Page 81 of By the Flames of Her Fury

With a strangled cry, I dropped Mortep and lunged for Everett, reaching for the ripples left in his wake. My hands plunged into the sand. “Come on, Swift,” I said through gritted teeth. My wings strained at my back to keep me from being sucked in. “Come on!”

I hit something solid. Heart leaping, I shoved deeper, wrapping my fingers around skin. I put on a burst of Shifter strength and wrenched him free. Inch by inch, he came loose from the clutches of the earth, sand rushing off him in droves. He spluttered as his head broke the surface. I grabbed him under both arms to get a better grip, flying us high above the beach.

“Tessa,” he gasped out, pointing at the ground beneath us.

I nodded. “I’ll hold you above the sand. You try to find her.”

My muscles strained as I held Everett aloft. He dug until he found where Tessa had sunk and lurched her from the sand. We flew to the others, where I set Everett and Tessa down on the outskirts of the beach. The second they were all safe, I whipped back into the sky and scoured the beach, eyes landing on a mangled, burned hand reaching up from the sand. Scorchmarks surrounded the ground where his body had disappeared. His phantom chuckle reverberated in my head as his hand went limp and vanished beneath the sand.

Was he…had I actually killed him?

My chest heaved as I replayed the last minutes. I pictured my fire devouring him, smelled the scent of burnt flesh and smoke, saw his body collapse when I dove for Everett.

He’s gone. He has to be gone.

The words pounded through my skull, unwilling to sink in. I couldn’t process what had just happened. One second we were spit out onto this beach, and the next…

Mortep had been following me. He knew everything I was doing, every step I took, and I brought him exactly where he wanted to go. I practically opened the door and invited him in. I let him use me again.

He got what he deserved. You need to focus. People are counting on you.

With shaking breaths, I lowered myself back to the ground. My friends were alive. We were together, and that was what mattered now. But how did we get here, and how was our magic back? It didn’t exist in the Triad Realm. Yet here I stood, with my phoenix wings at my back and all six magics coursing through my veins once more.

Everett’s frame appeared before me, temporarily blocking the others from view as I tried to get my bearings. He gripped my shoulders, forcing me to meet his gaze.

“What happened?” he asked, voice low. “Where did he go?”

I shook my head. “I—I don’t know. I think he’s gone. I set him on fire, and then…” I looked over my shoulder back at the sand. “And then the quicksand took him.”

Everett followed my stare, forehead pinched. “He couldn’t have escaped. We would’ve seen him. Right?”

I swallowed. “Do you really think he’s…”

“Dead?” His fingers pressed tighter around me. “I don’t know. I don’t know how he could’ve survived that. But we have to keep going, Vera.”

I nodded, nostrils flaring as I took a deep, steadying breath. After one last look at me, Everett released me, and we turned to the others. Starke eyed Everett’s chest, still bare from when he wrapped his shirt around Odessa’s arm. Starke shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to Everett. “Cover up, Swift,” he muttered, casting a furtive look at me. I refrained from rolling my eyes.

“Is Mortep truly dead?” Kieran asked, still standing protectively in front of Odessa.

All I could do was nod hesitantly. For some reason, the truth wouldn’t settle in. The entire purpose of the last year of my life was gone in the blink of an eye. I didn’t know what to think, what to do, or where to go from here.

I faced Odessa. “Do you know where we are?”

Instead of answering, she leaped back, gazing at my wings. “Your wings—they look just like it,” she stammered. “The symbol on the wall.” She turned to Kieran and reached for his head. “And you had antlers.” He caught her wrist before she could touch him, then slowly nodded.

Odessa whirled to Tessa. “And you—you were a cat. Who are you people?”

“You’re not wrong, but I prefer jaguar,” Tessa said with a shrug.

“Look, Odessa, there’s a lot to explain. But right now we need to figure out what’s going on.” I looked at Starke. “Do you recognize any of this? Any landmarks? Something to help us plot our position in the Imarian Sea?”

Starke grunted. “I think it’s safe to say we’re not in the Imarian Sea. I don’t even know if we’re in the Triad Realm.”

“I can assure you, you are no longer in the human realms,” a voice boomed.

I whipped around, my lightning sword already in my hand, then paused. Three figures walked toward us as if from a shroud of mist. Their edges glowed brighter in the darkness. My Shifter half pushed against my chest, sensing the power radiating from them.

The figure in the center had gold eyes that glinted with curiosity as he took us in. A long white beard flowed over gray robes, with matching white hair reaching to his chest. His lips curved into a smile, deepening the wrinkles around his kind eyes.