My breath stalled, a deep pit settling in my stomach. “W-What?”
“Thatis why you cannot be here. Percy is dead. Caspian…” He lifted his chin, a watery sheen coating his eyes. “...the leader of the Others, Sorva, she… she commands him. He was the one who executed Percy per my father’s order, and now he walks alongside me in place of the man I once loved.”
A newfound rage flickered to life alongside Kael’s admittance. Caspian had taken the one man he relied on away from him. He had butchered him in cold blood as if he were nothing more than an animal up for slaughter. He had snuffed out the light in Kael’s eyes, the happiness that once used to live there. He had harmed my friends.
Caspian killed Percy.
We were too fucking late.
“Rohen,” Kael breathed, the two syllables fracturing in two as a sob followed. “Y-You can’t be here… They will kill you, too. They will kill all of you. Sorva is already aware of your presence, and she promised to execute all of you one by one if I didn’t agree to a blood bind after the ceremony. She wants one in place with me, just like she has with Caspian, so she… maintains control.”
“Absolutely the fuck not,” I hissed, grabbing his arm and yanking him toward me. Only when his body came to rest flush against mine did I continue, “You cannot follow through with your word if you are simply not present. You cannot uphold your end of the bargain if you happen to be taken by a bloodthirsty crew of pirates who wish to use you as a bargaining chip with the king.”
“T-That’s not going to?—”
Wrapping myself around him, I pressed my head against his chest and held him in an embrace I was certain he hadn’t received since Percy was murdered. “It is going to work because ithasto. I am getting you out of here, you arenotbinding yourself to that cunt, and Caspian is coming with us.”
He hesitated for a moment before his frame swept around mine and he buried his face in my hair. A stifled cry rolled from the center of his chest, and he tightened his hold just slightly, as if he were afraid he’d lose me too.
After a few short moments, I slowly pulled back and gathered his face in my hands. “Listen to me, okay?”
He nodded, and I swept away the tears that stained his cheeks.
Exhaustion clung to his gaze, and that was something I knew wouldn’t simply go away. Not when he’d lost his lifeline, his reason for living, his everything. Percy had kept Kael’s head above water, and now that he walked with Elaros, Kael was drowning. The darkness that flecked his now dulled stare hinted at all he hadn’t been able to shed, of the time he wasn’t given to mourn.
“You’re going to walk out of this palace and head for the docks. Assoon as you get there, I want you on Alastair’s ship, and I want you to tell the crew it is a direct order from the captain that they take you away from shore. They’re well aware of what is happening, and you must inform them that Alastair demanded they listen to your request.”
It wasn’t necessarily a lie, but it wasn’t the truth either.
The crew had been briefed about everything that was going on and ordered to remain at the docks until their leader returned, but Alastair had not indicated that they were to leave without him. But if Kael arrived adamant that the captain had told him it was an order? They’d undoubtedly follow through.
Alastair would likely rip my head clean from my body as soon as he found out I’d overrode his command, but that deep-seated knowingness pushed me past that line. Kael was a friend, andIwanted him safe, something I knew would be understood once Alastair’s rage evaporated.
“But you…” Kael shook his head. “I can’t just leave you here, Rohen, not with everything going on. Not when the Others are lurking around every corner, waiting to strike.”
Lifting the skirt of my dress, I unsheathed my dagger. Dropping the fabric, I tossed it from hilt to tip before extending it to him. “I’ve had this blade since before I can remember. It has protected me through many tumultuous storms, through my close calls with Elaros. Take it and leave, Kael.”
“I-I can’t,” he whispered, glancing between me and the blade. “I can’t take the only weapon you have and leave you behind. Not only is that stupid, but it’s a fucking death wish, Rohen.”
Grabbing his wrist, I forced the hilt into his hand. “Stop insulting me and get the fuck out of here.”
“Rohen—”
“Go,”I snarled, pointing toward the door. “Give the guards some bullshit reason that you need to go back to your room. Perhaps you forgot to grab the gift you selected for your bride.” Nudging him back a step, I ground my teeth together. “Use that dagger if needed. I like to believe that it is somehow blessed by the gods for all it has aided mewith, and I am confident it will bestow the same level of protection upon you.”
His gaze wavered, uncertainty clouding it. “Fine, but so fucking help me, Rohen, if you die, I will gut myself alive just to come find you in Elaros’s realm to kill you again myself.”
My lips curled upward, and my brows rose in amusement. “There’s your fire. Don’t let anyone dim your flame again. I will see you soon.”
Not giving him the opportunity to utter another word, I slipped back around the pillar and into the crowd. Sweat-laden bodies brushed up against me; the heat they emanated was a telltale sign of the guests’ impatience for the upcoming ceremony. And with the sun’s position in the sky dropping near the horizon, I knew I was running on borrowed time.
We all needed to be out before the last rays of sunset diminished into darkness. The instant they did was the instant that all hell would break loose. And in knowing everything I did from both the journals and my link to the Goddess of the Sea, I only hadonechance.
Moving toward the tables where a display of food seemed to span for miles, I kept my awareness up. Caspian Vayne wasn’t necessarily the easiest to spot in a crowd, but there was a certain aura he carried that made him stand outjustenough. Though I couldn’t help but wonder if he would billow with the same frustratingly alluring essence when he was surrounded and controlled by corruption.
I plucked a bunch of grapes from where they nestled amongst the assortment. Popping one into my mouth, I savored its flavor as I followed the wall along the outer edge of the ballroom. Each gap between guests became a window I peered through as I scoured for the other man I’d come for, the man who seemed impossible to pin down?—
At the sight of him, my heart stopped beating.
