I flick my gaze back to Mayah’s desperate face, her eyes brimming with an emotion I refuse to name.
“We need to find Sura,” Tumaas says, glancing between us.
“She’s in the children’s tent.” I don’t bother looking at him. My gaze rakes over Mayah, narrowing at the small cuts marring her face. “There’s a safe room dug beneath the floor.”
“You saw her?” Mayah breathes.
“Yeah. I went there first. I thought you might—” I don’t bother finishing the sentence, instead gesturing toward Tumaas. “Go check on her and the kids. They were fine when I left, but that could’ve changed. Stay with them.”
A muscle feathers in his cheek, but he eventually says, “Tides protect you.” Then he and the blond woman dart off.
Mayah raises her glowing hands toward the bleeding gashes on my face. Her hands tremble in my grasp when I pull them down to her sides.
“Save your reserves. You’ll need them.” I cradle her face, tilting her chin to inspect the cuts along her jaw.
“I’m fine,” she whispers, wide eyes tracking my face. “It’s—it’s Arbinj.”
I nod. “They’re here to rescue me.”
She looks stricken. “Do—do you want to be rescued?”
I tear my gaze away.No.
“Even if I return with them, they won’t let anyone here live. So, no, I don’t want to be rescued.” I sheathe my sword. “How are your reserves?”
“Low,” she admits, chewing her lower lip.
“Let’s fix that.”
We run through the camp, stopping and helping where we can, killing any Arbinji soldiers on the way. By the time we reach the kitchens, I feel the sucking drain on my reserves, but the well of my power runs deeper than most.
It’s chaos at the kitchens, wielders hoping to scrounge whatever they can to replenish their reserves. I cut through the crowd, snagging two loaves of bread and three apples, and return to Mayah.
“Eat.” I hand the food toward her. She tears a loaf of bread in half and gives it to me. We eat quickly, and I stash the rest of the food in a deep pocket in my pilfered cloak.
“What now?” she asks.
“We find my mother.”
It’s raining harder when we leave the kitchens, darting through the narrow alleys between still-standing buildings. We round a corner, and a frigid wave of water crashes into us, sending Mayah staggering backward into me.
She’s barely regained her balance when another wave swirls up to our thighs and fuckingfreezes.
Waterwielders.
Three blue-and-white fur-clad warriors stand before us, faces twisted with hatred.
In tandem, they raise their arms—water rises from the ground, forming serrated ice spears. In the next heartbeat, they send them careening toward us.
Mayah stomps her foot and raises a wall of ice to deflect their attacks, before quickly melting the ice around our legs.
“I don’t want to hurt you!” she shouts, hands raising in surrender.
Idovery much want to hurt them, but I let Mayah lead. They’re her people, after all.
A glinting ice spear hurtles toward us.
“Traitor!”
