A deafening screech from above pulls everyone’s attention upward, to the enormous dark silhouette that circles the castle.
My stomach drops. “That’s Caindra.” She’s even bigger than we first thought.
“She’s here for you,” Gesine murmurs, a mix of awe and fear in her voice.
Jarek curses. “And she’ll tear apart Cirilea. We must leave before she has the chance.”
I open my mouth to protest, but he grabs my shoulders and meets my eyes, sincerity in his. “We will come back for the others when it is safe. You and me.”
With reluctance, I mumble, “Okay.”
We rush for the sanctum.
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
ANNIKA
Tyree holds me at dagger point as we watch the mortals flood the many ships and skiffs at the shoreline in the distance, our ship halfway out of Cirilea’s bay.
“You’re destroying my dress, mongrel,” I snarl, fighting the urge to inhale the sweet orange blossom scent of his blood. It may be poisonous, but it smells divine. The worst sort of tease when I’m craving.
Tyree answers by tightening his grip around my waist. “Maybe you shouldn’t have stabbed me with a merth blade.”
“I suppose if you bleed out, it’ll be worth the loss of fine silk.”
His deep mocking laughter curls into my ear. “If only I had a belt. Oh, wait.” He loosens his grip around my waist long enough to untie my sash and yank it through the loops. Wrapping it around his thigh with one hand, he orders, “Tie it.”
He’s already ruined my dress with stains, now he ruins its shape. “With pleasure.” I grab each end and yank as hard as I can over the wound, earning his howl of pain. It gives me just enough leverage to elbow him in the stomach and break free. I get all of three steps before a heavy weight lands on top of me, pushing me down. My face smashes against the ship’s wooden deck floor.
“Where do you think you’re going?” His tone is mocking, his body pressed uncomfortably against mine. “We are at sea.”
“Then there is no reason for you to be lying on me like this,” I force through gritted teeth.
In seconds, I’m hauled back to my feet, and we resume our position of captor and captive, my own blade being used against me as I watch Cirilea shrink.
The Tempest’s captain hops down from the navigation deck, studying my ruby ring in his grip. Tyree used it to barter our way onto the ship. I’d led him where he wanted to go and prayed that he would honor his promise and not kill me. He did something worse—forced me to leave with him.
“Winds are light. It’ll take us at least three days to reach Northmost,” the sea captain announces.
“Northmost. No, I want out of this insipid realm,” Tyree growls. “You are taking us to Westport.”
My mouth falls open. Skatrana?
“With the sirens? Are you mad?” The ship’s captain shakes his head, holding up my ring. “Besides, this won’t cover a trip like that.”
He’s arguing in my favor and yet my anger flares. “That ring will be the most valuable thing you ever hold in your pathetic life,” I snap. It was my mother’s. “The king will have your head for being a party to this, you know?”
The captain smirks. “Which king is that? The exiled one or the one whose city has fallen?”
I look back to my home, in flames. But it’s the large shadow circling above the castle that catches my attention. I squint to try to make it out.
That isn’t smoke.
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
ROMERIA
My lungs burn by the time we push through the cedar tunnel and emerge in the royal garden. The mortals and keepers have overwhelmed the king’s guard and breached the castle walls with weapons. Through the windows are silhouettes of people inside, rushing along the castle’s halls, some chasing guards, others being chased.
“We are not joining this fight, Romeria,” Jarek warns.
“But they’re going to destroy everything.”
“As will that beast above us if we do not get you out of here.” He urges the five of us forward through the grounds.
It’s unusually quiet here. The guards have abandoned their posts to fight elsewhere. The few left behind are already dead. I peer upward in time to catch the corner of a wing before Caindra vanishes behind a plume of smoke and cloud. Jarek’s right. With that in mind, I run alongside Gesine, who struggles to keep pace with the others.
Ahead is the infamous rose garden, a circular pattern of bushes and paths fanning out into hedge all around, the last of the fragrant blooms clinging to their branches. They still haven’t rebuilt the water fountain Princess Romeria destroyed.