Page 35

“Did you hear that?” she whispers.

I shake my head, though my pulse quickens. The uneasy stillness around us feels almost...

Before I can dismiss the thought, the boat rocks violently; Akilah stumbles back, and I lurch forward, my heart hammering. Daggers flash before us, glinting in the moonlight.

“Stay back!” I shout, and grit back frustration as I throw down the contents of my pockets. “Take it. Just take it and go!”

One scoops up my meagre fortune while another says urgently, “This isn’t—”

“They’ve seen us now.” He tucks my coin into his belt and scouts the boat for more.

He grunts, grabbing at Akilah and dragging her toward the side of the boat. My heart seizes as I reach for her—but she doesn’t need me.

She drives her elbow into the man’s stomach, spins free, and snatches a pole. With a sharp swing, she cracks it against his ribs, sending him and our money sprawling into the canal.

“Next!” Akilah shouts, whirling the pole, her gaze on fire—and I’m rather impressed.

The other two hesitate, their daggers still raised. One lunges toward me, but Akilah sweeps his legs out from under him. “Hands off!” she snaps.

The final—the youngest—steps back, his knife trembling.

I pause, squinting at him in the moonlight.

His eyes widen, his pale face illuminated by the faint glow of the lantern on our boat.

It’s the boy who stole the tithiscar, who hid with me and lured the luminists away.

Before I can say more, a gust of wind sweeps across the canal and another boat glides into view.

A figure shifts at the bow. His form is strong and confident, and his hair whips around him with lingering magic.

I blink, heart stuttering as his form takes more precise shape. Could it be...?

But there’s no cane, no stiffness. This magic is soft, almost sweet, like the calm that comes after a storm.

And then I see his face. My breath catches. “Silvius.”

His gaze focuses, then widens in shock. With a graceful leap, he crosses the gap between boats, propelled by a gust of air.

He eyes the boy and Akilah and laughs. “A reunion, I see.”

Akilah regrips her pole, like she’s not sure she won’t need it again. I pat her arm and she lowers it slowly.

Silvius smirks at this and then confiscates the boy’s knife, wagging it at him in gentled reprimand. “What’s your name, boy?”

The boy gulps and stammers, “River.”

“You grip it like this, see?” Silvius shows him and lowers his voice. “And you only point it at your enemy.”

River gulps again, and Silvius pats his head and turns towards me with a half-smile. “Amuletos. I feared I’d drag you into my mess.”

Mess.This isn’t. Had they been meant for Silvius, but jumped too early?

The lurch of the boat under me snaps me back to more pressing matters. “I’m sorry. I have to— My niece...” I swallow.

Silvius reads my urgency without a word. He signals to his aklos, and they leap onto our boat and spring into motion, gripping poles and cutting through the water with practised efficiency.

He smiles kindly at me. “Let me get you there faster.”