“NO!” I screamed, panic taking root as we hovered feet away before Kellan’s dark head snapped in our direction. His eyes bore into mine as he took a deep breath and disappeared beneath waves and fins.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. FUCK!
What do we do?
Moor yourself to me! Keep your shield intact,Ti commanded, his voice firm and confident.
I heaved a breath as ribbons of death spurred from my hands, and I shoved a line of glittering Transcindiel alongside them. The two merged, looping vines of shadows up and around myself and Tiberius. Honor was warm inside my boot. I stole a glance down, noting the soft glow of its golden gem in the darkness of the night.
My lungs filled rapidly as the gem on my dagger sparked. I paused, closing my eyes as my chest swelled with something other than air, and I leaned into that pull.
Kellan’s face ripped through the waves a moment later. His mouth was open in a snarl as he slashed at a nearby creature breaching the surface. His other arm was around my brother.
Dark forms surfaced, and I let the Obscura do the honors. Its shadows cut through the water like a knife.
Kellan whipped his head around, and I leaped off Tiberius’s back into the icy swell of the Atrulean waves. My body recoiled at the frigid water, my lungs desperate for air as I forced my limbs to kick against the disorienting rush of the sea.
I reached Kellan and Aeriden. My brother was unconscious and injured, the blood from his face disappearing in the wild tides as I stretched my shield over the three of us. Whatever creatures lurked below slammed into it as I pushed it beneath the sea.
Kellan’s dark hair floated in the wake, and his face gritted against the weight of my brother. Vines of darkness slipped around the three of us, and Tiberius lurched upward.
The velvety shadows cradled me below the ribs as we surged out of the sea. Kellan’s arms were hard against me and my brother, and the wind cut across my cheek like a sharp bite of ice as Tiberius dragged us back to theHydra.
The crew swarmed as we landed on the warm deck. Blasts from Tiberius’s large wings scattered the air around us.
My hands were around Aeriden’s face as blood poured from a slice on his cheek. I scanned his body. His clothes were in tatters, and the flesh peeking out from beneath was shredded and ripped. My eyes drifted to his leg…
Oh gods.
Bile rose as I spied his gnawed-on calf. Half of the flesh was gone, and the bright white bone glowed in the light of the lantern.
“Aeriden.” My voice came out rough and shaky as I patted his cheek. This couldn’t be happening. I couldn’t lose him, notafter losing him and finding him again. I couldn’t go through this again…
“AERIDEN!” I screamed.
Isla’s warm hand was on my arm. Her lips were by my ear a moment later. “It’s all right, Lyvia,” she said calmly, “We will?—”
“Get us to Borva!” Kellan cut in, reaching for Isla’s arm. “You’re with me. Now!”
Isla snarled as she turned toward the pirate captain, but his hand was in hers. She gasped as he sent a spark of power into her.
“We can save him if we can make it to Borva!”
He pulled her to the center deck, and a storm of jasmine and leather stole through the air above the ship.
“BRACE YOURSELVES!” Raek shouted from the quarterdeck, and the ship lurched forward at an unmatched speed.
Aeriden’s body left a bloody trail as we slid down the deck. Vulcan’s boots caught on the massive center mast before his arm wrapped around me. My vision blurred as the wind pummeled my face. Kellan and Isla’s hands were clasped as they leaned into their magic and wind.
I held on to Aeriden and pinched my eyes shut. My entire body tensed as theHydraripped through the last remaining waves of the Atrulean and into the Crimson Sea. Eventually, our speed slowed, and I blinked my eyes open. My stomach dropped when my gaze caught the pool of blood Aeriden lay in.
He is not going to make it.
Rough hands were on my arms, pulling me up. I tugged out of Vulcan’s grip, and Kellan moved to Aeriden as Raek came for his feet.
“Get them to Eghan House!” the pirate lord commanded his first mate.
“But she’ll want?—”
