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Lenna

N othing and no one could change Lenna’s mind about five things.

The first, it had been a terrible idea to sign up as the striver of the Taking ordeal.

The second, that she progressively worried more as each day passed, and she now was officially in a freaking-the-royal-shit-out permanent state.

The third, that Jake being possessive had been an unexpected, massive turn-on.

The fourth, that she had missed the golden lynx who was scratching the walls of the room so much.

And last, but very-fucking-much not least, that if Arabella D'Arcy told her once more that she was doing the simultaneous magic wrong, Lenna was going to strangle her.

“Simultaneous Giving and Taking. Si-mul-ta-neous. As in, at the same time,” Miss Nasty insisted.

The lynx cub hissed, and Lenna felt like a proud mom. She couldn't decide what she hated more. Arabella's patronizing, high-pitched tone, or the way her fingers interlaced under her perfect chin. “I know what it means, for Cardinals' sake,” Lenna spat.

Arabella smirked. “Then do it. Two hands, two powers. It's not that hard.”

Asshole. “Remind me how long it took you to master this again?”

The blond woman huffed. “Decades. But I can guarantee that if it takes you that long, you won't survive whatever ordeal the South Cardinal has prepared for you.”

Lenna snorted. As if she wasn't well aware of how risky it was to let her inner scale be unbalanced. Unless the Taking ordeal didn't involve an insane amount of Taking—and that would be a Cardinals-blessed miracle she was definitely not relying on—there was no chance she wouldn't end up collapsing with dizziness. Fan-bloody-tastic.

“You're in a mood today,” Arabella said.

Lenna cracked a laugh. “That's putting it lightly.”

Arabella examined her, considering. When she next spoke, the nasty high pitch was gone. “We can practice tomorrow.”

Was that pity in her voice? Compassion? It didn't matter if it was, or it had been Lenna's imagination.

Lenna lifted her hands again, a fist ready to open and Give, and a palm ready to close and Take.

“There may be no tomorrow.”

The sound of Sasha's laughter filled her ears before Lenna stepped out to the deck of the navia, and it automatically made her smile.

Her curly-haired friend was surrounded by the three courtrades in charge of the vehicle, a grin on her beautiful face when she spotted her.

“Here you are,” Lenna said, hugging Sasha.

“Here I am, talking to the poor guys in charge of keeping us afloat.”

The bald, tall courtrade—Nevan—chuckled. “Not poor at all. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity for us.”

“Don't you courtrades pilot these things all the time?” Lenna asked.

“Navias?” The eyebrows of the short-haired woman called Annie lifted. “In Orizane, where most of our society lives, maybe. But in Thyria? I'd never seen one of these in my life. Whatever favor Marcus owed you, it must have been a big one.”

“He didn't owe me any favors.” Lenna smiled, the proud feeling when she’d found out Hope got her feather still lingering.

“What exactly is Orizane? An island?” Sasha asked.

The mute courtrade, Franklin, nodded. Lifting his hand, shadows solidified on the palm of his other hand. Shadows in the shape of a thick crescent, with two straight lines crossing it.

“That's your symbol, right? Looks like the navia,” Lenna said.

“Like the mark on our skins, and the shape of the island Llunal created for us and our magic,” Annie said.

Sasha put a finger on her top lip. “Is it far? It must be.”

“From where we are now, almost in line with the South of the Organ House, it’s a few days away. It would depend on how fast we travel,” Nevan said.

“And how little we sleep,” finished Annie.

Cardinals only knew exactly where they would go once they got the five crystal feathers— if they managed to get the five feathers. Lenna had no doubt Ciaran would get his.

One moment, the sea around them was peaceful and quiet, the waves hitting gently against the navia. The next, a massive wave, the height of the navia, was heading towards them from a close distance. A wave that would hit them in less than a minute and would likely throw them into the sea.

The three courtrades regrouped and stood next to each other, their hands lifted, shadows interconnecting, building a thick wall for the wave to crash against.

Lenna ran towards the rail facing the gigantic wave, her golden sparks flying in the form of ink towards Jake.

He wasn’t anywhere she could see, but Jake’s words invaded her mind nonetheless: I’m coming.

“Sasha, run inside,” Lenna shouted, hoping she wasn’t hurt from the fall and would do as she said. Lenna’s hands were in front of her, but she didn’t know what to do, if the shadow wall was enough to hold such force. “What the fuck is that?”

“Nature at its worst,” Nevan shouted, his face straining as he pushed shadows faster and harder. The wave was going to hit them any moment now, and there were many holes in their shadow wall. Many, many holes.

Lenna opened her hands, Giving electric sparks to fill each gap within the growing wall. Golden streaks formed between the shadows, the fiery, energetic sparks waiting impatiently to react against the water.

The door to the deck banged open with running footsteps Lenna knew too well stopping between her and the courtrades.

“This won’t be enough,” Jake muttered. Lenna couldn’t take the eyes off the approaching mass of water, now towering above them. Their shadow and golden electricity wall was barely high enough to reach its mid-height.

“Courtrades, seek cover,” Jake shouted, his silver eyes focused on the mass of water, his palms in front of him, sharp, navy sparks jumping around him. “Lenna, behind me.”

Lenna didn’t have time to question him, to wonder why Jake wanted to be her cover. She ran behind him, not daring to touch him in case he lost the focus on his target.

He clenched his jaw, the muscles on his broad back tense, and when the wave hit against the wall of shadows and golden sparks—

Jake roared, closing his fists with more strength than was needed to kill a man. Lenna inhaled sharply, the blood in her veins freezing with panic as she realized what he was attempting.

Jake wanted to Take the massive force of water that was going to drown them all. He wanted to make it disappear with his magic. With his hands.

And he fucking did .

The terrifying wave disappeared, and the wall they built with it. The navia stayed ashore, only rocking a bit harsher than before.

Jake didn’t move, looking to the horizon, to the Radel Sea and every single wave in it. Lenna couldn’t take her eyes off him, his brutality and his violence. She couldn’t resist the need to hand him her heart.

“Jake,” she prayed, pulling his face towards hers, kissing him as if it was the last time she’d ever do.

He answered her kiss with the same fervor, their lips and tongues clashing as if they were the wave and the navia. He pulled her up, her legs hooking around his middle, his fists filled with red hair, her hands unable to get enough of this man.

When she managed to speak, her lips were tender. “I can’t believe you Took a Cardinal-cursed force of nature.”

Jake didn’t take his hands from underneath her thighs. He didn’t set Lenna on the ground.

His silver eyes only moved from hers to the Radel Sea. “Whatever that was, it was not nature.”