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Three of Damien’s ships sat untouched by our magic or weapons, ready to attack. I transformed back into my own form. “We could commandeer a ship.”

“No,” Lash shouted from his own deck. “You disable those three. I can clear the flames for us to sail ahead.”

My chest tightened. It didn’t take an eagle’s eye to see that Lash was already on the verge of exhaustion. Feron sat crumpled in his chair beside him. “You said the flames were too wild to tame?”

Lash shook his head. “It only takes more power to tame them and you broke the seal. I can get us across.” He folded his arms over his chest, slowly like a mountain growing higher along the horizon.

Killian pulled the rigging along the sail to prepare for the new course. “If we time it right, it shouldn’t take more than a few seconds.”

I swallowed. And if we didn’t, every single person on our ships would be risking their life.

Killian’s jade eyes locked on mine. There was something warm in them, a complete trust in this plan, a complete trust in me.

At least that made one of us.

Vrail pointed at the edge of the ship. “We can tether our ships together. Shorten the distance Lash has to quell.”

“Do it.” I nodded down at them. I turned to Lash. “You’re certain you can do this safely?”

Lash nodded, his violet eyes hard with resolve. “Those flames will not touch our ships.”

I took a deep breath, feeling the edges of my magic. I still had more power than the others, but not for long. We needed to be precise and we needed to be quick.

“You’ve trained me well.” I smiled down at Lash and received a boyish smile in return. He nodded and tied the rope that Nikolai threw at him along the edge of the ship.

I jumped from the mast and let my wings carry me to the enemy once more. I soared toward them, relishing the feel of this body, so powerful yet completely cut off from my magic. In this form, I had no healing gift, I had no flames or gusts, I only had my wings.

But they were enough.

I disappeared into the clouds and dove. This time I didn’t rake my blades down the long black sail, but let my body plummet into the sea. The cold, icy water wrapped me in its clutches and I transformed.

My cheeks bulged as I held my breath under one of the hulls and swirled my arm, collecting sharp shards of ice to form a giant arrow’s head around my hand. I slammed it into the wood and felt it splinter.

I pulled myself free and swam a few feet before doing it again and again and again. The ship was already sinking by the time my head popped out of the sea. The soldiers along the other decks pointed at me and fired, but I waved my hand and a wall of water shielded me from their arrows and swords. I let the wall grow higher and higher until it towered over the mast of their ship and then I let it fall.

The water sliced through the wood like an ax. The ship splintered in two and the soldiers shrieked as they slipped along the deck and into the sea. I pulled myself onto the third ship and froze the surface of the sea completely, leaving the men to drown.

The remaining soldiers were readying their swords as I climbed, but with a single push of my power a gust of wind lurched into their still-intact sail. The soldiers fell to their knees from the sharpmovement, some falling on their own blades. I pulled the gust out of the sail and it split into dozens of tiny streams that wrapped around each soldier’s neck.

I took a deep breath as I pulled those men’s last breaths from their chests. They crumpled as one. I ran my hand along the ship and left a line of flames that rose behind me until the mast and sail were lit. Then I jumped off the stern and let my wings carry me to my kin.

They had passed the wall of violet flames unscathed, but from the air I could see that most of them were huddled along Feron’s ship. Nikolai’s wail echoed over the burning fire and the screaming soldiers. It pierced my chest before I saw its cause.

Lash was laying on the deck. His violet eyes open but pale.

I dropped to the ship in my Fae form and ran to him. “No!” I shouted. “No!”

I called that warm flow of power forward, but there was nothing warm left for it to latch onto. It stopped, stagnant, unable to do anything for the brave Fae.

Tears welled in my eyes as I turned to Feron. “Do something!” I begged.

Feron merely shook his head, a tear rolling down his cheek. “There is nothing to be done, child.”

“But he said … he said he could do it.” I choked. “He said we would all be safe.”

Syrra’s gentle hand found my back. I turned and saw that her dark eyes were red and filled with tears. “He said the flames would not touch the ships and they did not. He knew the choice he made.”

Nikolai wailed harder, and Vrail wrapped her arms around him in some attempt at comfort. Elaran found Gerarda’s hand and didn’t let go.