“You’re okay,” Draevyn said softly, though his voice carried an edge of unease. “You’re with us. Just breathe, Wildfire.”
The coarse edge of his thumb grazed her shoulder, a tender stroke that sent a shiver through her.
Jak’s brows knitted tightly. “Esmi, what’s going on?”
Esmyra swallowed hard, her throat raw, as she forced herself to stand upright.What the fuck is happening to me?
“My magic is still gone.” With a shaky breath, she looked at them both. “Kaelypsois still gone. I can’t hear or feel her.”
Draevyn’s brows raised. “She canspeakto you now?”
Jak’s head reared back as Draevyn’s jaw clenched, his grip on her shoulders tightening protectively.
“Aye,” she breathed. “I know it sounds impossible, but…”
“Nothing sounds impossible these days,” Draevyn assured her.
“It’s like… it’s like I’m empty.” She wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly cold. “Hollow,” she whispered.
Their faces shifted from concern to shock, eyes wide as Jak stepped closer. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, I’m fucking sure.” She didn’t mean the harshness of her tone, but she was barely able to see or breathe.
Jak threw his hands up in a defensive gesture. “Aye, I’m sorry. I just… how is that possible? How long were you wearing those cuffs?”
“Too long,” she admitted, the memory of their chains biting into her skin making her stomach twist. “Since Atlas found me in Anchorage Cove.”
Draevyn’s brows furrowed, tension flickering across his jaw as he studied her. “It was still no longer than when I had to wear them that week we traveled to the cave,” he countered.
They exchanged grim looks, Jak muttering under his breath, “If the cuffs didn’t just suppress your magic, maybe they bled it from you. Or something else is at work here.”
Tits. It really is one thing after another.
“What are we going to do?” she whispered.
They all stood silent for a moment as the sun split the horizon’s waves with streaks of gold. Draevyn’s gaze was locked on her. Guilt shadowed his features, and in his eyes burned a heartache so raw it was impossible to miss.
“I know someone… someone who might be able to help,” Jak broke the unbearable silence. “She may even be able to provide us a place to disappear for a while.”
Esmyra’s brows furrowed. “Who?”
He glanced back at her, something guarded flashing across his expression. “My cousin.”
What the hells?
“You have a family?” she asked, disbelief softening her voice as she tried to hide the hurt. “I thoughtIwas your family.”
She had always assumed his past was as solitary and storm-wrecked as her own. No one aboard really spoke much of their life beforeThe Night Wraith.
“You are, Esmi.” Jak let out a snort at her outburst, but then a shadow passed over his face. For a heartbeat, he looked almost haunted. “Not much of my blood family is left. And the ones that are, want nothing to do with the male who choseThe Night Wraithover them, aside from her.”
“Interesting.”
“Her name is Jenli.” His voice hardened. “She owes me, and if anyone can fix this—if anyone canhideus—it’s her.”
A million questions were rushing through Esmyra’s mind, but before she could ask them, he strode to the helm, his voice snapping like a whip as he barked orders to the crew. “Raise the sails! Cut us south by southwest. Our heading is Terrana!”
The men scrambled to obey, ropes whipping and sails groaning as they shifted course toward the woodland kingdom.
