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Kiyana actually managed a small smile. “Which makes you the enemy of both sides then, I think. Because neither is interested in peace, not unless it comes by their winning.” Her eyes moved back to Arden.

“What Mariana doesn’t know is that when the wall came down, the magic of the Black Tails strengthened.

It was pulling a bit from all of them, and now their full powers are restored.

Perhaps it isn’t enough that it would change the tide of the battles—obviously the Black Tails hadn’t thought it was enough to matter, or they wouldn’t have sacrificed it.

But my contacts among the Awakened have said it’s like waking up well again after having a cold.

They hadn’t really noticed the loss, but the restoration is keenly felt. ”

Arden wondered, not for the first time, who her contacts were. “Any word of my sister?”

Kiyana’s curls bounced when she nodded. “They are desperate to Awaken her. The islands nearest to them are being battered by a hurricane, but they should be en route soon to another, farther away—closer to us here, actually. Their plan is to arrive tomorrow.”

“You’re certain?”

Kiyana’s chin came up. “My contact overheard the plans. She is stationed in the palace that Finn and his cohort are occupying.”

“Do you know which island?” Seidon was even then reaching into his pocket and pulling out his portable reader, the crystal with his maps already loaded. He tossed the projection into the air and spun it to face Kiyana.

She pointed without hesitation to a small island in the chain they’d been watching.

Closer, yes. But still too far. Ora wouldn’t be able to reach it in time, not unless they left today. But if they did that, they’d outpace the fleet, and Seidon had been very clear about staying within range of backup at all times.

Logical. Reasonable. Rational.

But Jade .

His hand settled on her shoulder. “We have this covered. You already know what to do. Don’t panic. Don’t second-guess. Stick to the plan.”

She dragged a shaking breath into her lungs. Those were easy words to say, easy ones to agree to in the safety of the palace, with her husband by her side, her father and the rest of the council of High Guardians looking on, and Storm promising to be the one closest at hand, to be that backup.

But out here, when she was so keenly aware that her sister would be killed when they realized she wasn’t the one they’d wanted? How could she not panic?

“If I don’t get there in time, they’ll kill her.” The words came out in a strangled whisper. “Maybe we should leave now—”

“No. You can do this, Arden, like we planned.”

Could she? That storm was so far away, so huge, so beyond what any human had ever controlled before. She shook her head. “I can’t. I haven’t had enough time to practice, it’s too much. Too big. Too soon.”

He spun her to face him and cupped her face between gentle palms. “For you alone, yes. It’s too much for any of us alone.

But the Triada has given us these gifts to act on his behalf.

It is not you, my love. It is him, working through you.

You are just the vessel. And you have been shaped by his capable hand. ”

It wasn’t that she doubted the Triada—wasn’t that she doubted Seidon, whose touch sent a combination of peace and desire coursing through her.

It was herself she doubted. Because she wasn’t Jade, born so beautiful, so capable of instilling confidence and love in people, so quick to make friends and allies, who probably could have charmed the wind with a crook of her finger even without magic, had she tried.

She wasn’t Seidon, who’d had centuries to grow his magic, to perfect it, to learn all the lessons the Triada had for him, so that his heart was as capable of remaining pure as his magic was of ruling the seas.

She wasn’t her father, who had used determination and willpower to become the best a man could be, who had given years upon years in service and who knew so well how to lead.

Or Storm, who would sacrifice his dreams for love if he had to but who would use those dreams to save that love when the situation flipped.

She was just her. The sidekick. The one with good eyesight but too little mass to be useful on a dive. The one with no dreams. No skill. No experience. No charm.

It wasn’t that she thought the Triada had chosen the wrong girl, exactly. But…what if she failed him too?

Her mother’s shadow fell over her as she circled, a moment of cool against the fire of uncertainty. And then Ora landed, close enough to send Kiyana back a step in caution, and curled an enormous wing around the two of them.

The fears stilled. The anxiety washed away. The doubt sank into the sand.

The Triada had promised to shelter them in the shadow of his wing—and here they were, living a physical manifestation of the metaphor. If she couldn’t cling to this, let go of her insecurities in the face of the miracle, then she didn’t deserve all the gifts she’d been given.

Kiyana’s gasp made Arden aware of what she’d done without realizing it—pulled the wind into a circle outside theirs, rushing over and around and making all still within their little sphere. The mer gaped at her. “It’s…it’s you. Not your sister. They took the wrong one.”

The peace settled. Whether she felt like it or not, she was the one the Triada had chosen.

The one he had made. The one he had put here, now, for this purpose.

“And that’s why we have to rescue her before they can perform an Awakening.

” Arden sent the wind scattering again and reached out to her friend.

Really, they didn’t know each other well. They’d met only a handful of times over the course of a few short weeks. Either of them could have betrayed the other. Neither had a reason to trust beyond desperation.

And yet they did. When she held out her palm, Kiyana put hers in it, and the blaze of light in her eyes said she understood the stakes too. The mermaid nodded, fierce and determined. “Tell me what you need me to do, Wind Wielder.”