Thirty minutes. That’s all the time she had to make the most important decision of her life.
Stay on this boat and return to safety, to her friends, to the only life she’d ever known?
Or chase down the tortured male who’d just tried, and failed, to rip her heart out?
He’d dismissed her stories as overly optimistic, useless trifles. But there was more to glean from romance novels than happy endings. And Cael’s unfeeling dismissal fell squarely into thehero makes the ultimate sacrificetrope.
She didn’t dare yet imagine it was for love.
But she knew he was lying when he said there wasnothingbetween them.
Was that seed of hope, no matter how starved, worth risking everything for? Finding a new path and abandoning the order? Gambling her safety in a city about to be plunged into a war?
She glanced down at her wrist, at Letha’s tattoo now almost entirely faded.
If she returned to the order, would she be able to perform the ritual? And even if she could, did she want to?
This little adventure had opened her eyes to the wider world. All the thrills and dangers it had to offer. It might be terrifying, but at least it wasreal.
“Forgive me, Cass,” she whispered, rubbing at her wrist.
She couldn’t go back. Not with so much unfinished business between her and Cael.
The plan she’d made back in Maksym’s dungeon remained incomplete. She’d throw herself upon the mercy of Rhamnos to achieve that final, and most critical, item.
Help Cael heal.
And not just his wing, but his fractured spirit.
Xenianeverleft a to-do list unchecked.
A soft knock sounded at the open door of the berth and a ripple of panic shuddered through her at Captain Krieger’s serpentine eyes. But his genuinely warm smile chased it away.
She scolded herself. Not all Deathstalkers were as terrible as those she’d met these past weeks.
“Hello, Mistress Cirillo,” the Captain bowed slightly as he stepped into the room. “Welcome to theEurybia. Master Stolia has informed us, in no uncertain terms, that we’re to make your trip with us as safe and comfortable as possible. We’re getting ready to disembark. Is there anything we can get you?”
The gold buttons on his red jacket glinted in the rays streaming in through the porthole. He tucked his hands behind his back, tilting his head expectantly.
“Actually,” she said, rising from the bunk, “there is.”
* * *
The ominous bleatof theEurybia’sfoghorn rattled Xenia’s bones as the massive ship pulled away from the dock.
Alone on the empty concrete, surrounded by white-capped waves and circling gulls, she could almost convince herself she was the only person left in the world. Adrift on an open sea with nothing but miles and miles of water leading all the way to the colonies.
To her old life.
To Cass.
But that was not the path she’d chosen.
Xenia hoped her friend would forgive her someday. If she ever saw her again.
She crunched the torn piece of paper in her hand, glancing down at the hastily scrawled address—her sole request of Captain Krieger.
As she turned, the towers of the glittering metropolis winked menacingly in the sunlight like flashy lures on a baited string.
