Page 14

Sapphire

“No!” I scream as the dark angel soars away with Zoey, her dark hair streaming behind her as he carries her farther and farther from us.

He doesn’t stop. He doesn’t even falter.

“Focus!” Riven’s voice slices through my haze of terror as he beheads another nixie.

He’s right. I can’t go after Zoey. Not yet. Not with these monsters still coming at us, their bodies dripping with rotting algae as they drag themselves out of the river.

I’m going to kill every one of them.

Rage burns through me, and I grip my dagger tighter. The nixies are immune to my water magic—they’re literally made of it—but that won’t stop me from tearing them apart.

When the first one lunges at me, I duck and drive my blade up through its jaw. It explodes into a shower of muddy water, soaking me to the bone, but I don’t care. I just move on to the next one, and the next, letting my anger fuel every strike.

And using the wind at my heels to help me move faster.

“Behind you!” Riven shouts, and I spin just as another nixie reaches for me with its dripping claws.

I slash through its arm, then its throat, my movements faster than I thought possible. Probably because I’m using tiny bursts of air magic to increase my speed, to make my strikes hit harder.

“Nicely done,” Riven says, cutting down another nixie with a swift, precise strike of his sword.

“No time for compliments!” I yell back, already spinning to face the next one.

There are three left, their hollow eyes locked onto us.

One lunges at me, faster than I expect.

I pivot and slam the heel of my boot into its side, throwing it off balance just long enough to drive my blade into its core.

The force of the impact sends me stumbling backward, but I keep my footing.

Thank you, air magic.

Riven finishes the second one with a brutal slash to its chest.

But I’m already zeroing in on the final one—the largest of the group. Maybe the leader? I don’t know.

All I know is that if it wasn’t for these things, Zoey would still be here with us.

The nixie lunges.

Fueled by anger, I hurl the dagger with all my strength.

The wind guides it like an invisible hand, and the blade flies true, slicing through the air and striking the nixie square in its chest.

There’s a moment of stillness.

Then the nixie bursts into a spray of filthy water, its remains splattering onto the ground.

I stare at the spot where it was standing in shock.

It’s over.

They’re gone. All of them. At least, it seems like it.

Breathing hard, I retrieve my dagger from the rocks and sheathe it by my side. My hands are shaking—not from exertion, but from the crushing weight of what just happened.

I can barely process it. I’d think it was a nightmare if it wasn’t for Zoey no longer being here with us.

Riven steps beside me, his eyes sweeping the clearing for any remaining threats. “I think that was the last of them,” he says, although from the way he refuses to look at me, I have a feeling he’s bracing himself for my reaction about Zoey and the dark angel.

Ghost is next to him, and the sadness in the snow leopard’s eyes shows me that he’s devastated about what happened to Zoey, too.

“I have to find her,” I say, projecting before Riven can fight me on it.

One second I’m on the ground. The next I’m balanced on the highest branch of the tree I saw Zoey disappear behind, scanning the sky for any sign of those black wings.

The stars pulse overhead, but they’re no help now. There’s nothing but darkness stretching in every direction.

I leap to the next tree, moving with impossible grace. Then the next. And the next. My desperation grows with each jump, the forest remaining silent and empty below me.

She’s gone.

My best friend is gone.

I got her that potion. She was supposed to be okay. And now…

I have no idea how to find her.

With a cry of frustration, I snap back into my body—where I’m currently cradled in Riven’s arms. He’s moved us behind a large boulder near the falls, sheltered by a cluster of frost-covered pines.

His silver eyes are blazing with fury.

“Are you completely out of your mind?” he snarls, his grip on me tightening. “You can’t just project yourself without warning when we’re in hostile territory. What if another wave of those things had emerged while you were—“ He cuts himself off, his jaw clenching. “While you were dead to the world?”

“I had to try.” I push against his chest, trying to break free. “Zoey’s gone. That dark angel took her, and I?—“

“And you almost got yourself killed in the process.” His voice is sharp as ice. “What good would you be to her then?”

“I don’t care!” The words tear from my throat. “She’s my best friend. My sister. And now she’s in the hands of those monsters, and it’s all my fault. I should have protected her better. I should have?—“

“Stop.” His grip gentles, but he doesn’t let me go. “This isn’t your fault. But getting yourself killed won’t help her.”

I slump against him, the fight draining out of me as the reality of the situation crashes over me.

“I lost her. I promised I’d keep her safe, and I lost her.” I finally manage to break free of his grip, stumbling to my feet. “We’re going after her,” I tell him. “Now. I don’t care how angry you are at me for projecting. I don’t care about anything except finding her.”

“Sapphire—”

“I promised her she’d be safe!” My voice cracks. “Less than a day ago, I promised her. And now she’s gone. She’s human, Riven. She can’t survive in this realm without us. And if she dies, it’s going to be my fault for bringing her here in the first place.”

“Listen to me.” He stands, reaching for my arm, but I jerk away.

“No, you listen.” Wind stirs around us, and I take a deep breath, not needing the drama of him realizing I have air magic on top of what just happened to Zoey. “She’s going to die. She’s going to die because I was too weak to?—“

“She’s not dead.”

The certainty in his voice stops me. “You don’t know that.”

“Think about it.” He moves closer, and this time when he reaches for me, I let him. “You projected yourself through those trees, searching for her. What did you find?”

“Nothing,” I say, the word bitter on my tongue. “I couldn’t find anything.”

“Exactly.” His fingers tighten around my wrist. “You found nothing. No body. No sign of violence. Which means there’s a higher chance she’s alive than if you’d found her broken at the bottom of those trees.”

I hadn’t thought of it that way.

And my hearts breaks at just the thought of her “broken at the bottom of those trees,” like he just said.

But that’s not what I found.

There’s still hope.

I have to hold on to that hope. If I don’t…

He’s telling the truth, I tell myself to calm myself. He can’t lie. He wouldn’t have said it if he didn’t think it was the truth.

It helps.

A bit.

“But we still have to find her,” I insist, although some of the panic ebbs from my voice.

“And how do you suggest we do that?” He raises an eyebrow. “We have no idea how fast those dark angels can fly, or what direction the one who took her is heading. For all we know, they could have changed course the moment they were out of sight.”

I want to argue. I want to scream that he doesn’t understand how much it hurts that I failed Zoey. But the calm determination in his voice, the unshakable logic—it’s like a lifeline, dragging me back from the edge.

“So what?” I finally say. “We just give up? Leave her to die?”

No chance.

I’ll never give up on her.

Never.

“No.” The gentleness in his voice surprises me. “We keep going. We find the ancient woman. She knows secrets older than both courts combined—she might be able to help us locate Zoey. At the very least, she can tell us more about these dark angels. About where they might have taken her.”

“But that could take days,” I say. “Weeks, even.”

“I know.” He moves his hand from my wrist to my cheek, and the tenderness in his touch makes my breath catch. “I know how much she means to you. I’ve seen it in the way you look at her and protect her. The way you fight for her.”

A tear slips down my cheek. “She’s all I have.”

“That’s not true anymore.” His thumb brushes the tear away. “And I promise you—we’ll find her. But we have to be smart about this. Strategic.”

I study his face—the determination in his silver eyes, the way his jaw is set with resolve. This isn’t the cold winter prince who sealed our deal with a kiss. This is someone who understands what I’m going through.

Someone who might care.

Someone who’s lost someone he’s loved before, and who doesn’t want me to suffer that same fate.

Or someone who’s doing everything he can to get me to focus on getting the ingredients for that potion for his father, instead of trying to help me save my best friend.

Unfortunately, no matter what his motives are, he’s right. We have no idea where to go to find Zoey.

The ancient woman might be our only hope.

“Okay,” I finally say, taking a shaky breath. “We’ll do it your way.”

He nods, dropping his hand from my face. “The stars are still clear. We should keep moving while we can.”

I look up at the sky, searching for the pattern that will lead us forward. Lead us to answers.

Lead us to Zoey.

Some of them glow more than the others. They sing to me. Point to each other. Whisper in my mind in a language I don’t know how I understand.

“This way,” I say, and I turn away from Riven, keeping an eye on the sky as I lead our way through the night.