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Now, the mob was shifting its focus in our direction. Their yells got louder as the other crowd beached the crest of the hill. I was surrounded. Wildly, I looked around in self-disgust. I would let my family down because I was afraid!

“Jaq! Look at me, not them. You have to run as fast as you can towards the boat and jump.”

“Pal, I can’t!” I cried in panic as flaming flew towards us. Burning death! Pal grabbed my face.

“Run!” Pal yelled and pushed me.

Pal ‘ported’ and I could see outlines on the boat waving. Taking a deep breath, I ran. I closed my mind to the noise and arrows and focused on the ship. This was not easy, and as I ran, terror chased me.

But I raced past the mob and approached the end of the pier. Frantically, I leapt and missed the boat. My hands grabbed the edge of the deck, and I desperately scrabbled for purchase when strong hands pulled me on board. That was when I felt a burning sensation between my shoulder blades.

“Jaq’s on fire!” Ami yelled.

Uralla grabbed a bucket of water and threw it over me just as I screamed in terrible pain. The flames went out in a wet hiss, and I rolled about the deck as people tried to comfort me. My screams were ear-spitting and terrible to behold.

“Get below!” Ricardus cried, picking me up as more arrows flew towards us, setting the boat alight. We headed for shelter. Taran and Julia (my sister Julia) set about with buckets of water.

Anton desperately spun the wheel into a spin, trying to head for the open sea, but the vessel wasn’t gaining speed. We hadn’t even left the harbour.

“Cut the anchor,” Uralla yelled to Father, seeing the issue.

Anton threw him a Carma.

Father plucked it out of the air and began to hack the rope that tied us to Kaltos. Other boats were being boarded now as the hysteria reached an epic peak.

“Kill them! Burn them! Save the children!” the shouts filtered down. All we could do was cower in the hold, afraid of the fire that meant instant death.

Our rejection of Kaltos was as absolute as their dismissal of us. We had never harmed or threatened them. But Kaltons hated us enough to try and harm the innocent and non-Vam’pirs among us.

The boat lurched and came free of its imprisoning tether, and finally, the nightmare was over as it shot forward. It was a while before we spoke, each shocked and profoundly wounded emotionally.

We had never witnessed anything like this before, and we believed without a doubt that the Kaltons intended to kill us tonight. We hadn’t realised how deeply seated their hatred had become. The sight had been terrible to behold.

Taran entered the hold, seeking to ensure we were well.

“Yes,” I whispered.

No, I thought to myself.I am in terrible pain.An arrow had caught me right in the middle of my shoulder blades and burnt me badly. I tried to move but whimpered instead. At once, Inka was at my side, gently peeling the ruins of my tunic from my skin. It was a black and blistered mass. I wept as the others crowded round.

“Here, try this,” Maryn said, holding out a pot.

It was a salve, and once on, it soothed the pain to a dull ache. Then I realised who had given it to me.

“Creator! The children!” I whispered.

“They’re okay; someone is with them,” Inka answered.

“They saw?” I asked, thinking of Mihal and how frightened he must have been.

“Yes, but they are reassured that they are safe,” Ami stated, crouching at my feet.

Ami gently stroked my leg. It was meant to be reassuring, but it wasn’t. In deep shock and pain, I just wanted to curl up and die. The agonising sensation came back, and I realised that the salve was ineffective, which I pointed out. Inka added more, butwithin minutes, it disappeared once again, leaving the agony to resurface fully.

“Leave it,” I demanded after a third application faded in the same amount of time. “It obviously doesn’t work on us.”

I would have to suffer the pain—and the scars that the wound would leave. I considered myself fortunate to escape with my life intact. The emotional wounds would require a long time to heal. What had happened affected everyone on the boat, Vam’pir and humans alike.

Li’zel paced the hold, muttering threats under her breath, and I was afraid of what she might be contemplating. It became clear when she spun around and faced us, crying, “Do you still think they’ll continue to give us blood?”