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“Tait!” I dug my fingernails into his arm. “They’re coming.”

With me still held tightly in his arms, Tait raced toward the shore. “Don’t look. Mira, don’t look at them.”

Sea spray kissed my skin, and I nearly sobbed with relief.

“Hurry!” Swordeater’s voice came stronger. Doubtless, simply being near the water would invigorate a sea fae trapped in a tiny room for so long. “Swim, me boy, swim!”

My scream began, only to be swallowed in a gulp of seawater. Tait dove headfirst into the surf. I spilled from his arms, but his hand curled around mine. He shot us forward beneath the surface. The power of Sea Folk beneath the water was stunning. I’d yet to meet a sea fae who could not swim like they became part of the current.

I kicked fiercely, used my free arm to propel me forward. Tait brought me to the front of him. With his hands on my waist, he pushed me upward until my head broke the surface. There, Swordeater and Nightseer did their best to bring me over the side of a cramped rowboat they’d commandeered from the shore.

The instant I toppled into the boat, Nightseer took to the oars. He dug into the sea like a blade carving flesh.

At least twenty paces behind us, and growing smaller with every draw of the oars, Djur and his men watched their prey fade into the night. Torches at their backs left them standing in shadows like demons from one of the three hells.

Creatures. Monsters.

I did not want to learn what they had planned for us. Why the ruse of hospitality? What purpose did it serve?

Tait swam after us until he hooked an arm over the rail. I clawed at his tunic and heaved him inside the boat. His arms encircled me and crushed me against his chest.

“Look at me.” His palms tilted my face. “Are you hurt?”

I shook my head, not trusting my voice to hold. I kissed him instead. My sob cracked against his lips. I hardly cared who saw me break.

Tait knew beneath my desire to be a daughter of war enders, I was simply me. A woman who feared battle to my bones, who pasted a smirk on her face and spoke of violence but wanted to flee from it. He knew all this. But he also knew I would hold those fears tightly if someone I loved was in harm’s way. I would fight through my fears until they were safe again.

And I loved him.

I loved Tait Heartwalker, and I could’ve lost him.

Tait took over the rowing through dawn. We did not know how long it would take Djur and his men to catch up to us again. The risk of remaining idle was too great.

When I had rested enough, I managed to cast sporadic illusions that would sway attention away from the small rowboat, or I draped the boat in mists.

By the next nightfall, the other men had all taken a turn swimming beside the boat, soaking up the sea into their dry flesh until a new strength restored them all, save for Seableeder. The man needed a boneweaver. His fever would not break.

Nightseer took hold of the oars again, offering a respite for Tait, who sat beside me, arms around my shoulders, giving me space to lean back against his chest.

“Swordeater,” Tait said, “tell us what happened.”

Swordeater leaned over the rail of the boat and let his palm drag through the surface of the sea.

With a touch of reluctance, he straightened. “I’d wager damn near anythin’ the storm that took the Sea Void was caused by those sods and their witch. I’m not the most superstitious of the crew, but I have to say, there be somethin’ to The Summons shanty. Like a curse. It brought those mists, the storm, like those folk be waitin’ for someone to sing those words. Whatever power they have, it dragged us off course into the Far Seas. They didn’t attack in the Ever, and I’m not sayin’ I know much, but there might be somethin’ to that. Like they can’t be crossin’ borders.”

We needed to reach the damn Ever. Soon.

Tait considered the description. “The helm of the Sea Void would not answer to me when the storm struck,” he said after a pause. “I could not control the ship.”

“Aye,” Nightseer said. “We all felt it. Glad ye got off with the lovey when you did.”

“I am so sorry you’ve all suffered,” I whispered.

“Ah, lass.” Swordeater winked. “We been through worse.”

Tait told them of Boneseer, how we’d given him a proper burial. They asked a few questions about the isle and how Eilifur found us.

“What do you make of them golden leaves you saw on the isle?” Swordeater asked. “Same as the mortal’s garden, yes?”