I test my arms. My feet. Anna’s magic has somehow gone—I can move.
Suddenly, my feet are kicking and my hands are clawing at the water in an upward stroke. Pain radiates up my arm from where blood seeps into the water.
I was shot. Yes, I was shot by the king’s men. And I survived.
I survived what Anna had planned, too.
And now I must warn Nik. Anna isn’t our friend anymore—she’s something else entirely.
She is rage.
My heart quickens, pounding harder with each foot gained toward the surface. Blood clouds every stroke, my shoulder threatening to fail.
My vision breaks the surface, and with a heaving breath I’m already moving forward, swimming and then lunging toward the beach once my feet gain purchase on the submerged sand. I try to breathe in deeply, but my necklace is too tight, the pearl still throbbing. With every ounce of energy I have left, I tear at the magic thread until the pearl bursts free, landing with a plunk in the water below.
I am free now too. I can feel my connection to the old Annemette fade away with the waves. She must have had a spell on me this whole time, or perhaps I put the spell on myself.
Water streams from my hair into my eyes.Nik.I have to find him.
He’s standing tall and regal on the beach—protecting Anna from advancing guards. My heart beats fast. He’s alive. But not for long. I know now his is the life she plans to take.
He’s standing too close.
“Nik!” I scream.
I get his attention. But then I also get Anna’s. And the guards’.
Shots ring out, and a sudden burst of pain rockets through my chest. I flail back but manage to keep my momentum. I bring my fingers to the wound along my ribs and wince. It’s hot and wet, and my breathing grows shallow, each intake bringing a fresh stab of pain. But I have to keep moving, slogging through the water, now almost waist-high.
Nik is stunned still, but Anna is not. Her hand reaches for her hair.
A knife is in that hand, the blade moving straight at Nik, who is watching me.
“NO!”You will not take him! You will not!
Now Iker is yelling—running. He sees it too.
Despite the blood. Despite the pain. Despite the distance, I surge ahead as fast as I can, water just above my knees. Wet, my gown weighs more than the rest of me, but that won’t keep me from him. Nothing will.
Five yards away. Four. Three.
But it is too late. Annemette’s blade is already in a downward arc. The sharp coral pierces Nik’s back just as Iker grabs him, wrenching him onto the sand.
Nik’s blood is on the beach.
Spilling in a trail from where he was to where he fell, staining the sand.
Oh, Urda. No. Not Nik.
Even after everything, I can’t believe Anna has done it, but I have no pity for her. If she thinks she’s the only one who will get her revenge, she’ll be sorely wrong.
“Niklas!” the queen wails, and dashes forward. The king runs too, finally coming to their only son’s aid.
The onlookers go still—recognition, terror, and fear frozen upon faces I’ve known my whole life. Malvina. Ruyven. Every member of the castle kitchen staff.
Anna’s beautiful features twist as she dips her toes in Nik’s spilled blood, laughing.Laughing.“You ruined my life, and I’ve ruined yours,my prince.”
I dive for her feet, knocking her to the sand. I move on top of her, pinning her hand that still holds the knife, red with Nik’s blood. I scream for my tante. “Hansa! Nik—you must heal him!” But two guards hold Hansa back, my magic enough to condemn her, too. I reach out to the only person with the power to change their minds. “Iker, let her do her work. Please! She can save him!”
