Page 30

Chapter 30

Beatriz

Cosme clapped his hand over my mouth. “It’s me. Come on.”

My chest loosened enough for me to breathe again, and I followed Cosme’s long gait outside. The night air was refreshing after the muggy dining hall. Lucas leaned against the railing, waiting for us with Minerva at his side. So much for waiting. At least she left Zichri, Laude and Jaime at the dock.

“Is the portal still open?” I waved everyone to the corner and leaned into the darkness. Right as the unnatural breeze from the portal lifted the hairs around my face, Monserrat appeared on the balcony beside Cosme.

Prince Hugo held a dagger to her throat. “Do you know what I love most about our predicament?” He let out a chuckle.

Cosme stilled. Lucas pushed himself off the balustrade, alert and ready to fight.

“I love how you thought I wouldn’t find out about your spy.” Hugo checked over his shoulder into the dining hall.

Did King Sebastian know about Hugo’s threat? Though the king might have threatened Giddel, he would never have wanted his daughter harmed. How was I to alert the king or his guards?

Hugo whistled over his shoulders to call another of his black-clad men when Cosme stretched out a hand, using his gift, but the dagger in Hugo’s hand didn’t budge.

A gasp escaped my throat, echoing Cosme’s dropped jaw. His powers never failed to work.

Hugo yanked a screaming Monserrat off her feet.

When Cosme launched at Hugo, blocking his movements, Hugo’s men rushed onto the balcony. One of the men headed in my direction, but I leapt through the portal.

I landed on the dock with a thud.

Minerva rushed onto the dock.

“Close the portal. Close the portal.”

Minerva moved her hands like a music conductor, but a man in black appeared.

The man shook his curly head in confusion.

I screamed. Minerva’s eyes widened.

The intruder yanked out a dagger, but Minerva threw a portal open between him and me. Confusion contorted his face, and Minerva pushed him forward, but he caught her wrists.

I rushed forward to help her and felt my body being yanked through space. A cold blackness swallowed me whole. I breathed in salty water and flailed. I didn’t know which way was up or down. Thrashing my legs and arms, I realized I had fallen through the portal into sea water. Would I drown? I calmed my body, remembering countless leisurely swims.

A barely discernible glow undulated through the waves, my only compass through the inky blackness of the night. I kicked hard and scooped my arms down to propel myself toward the surface, lungs burning.

Finally, I broke through the surface and sucked in a lungful of air. A splash sounded to my right and then another. Something tugged on my foot. I grabbed something soft and stringy.

Oh, Ancient One, please let this not be a jellyfish.

Someone inhaled beside me. “Is it you, Beatriz?” Minerva asked in a raspy voice.

“Thank you, Ancient One!” I treaded the water, relieved.

“We’ve got to go. He’s nearby.” Minerva yanked my arm, and my body tumbled forward, hitting something hard.

Leaves and grass poked at my face. I rolled over, knocking into a panting Minerva. Torchlight from afar touched her profile. The back side of Aracibel’s towers shone above us. We had landed in the gardens where we’d walked earlier that day. From this angle, I could see the empty balcony of the dining hall where I had been standing mere minutes ago.

“We’ve got to get back up there.” I pointed. Sea water dragged the immaculate dress, now clinging to every curve of my body and weighing down my movements.

Minerva stood. “Lucas is with them. We should go back to the dock and make sure all the portals I opened are closed.”

I shook my head. “They had Monserrat. Cosme and Lucas were fighting.”

She sighed with exasperation. “I don’t know.”

“Please.” I squared in front of Minerva, only catching the shadows of each of her features. “They’re outnumbered up there. Where’s Zichri?”

“We went looking for Ignacio and Fermín. I left him in the palace and went to check back on my portals.” A quiet beat passed and then she gasped. “ La Lavia’s gone.”

“What?” I spun around to face dark sea water in the place where La Lavia should have been. My heart stopped.

“Perhaps they moved. Focus on what we can do. How can we help your brother?” Minerva’s gentle question settled over me.

Grappling for a good answer, I found myself repeating Uncle Uly’s words from those many lessons in Giddel. “I’m a tamer. I can use their emotions against them.” I closed my eyes and allowed the energy inside me to flow through my shoulders and down my arms. The markings shone with golden light along my knuckles down to my fingertips. An instant connection formed between Minerva and me. Tremors of fear wove within the girl.

How could I shape her fear into something useful?

“Minerva, we’re going to get through this.” I patted her shoulder. “You were given a powerful gift for a reason.” Her emotions rocked like crashing waves within her, and I pictured the sea’s tides settling.

For aching seconds, Minerva said nothing. She grabbed my wrist. “Walk with me.”

Wind tore at my hair and skirt until we stepped onto stone. A balustrade touched my back end, feeling precariously close.

We’d landed on the balcony looking into the dining hall. Bodies lay on the floor. People scrambled around the room while others fought in hand-to-hand combat. Minerva waved toward the corner like a conductor ending a song. She looked over her shoulder with scrunched eyebrows. “It was slightly open.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I bit my bottom lip, realizing that I hadn’t even looked over at La Lavia when I’d teleported onto the dock. Lots of sailors had been awake and at the ready on the ship for our return with Laude and Jaime. At least they were safe.

Minerva let her gaze drift into the hall where movement coiled through the center of the space. A table smashed against the wall. As my gaze drifted over the room, I couldn’t find Cosme. Men in black livery clashed with the Aracibel guards.

Not a person was using their gift.

I released my powers, allowing the invisible lines to form. Last time I had let my energy flow, I’d spoken the sentiments and let them wash into the room like the surf of the sea.

Minerva stopped at the threshold of an arched doorway. “This doesn’t look good.”

Rage vibrated up several connections, but I couldn’t make out the jumble of whispers. I rushed beside Minerva to find Cosme by himself in the middle of the room. Hugo and several others held swords out toward King Sebastian and Queen Tatiana.

The queen’s desperate eyes searched the room, but no one approached her. Where were Lucas and Monserrat?

“Prince Cosme,” Hugo kept his sword tip at the neck of the king, “you have a choice. I would much prefer to keep you alive, but your dead body would serve our purposes too.”

A sound resonated from the other side of the room. The clashing of swords rang, punctuated by grunts. Hugo cut a look behind him.

“Now, Minerva. Get him now.” I poked her arm.

“Be careful with Prince Hugo. He can make your powers useless.” She yanked my wrist. “Step forward.”

My body was pulled into the dining hall behind Cosme. A heaviness settled over my arms, dimming the light along the lines.

My brother waved, and a sword tore from the ground into his grip while another shot from the floor at Hugo.

Hugo dodged, and the sharp edge sliced through King Sebastian’s chest.

The king gurgled as blood pooled on his lips and around his knees. Horror struck Queen Tatiana and Cosme.

I pushed my powers out in desperation, igniting a fresh batch of courage within them like a fire erupting.

Cosme responded by cutting his sword through the air. It met Hugo’s sword. Queen Tatiana scrabbled to her husband’s side, blood soaking into the red fabric of her skirt. More of Aracibel’s guards rushed in. I couldn’t tell if they were joining Hugo or coming to the queen’s aid.

“Minerva, help!” Someone, full of fury, gripped my shoulder. I pictured their rage like an arrow and shot it back at them. The man’s head snapped backward.

Cosme met my eye. He waved a chair, and it flew at Hugo from the side. Wood cracked into Hugo’s body. Cosme sprinted toward me and took my wrist and Minerva’s. In a split second, my body was thrust into space. Wind whipped part of my hair loose.

My foot stomped onto the dock’s wooden slats, and my knees buckled. I tripped, my head hitting someone in the chest. Zichri caught my arm, but he tipped over with the weight of a barely conscious Fermín. Cosme lifted me up, and Minerva breathed hard. Footfalls sounded behind us, and Cosme spun with sword in hand.

Lucas and Monserrat raced from the palace onto the dock with a trail of soldiers chasing them.

I looked up toward La Lavia , but there was only the blackness of the sea at night.

La Lavia was still gone. Jaime and Laude were gone.