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“Of course.”

“I won’t leave her here.”

Caspian stood up and held out his hand. “I’ll return for her once I have you home. I’ll bring her to the tunnel under my house by water. It’s the safest way.”

Aria nodded. She hesitantly lowered Stacia to the floor, crossing her arms over her chest and smoothing her lavender hair over her shoulders. She took a few moments to neaten the fan of the multi-hued tail and finally closed her sister’s eyes. After another lingering stare, she accepted Caspian’s hand and he pulled her to her feet.

“How did you find her?” Aria asked, a hand against his chest.

“I didn’t. She was brought off a ship. The sailors said they found her floating on the water’s surface. She was already dead.”

She scowled. “They brought her here for the reward. They’re no better than the witch who murdered her.” She glanced up into his face. “Did you do anything to them?”

“I was in shock when I realized who they had and what had happened. I cast a spell on the coins to keep them quiet about what they’d found, but my priority was getting her body up here where I could protect her until I told you.” He took her hand from his chest, kissed her fingertips, and motioned to the door with a jut of his chin. “We must go.”

As he released all the warding spells, he became aware of the shouts and screams from beyond the sanctuary of his office. A horrifying crackle, followed by a thunderous boom that shook the walls. Glass exploded somewhere nearby. Caspian shifted, keeping his body in front of Aria’s as they crossed to the door. He unlocked the door and pulled it open.

Smoke billowed up from the warehouse’s ground floor. Small curls of fire followed the seams between the wooden planks along the walls. Two of the windows he could spot from the top of the stairs were blown out.

Aria fisted his coat at his back. “Caspian, my sister.”

He surveyed the fire, the damage, listened for the loudest commotion, and quickly came up with a new plan. “Wait here.”

Smoke seeped into the office, climbed along the ceiling in tufts of black. The air filled with the overwhelming smell of bonfires. Heat began to rise in the previously protected area. Caspian gathered Stacia’s body, eased her over his shoulder, and hurried to the door.

“Stay close,” he told Aria, leading the way down the smoke-shrouded stairway. She held his coat at the waist, keeping up with his rushed pace. Fire consumed one wall of the warehouse, eating up inches by the second. The storm pounding outside seemed to fuel the flames rather than quench them.

A beam overhead snapped and crashed down, bringing a chunk of the ceiling with it. Aria gasped, jumped against his back as he shielded her from the spray of sparks. Rain poured in through the gaping hole, sizzling as the drops hit the burning wood.

“Hey! He’s got a mermaid!”

“Stop them!”

Caspian spun to face the shouts. Royal guards stormed across the ground floor of the warehouse, waving their arms to disperse the smoke.

“Caspian,” Aria breathed.

“This way. Hold tight.”

He turned on his heel and, after ensuring Aria’s grip, ran through bursts of flame and patches of slick water. He kept the side entrance blocked from the outside, locked from within.

Creaks and yawns from above warned of an imminent collapse. The guards yelled for him to stop, to surrender, their demands lost in a cacophony of barks and screams.

“Keep up, princess!”

He punched his hand out in front of him and released a strong blast of air toward the exterior door.

The metal door tore off its hinges and flipped over and over, landing somewhere in the stormy night. The barrels and crates that had blocked it lay strewn across the grass and muddy path.

As soon as Caspian stepped outside, he twisted, grabbed Aria around the waist, turned her away from the building, and released a burst of fire that engulfed the interior.

The guards’ barks and screams turned shrill and agonized.

He caught Aria’s shocked gasp as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her toward a far pier. The wild wind and pelting rain helped hide them as they escaped the villagers and guards trying to put out the ship fire. Stacia’s weight didn’t hinder his speed, but he slowed to place a concealment spell over Stacia’s body.

“Hold it.”

Caspian skidded to a halt at the end of the head of the pier as two new guards marched toward him. He heard the familiar click of guns being loaded at his back.