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Zehr’s words rang in my ears.Never leave an enemy behind you.
But something pierced my heart at the sight of my uncle struggling in the waves.
I turned my back on him and swam the rest of the way to the shore, depositing Amily’s box and the Scourge stone in the sand. Then I hesitated.
I didn’t even know what I was going to do as I dove back into the water and swam toward him. I grabbed his collar and hauled him in with me, dragging him along until we reached the shore. My strength seemed to leave me as soon as I began to tow him. I was exhausted by the time I stumbled up the beach and I fell to my knees. He drew long, ragged breaths.
I looked back at the boats. As exhausted as I felt, I needed to move. I couldn’t let his men capture me.
As I rose to my feet, there was a stirring sound behind me.
“My apologies, niece,” Kallus rasped, his voice still broken from his near-drowning.
I turned as he raised his hands. His magic flared around his hands, and I stumbled to my knees.
Three of Kallus’s guards melted out of the shadows. Two of them seized my arms and forced my wrists together, and a third wrapped dragonsbane around my wrists. I met my uncle’s gaze, and he looked back at me without apology.
“Take her away and prepare her for torture.” Kallus said. “I need to know how to rid myself of this curse before we can return to the sea, before my whole fleet is lost.”
His men dragged me away.
CHAPTER15
Honor
Before we reached the forest,a voice muttered in my ear, “Fancy meeting you like this again.”
It was Talisyn’s voice, even though it wasn’t Tal’s face, and my heart rose. I didn’t dare show any sign, expecting that we would fight our way out.
One of the guards suddenly lashed out at the others, kicking them and slashing them with his sword; it was a brief, unexpected fight, then they were all down on the ground.
The other guard suddenly turned and hurled a dagger at Kallus, who was trying to raise his magic. Kallus threw up a hand to block it, flecks of golden magic swirling around his fingers and dripping in an arc, but he moved too slowly. The blade bounced along his magic and then slammed into his arm, and Kallus let out a bark of pain.
“Give me your hands.” Talisyn yanked a dragon’s bane knife from his belt, and I hastily offered him my wrists.
Talisyn cut the dragonsbane binding me and flung it far away, so it wouldn’t sap our powers.
“I need that stone before we can leave!” I yelled.
Without hesitation, the other one tried to snatch it from Kallus. Kallus fought back, dripping blood, silent and savage. But the other knight grabbed the back of his head and slammed his knee into Kallus’s face, and as Kallus fell, he wrenched the pendant away.
I raced across the sand and snatched up the box that contained my mother’s things.
I reached for Tal. I didn’t know who the other one was but it didn’t matter, I grabbed him too. I didn’t want them to know I could shadow travel, but there was no other way of escaping.
The second turned confused eyes on me as I grabbed his arm, and I was afraid he was going to pull away. “I’m getting us out of here,” I promised.
The world blurred gray, then black, then gray again.
Then we were stumbling, outside Arren’s cottage.
I hadn’t planned to come here. Maybe it just felt like home to me.
“I can’t believe I have it,” I said, clutching the box to my chest. The Scourge stone glittered between the guard’s fingers. I had the chance to change everything.
“Honor, what are you up to?” the other man asked.
His voice sounded familiar, but especially thattone.It sent a jolt through me; it was protective, warm, slightly exasperated.Damyn.I knew him even before he muttered a few enchanted words, and his features were replaced by Damyn’s handsome, lined face.
