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Naia tugged to free her hand from Mira’s heel. Adrenaline pulsated in her veins, dissipating her physical pain. “Mother, it was me!”

Mira turned her head towards the enormous crystal cut doors of the great hall and whistled loudly. The call was familiar, a long, high-pitched sound she’d heard Finnian do hundreds of times when beckoning Alke.

Naia’s pulse slammed in her throat. She lifted her free arm to shove Finnian’s small frame aside. “Mother, listen, I beg of you! Please! Do not do this! It was me who stole your jewel. Finnian had nothing?—”

Alke announced its presence with a majestic call, soaring above the guests and beneath the vaulted ceiling.

As commanded, the bird landed on Mira’s forearm.

A Boyden’s loyalty was first and foremost to High Gods over their masters. Until Finnian possessed such a title, Alke would have no choice but to choose Mira’s order over his.

“Mira.” Father’s plea came out hoarse. He took another step, but Mira paid him no attention as her milky gaze flashed to Alke.

From the first time she’d caused Finnian physical pain, it had not made a difference. For Finnian’s most frustrating quality was his stubbornness. It only took him enduring her wicked punishment once to understand physical harm could not kill him.

The second time Mira had punished him with pain, Finnian writhed on the sand with the goddesses’ ribbons of water worming in his veins, clotting his blood. The sight was horrendous. Naia fought Vex and Malik to get to him, to no avail.

When Mira relented, Finnian sat up after his body repaired itself and leveled Mira with a defiant look that said, you cannot break me.

And after four centuries of learning to decode every shift and movement of Mira’s face, Naia knew precisely what her next move would be.

Hysteria crashed down on Naia, and she tore her hand free from Mira’s heel and shot up. “Mother, please! Beat me! Hit me! Drown me! Do whatever you wish, but please do not?—”

White foam gushed from the bird’s beak. No.

Finnian froze beside her, watching in horror.

Naia jumped, flailing her arms in the air to spook the bird. “Alke, fly away!”

Alke squawked. No longer able to keep himself balanced on Mira’s arm, its spasming body fell. Mira caught hold of the bird’s neck, and all sense of rationality snapped in Naia’s brain.

Without thinking, she seized Mira by the arm, lifted, and swung.

Mira flew across the hall. Her body collided with the crystal wall and shards scattered. Overhead, the chandeliers trembled on their bases.

The hall descended into chaos and disorder. The sight of bodies stumbling, coupled with the jarring sound of shocked hisses, left behind a void filled with swirling smoke and empty spaces as the majority dispersed.

Naia gaped down at her hand, stunned by her own strength. Then, her eyes fell to a limp and lifeless Alke at her feet. Her brother down on his knees, his movements slurred. Hands shaking in the air, hovering over his dead bird.

“How dare you lay your hand on me!” Mira’s voice resonated like an earthquake, quivering in Naia’s bones.

She is going to mutilate me?—

Mira moved swiftly, making it impossible for her to be seen.

Roots exploded through the floor, bursting forth like thick fingers tearing through the earth. They seized Mira inches from Naia, plucking her up by the arms and hurling her into the ceiling. The arches crumbled under the weight of the roots, ensnaring her in their grasp.

Father stood in front of Naia, hand drawn up, commanding the roots with a bolstering power unknown to her.

“Naia, take your brother and go.” His voice was booming, godlike.

She couldn’t pull her eyes off him; off the sight of Mira, suspended from the ceiling like a helpless insect, filling the room with a cacophony of furious screams trembling the furniture.

Solaris wrenched Naia by the arm. She stumbled on her feet into his chest, and he pushed her towards Finnian. “Naia!” he snarled. “Go!”

Her senses snapped back into focus, and she reached for her little brother, hugging Alke’s corpse, and she forced him up onto his feet.

Together, they ran.