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And it swung with the force of a thousand warriors toward its friend. Toward?—

Jezebel.

My sister stood with her hands raised, her fingers splayed. And where she turned, the alpheous turned, too. Where she directed, the lifeless body spun and hurled into the attacking serpent in a head-to-head collision.

Two scaled bodies tangled and splashed back into the water. Jezebel dropped her arms to her sides.

From here, it was clear her small frame was quaking. Whatever power she had displayed weakened her knees.

The rest of us stared.

No more attacks came. Rain lashed down around us.

Finally, Jezebel’s tired voice came through the horn. “Get your Spirits-damned emblem so we can get out of here, Ophelia.”

With the navy alpheous gone, the rubble of the rock it had crushed was easier to pick through. I followed that heated shard pulse within me, throwing aside chunks of stone until I found it nestled between soft layers of moss like a treasure within an oyster.

A tiny, sea-foam-green piece of glass. Round and smooth, it burned where it rolled across my palm. I grasped it tighter, relief washing over me, loosening my joints.

We’d found it.

We had a third emblem.

The storm was picking up around us, rain falling in fat drops. Puddles formed in the rocky crevices, and waves slapped the shores.

“We need to go.” Ezalia was already on her way down the platform to her partner.

Together, we heaved Seron into the rowboat. Ezalia held him as Tolek and I battled rough waters to get back to the ship. The others beat us there and helped get the injured Seawatcher inside the captain’s quarters, protected from the storm.

Vale collapsed beside him, telling us she’d watch over him as she nursed the ankle she’d sprained jumping on the alpheous’s back.

Tolek, Cypherion, and I followed Ezalia’s expert instructions as she guided the ship ahead of the storm to get us back to Brontain safely.

But standing at the stern, quiet and contemplative and refusing to speak, was Jezebel. As I watched her, I thought of what she’d done—the demonstration of power over that sea serpent.

And fear dug its nails into my gut.

Still, it had saved us. Had ensured no one else got injured or worse.

Removing the pearl from the pocket of my leathers, I held it tight within my fist. The heat embedded itself in my skin.

And as I clenched this tiny shard of power, I couldn’t help the realizations from beating down on me. That had been a trial unlike any other—unpredictable and deadly. There were four more of these tokens to be found, each likely guarded as fiercely as this one had been. Why, though?

What were they for?

Why did they require such strong protection? Who didn’t want them found? And why had the spear come so easily, then?

Finding the Seawatcher emblem only raised another world of unknowns, but one thing was certain: this was going to be a hunt harsher than what we’d assumed.

So, we had one more emblem, one more shard of Angel power that I needed to unite, but at what cost?

Part Two

Nike

Chapter Eighteen

Tolek