Theo.
Was she still alive? Her ears were ringing, her vision swimming.
Theo’s hands were joined by another more delicate pair, and she was hauled to shaky feet as she gazed into steadfast, blue-gray eyes. The woman supporting her was beautiful, radiating a strength and confidence that calmed her frenzied fears.
“You’re going to have to jump,” the woman said, in a husky voice completely at odds with her small stature. “Can you tread water?”
She nodded, tried to open her mouth to answer that she could swim, but her lips refused to obey.
“Good,” the woman answered. “Wait in the water for the lifeboats.”
Without another word, the woman helped her over the wrecked remains of the cabin walls and she held Theo’s hand as they plunged into the dark, churning waters of the Sea of Thetis.
Xenia pulled the vial away from her wrist and re-corked it, reeling in both shock and excitement at the sight of Cassandra in the young woman’s memory.
If the survivors of that shipwreck were here in Meridon, there was a good chance her friend was too.
* * *
Xenia pokedher head out of the extraction room, tucking a few wayward curls into the silk fabric wrapped over her hair.
The hallway was empty and silent, no sign of Sister Jorina.
If she could escape the Temple unseen, perhaps she could find the other survivors. And Cassandra. Xenia had no doubt that Tristan would be with her. Where Cassandra went, Tristan was sure to follow. Like an over-sized, lovestruck puppy.
Xenia knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that the hulking Vestian was over the moon for her friend. But Cassandra could be willfully oblivious to that kind of attention.
Xenia stepped into the hallway and plastered herself against the cool stone wall. She crept around the corner and aimed for the wooden door to the atrium.
The door opened and Xenia dashed to hide behind it, grabbing the iron handle to hold it in place. Swift footsteps whispered down the hallway followed by Sister Jorina’s soft voice.
Xenia ducked out from behind the door and rushed up the shallow steps into the atrium, startling two Sisters conversing on a stone bench.
“Praise Letha,” Xenia muttered as she passed.
“Praise Letha,” the two women echoed, inclining their heads and tracking Xenia’s movements with suspicious eyes.
“Sister Arelinn!” Sister Jorina shouted.
Xenia bolted as the Sister rushed into the courtyard, her cries causing the two other Sisters to fly out of their seats.
Xenia didn’t dare look behind her as she tore open the iron gate and rushed into the street, hiding among the flowing crowd. She ducked behind a wide marble lamp post.
The Sisters gathered inside the gate, scanning the street beyond but disinclined to leave the grounds, even to chase an intruder.
Xenia waited until the three Sisters had abandoned their perusal of the crowd, then scanned the street for the tell-tale serpent’s eyes of Maksym’s Deathstalker henchmen.
Spying none, Xenia pushed away from the lamp post and headed down the sloping avenue towards the concrete dock surrounded by glittering turquoise water. Surely that’s where the survivors of the shipwreck would’ve come ashore.
Xenia approached the water’s edge, sweat beginning to coat the back of her neck under her heavy fall of curls in the midmorning heat. She stepped up onto the concrete dock, raising a hand to shield her eyes from the light glinting off the rippling, crystal clear water.
She spied a frenzy of activity out on the horizon, several small vessels and winged forms bustling over the surface. Likely searching the wreckage of the ship. Xenia said a silent prayer to the High Gods that no one had perished.
The dock was crammed with tourists. Mostly Fae from the continent, based on their sleek, skin-baring outfits and the commstones tucked beneath their earlobes. A rare sight within the colonies, the violet stones allowed all sub-species of Fae to send the windwhispers that only Windriders were otherwise capable of.
Xenia turned back to survey the lovely city behind her. She wished she were visiting under different circumstances and that Cass was here with her.
A flapping pair of iridescent black wings thundered into the sky several blocks away and her stomach hollowed out.
