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“Grab my arm, and I’ll shadow-step all of us,” I instructed Ayla.

It took me a single step to reach the shore. Landing, I blinked at the horizon, surprised by the second form that now bobbed beside theUmbral Star.

Ayla stumbled, barely catching herself. “Leo,” she gulped. “She already knows.”

The giant turtle paddled next to theUmbral Star. Side by side, they bobbed in the waves, the turtle dwarfing the ship.

“Vanessa!” Ayla shouted across the waves to our nearest interpreter. “Can you ask Leo if we can shadow-step onto her shell?”

“Let me ask!”

We waited, Vanessa speaking with Leo on our behalf. I turned to Ayla. “What happened?”

“I could ask you the same.”

“I have the shard, that’s what counts.” I did what I had to do.

Still, had I been to slow?

Ayla was fine, shaken but…

I held Ninti close, her gray fur filling my arms. The firewolf would be fine. She had to be…

“Leo’s waiting for you!” Vanessa finally answered.

Nervously, I swallowed. Presumably, the giant turtle wouldn’t be happy with Ayla. Leo may be on our side, but she was deeply possessive of her sister.

“Go,” Ayla insisted, squeezing my arm. “Ninti needs her.”

She was right. Leo might be ancient, her powers unknown, but we needed every ally we had. Even those we didn’t understand.

Our quest had garnered the attention of deities. If we were to have any chance at succeeding, we had to accept our strange new allies.

Just as we had to embrace every aspect of our powers.

Ayla, the starlight. And me, the shadows.

Chapter twenty

Companion of the Firewolf

Ayla

I steadied on the turtle’s massive shell, bracing against Zayne’s arm to catch my balance. My gaze locked on Ninti’s fur, so dull without her light, for only a second before I glanced away.

We stood toward the front of the shell, Leo’s head not far behind us. The canopy of trees towering over us swayed in the breeze, and a carpet of moss spread before us. Sea breeze mingled with the scent of fresh dirt.

Critters scurried closer to us—birds, squirrels, bunnies, and more. They watched us with uncanny intelligence, their wary gazes all locked upon Ninti’s limp body.

What have I done?

I turned at the sound of splashing behind us. Leo lifted her head, sweeping her vast neck to greet us. It took all my resolve to meet her large beady eye.

“Will Ninti be okay?” I asked, clutching the firewolf’s fur.

Leo didn’t answer—she never did, not to me anyway.

“I’m sorry. We never… I never… She was trying to help me with my magic…” I whispered the final words.