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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

INAN

D AY TURNS TO NIGHT.

The storm rages beyond our cave.

I sit at the mouth, silent as I watch the falling rain.

Everything it took to escape the Skulls plays through my mind. Their brutal fists. Their bronze smiles. I wonder what it will take to defeat them for good.

I wonder how to keep Zélie alive.

I glance over my shoulder to find her sitting by the fire. She hasn’t moved since we entered the cave. She clutches the wool wrapped tight around her chest, staring at the dancing flames.

Despite how many times I’ve asked, she won’t tell me what happened after they took her. I don’t have a clue what she knows. But the girl who was taken from the cage is not the one who sits here now.

Her white hair spills over her dark shoulders like a cloud. Every wound she had before has disappeared. The way she walked onto the beach, it was as if she called forth the storm. She squeezes her eyes shut whenever lightning cracks from above.

And then there’s my magic.…

I lift my own scarred hands. With a push, the blue wisps of my old powers come forward again. A curse I reached for every night on that horrid ship, reignited the moment Zélie’s fingers met my skin.

Everything I wanted to protect Zélie from on that vessel already feels like it’s come to pass. There’s not one scar on her body, yet I’ve never seen her look so afraid. The way she stares at the fire, it’s as if something inside her has died.

The Skulls have done something to her. She’s changing, right before my eyes. How can I keep her out of Baldyr’s hands if she won’t tell me what she knows? How can I protect Or?sha from the Skulls’ attack?

If she won’t talk, then I’ll find out for myself.

My magic burns as it pushes free from my wounded hand, gathering around my fingers in a turquoise cloud. For so long magic has been the only way for me to get through Zélie’s walls. The only time she’s been forced to let me in. If I can just peek inside her mind, then I’ll have another clue.

I may discover what King Baldyr’s planning to do.

I hold my breath as I release the turquoise cloud. It travels across the cave floor like a snake. I follow the trail as it closes the space between Zélie and me, crawling toward her back.

“—he will find you—”

“—there is no place you can run—”

The voices cycling through Zélie’s mind begin to bleed into mine. But the moment before my magic connects, Zélie whips around. Her eyes go wide at the turquoise cloud.

“What’re you doing?” Her nostrils flare. She pushes herself against the cave wall. My magic disappears into thin air. Shame colors my cheeks as I rise to my feet.

“I can help,” I offer. “I want to help—”

“By breaking into my head?” Zélie charges at me like a black-horned rhinome. She gets so close I feel the heat of her breath. “I don’t care about the Skulls. I will never let you back in.”

Her words hold the weight of all my failures. I feel every single time I’ve betrayed her. If I’d stayed loyal to our plans, would we be in this mess? Would the Skulls have ever had a chance to attack our homeland?

Bring her home. I turn away. That’s all I can expect. She’ll never look at me the way she once did.

I can’t expect her to ever give me another chance.

But the dreamscape we once shared fills my mind.

Our connection, beyond space, beyond time.

I tumble through the memories of when she was mine.

The way her bare skin felt in my arms. The gentle touch of her soft lips against my own.

There’s nothing I wouldn’t give to return to the blowing reeds now.

To be with her in the world of my dreams, far beyond King Baldyr’s reach.

“You don’t have to let me in.” I choose my words with care, trying to find a crack. I can’t protect her if she won’t tell me what we’re really up against. “But you can’t shut me out. Not now. Something’s happening to you, Zélie. I can see it. I feel it.”

Zélie opens her mouth to speak, but the words don’t come out. She glances down at the hexagon-shaped compass hooked to her belt. Even without my magic, the wave of terror that rises in her rises through me as well.

“Let me in.” I dare to step forward. “Whatever you know, help me understand. You’re not alone in this fight. I’m prepared to stay by your side—”

“You’re dead to me.” Zélie comes alive. Her words cut like knives. “You were supposed to die that night in Lagos. You might as well be dead now!”

“You really want me dead?” I rip the dagger from my own belt and force it into her palms. Zélie’s brows furrow as I wrap her fingers around the hilt.

“What’re you doing?”

“Giving you exactly what you want.” I raise her hand to my neck, lifting my chin to expose the flesh. “You want me dead? Go ahead.”

Zélie’s eyes flash. A slight tremble rocks her hand. With one swipe, she could slit my throat. I’d bleed out on the cave floor. No one would ever know.

“What’re you waiting for?” I whisper. I release her shaking wrist. Tears brim in her eyes, at war with the hatred I feel burning deep inside.

With a cry, she shoves me back. She throws the dagger to the floor. Before I can touch her shoulder, Zélie takes off. She exits the cave, disappearing into the rain.

“Zélie!”

Though every muscle in my body aches, I push myself beyond the pain. I throw myself after her, sprinting from the cave.

Zélie runs like a gazelle. Lightning flashes against her dark limbs. The sky seems to crackle with her every step. She races through the jungle, fighting through the howling winds.

“Zélie, wait!” I call out her name. The storm swallows my every shout. I spot a cliff before she can stop. I reach for Zélie as she careens over the edge.

Her body rolls through thick vines and large green ferns, twisting all the way down the steep incline. She comes to a stop at the bank of the waterfall. I follow after her, meeting her in the mud.

“Are you alright?” I extend my hand as her wrap falls away. Zélie grasps the wool fabric to her chest, but not before I see the tarnished gold fused into her rib cage.

“What in the skies…”

Zélie shuts her eyes. She doesn’t fight me as I approach. I peel her wrap back with care. The sight of the ancient medallion welded into her chest turns my body to stone.

“Who did this to you?” I breathe.

Tears stream down Zélie’s heart-shaped face. “King Baldyr,” she finally whispers.

“You saw their king?” I tilt my head.

“They were supposed to take me back to their land.” Zélie crosses her arms over her chest. “A place called Iarlaith.”

Zélie turns her head away. It’s as if it’s too painful to speak.

“Please.” I draw closer to her. “Just let me see.”

This time when my magic sparks at my fingertips, Zélie doesn’t run away. I breathe in as the turquoise cloud connects us. The storm and jungle disappear as I join her in the Silver Skull’s quarters.…

King Baldyr roars like a wild beast. He grabs the shackles around her wrists, yanking her back. Her feet slip out from under her as he throws her to the right. She hits the marble walls with a powerful thud.

The impact ignites the majacite crown on her head. It burns with a new wrath. Its matte-black thorns dig into her temple. Hot blood drips into her eyes and rains down her neck.

With my magic, I feel every part of Zélie in a new way.

I taste the bite of her rage. A dark pit twists in my chest at the way King Baldyr inspects her face, calling her Merle .

I see her valiant fight. I sustain every cut and every single bruise.

I feel the agony of the moment King Baldyr forces the medallion into her chest. I hear the way she wishes for death.

By the time my magic fades, I find myself shaking with her in my arms. Guilt tears me apart from inside.

Why couldn’t I have gotten her out in time?

“It’s starting to eat at me.” Zélie reaches up her hand, clawing at the tarnished metal. “What if I lose control? What if I can’t stop him in time?”

“We won’t let that happen.” I grab the sides of her face. Determination fills my chest as I force her to look in my eyes. “I wasn’t fast enough on that ship, but I won’t make the same mistakes. We’ll reunite with the others and form a plan. We’ll defeat the Skulls and keep you safe.”

Zélie brings her forehead to mine, and I shudder at her touch. For a moment, there are no Skulls. There is no hunt for her heart. There is only this.

There is only us.

“I promise,” I say. Her body softens at my words. “We’ll find a way. Whatever it takes.”