. The fate of her and her family would rest in the hands of newly minted Chancellor Haru Tyril.
Another cry sliced through her thoughts.
No time.
Erinna sprinted toward the source, feet pounding against earth as they carried her forward. She dodged battling mages and pirates, eyes darting in every angle for a sign of Damien. Or the newly appointed Chancellor Tyril.
She scurried beneath the crumbling stone archway, banking right, up the hill where she last heard Inez’s distressed cry.
The sound of battle was muffled by the trees as she continued to climb, legs burning with effort.
“You’re making this more difficult than it has to be. Take Chancellor Tyril’s deal, and your life will be spared.”
She knew that voice. Everything inside her went still. Damien was just beyond the clearing. He was the one who found Inez.
The ground beneath her feet seemed to tilt as her knees threatened to buckle. Erinna had no idea what to do next. She let her feet carry her forward, through the tree line, and came to a stop in the clearing. “You came.”
The world seemed to stop, paused in time as she watched Damien’s features shift from shock, confusion, before landing on concern.
