by Ellie Margot
Riette, still holding the guard at her feet, looked into the cage and met the eyes of the man inside.
He was larger than she imagined and taller than her. She could tell that even as he remained seated.
The noise came back and, with it, the chaos, but their eyes were locked as he considered her.
Samantha shoved her side, pulling her attention back. “Googly eyes, later. Fucking shit up, now.”
Riette nodded and then ended the man in front of her. He didn’t scream because all of his screams were gone. When she released him, she saw the damage her flames had done.
She didn’t have time to think about him, though. The others were all fighting. Mekhi had two coming at him. Corin was near to him, holding her own. She was fighting combat style, her powers amplifying her movements as they simmered beneath the surface.
Trinity fought hand to foot. Cassian was next to her. Riette saw him place his hands on either side of a guard’s head. He closed his eyes, and Riette knew he was calling the wind.
What the fuck?
She had never seen Cassian do anything like that before. Wind was being pushed into the man’s mind.
She turned back to the next guard to attack her. Her body was unwilling to see what would become of Cassian’s trick.
The guard pulled a fast trick. Instead of coming at her head on, he jerked around to be at her back. His arm closed around her neck, and he used the other to keep it in place. His plan was to crush her throat.
The flames were still at her hands, and she could smell the singed hair of his arms as she gripped and pulled at the hands holding her.
She could hear him whimper before he yelled his way through it and gripped harder.
Riette tried to take in a breath, but nothing could come. She closed her eyes. Like before, she smelled the sea.
This time, though? She knew it wasn’t Mekhi. It was a feeling in her stomach, a pulling at her throat.
She felt a sickness she had put so far in her past, she had forgotten it. She had forced herself to.
Then Riette opened her lips.
A song left her throat. It came from when she closed her eyes and still saw the man under the sea when she’d been on the ship with Georgette.
The song pierced. It was sad, loud, and broken.
The man holding her released his hold. She felt that, but the music continued, and she didn’t yet open her eyes.
When Riette did open her eyes, she met Zekariah’s. He was now against the cage, gripping the bars with his large hands. He was pushed against them, his eyes looking only at her. His frame took up much of the visible space. The darkness was around him like a cloak across his broad shoulders. His eyes seemed to glow green in the dark, and Riette saw something akin to amusement in them.
Normally, if it had been anyone else, she would have rankled at the unbridled attention, but in that moment, their eyes catching over everyone else, she forced herself to feel nothing, other than the thumping of her heart deep in her chest.
Riette broke eye contact to look at the rest of her party.
All of their enemies were dead and laid at their feet. Everyone in her party was covered in blood. They looked at her in surprise, but she looked back toward Zeke.
He smirked as he took her in. His first word, a low and rumbling, “Hello,” echoed unnervingly in what now felt like a small space.
Chapter 26
Riette broke eye contact first. A part of her, some part that was young but knew enough to know better, thought she’d be trapped in his gaze forever. It would have been too much to give up and too soon. She needed to assert dominance already, not seem in awe of someone who made even her tall frame seem small.
She turned to see Cassian behind her. He had a firm set to his jaw. Mekhi was at his side.
They were her soldiers. They had been with her through everything, and despite what they had been through, despite the blood even now pooling around their feet, they stood beside her.
“We’ll need to get him out,” said Mekhi, though he shook his head as he said it. Riette could all but hear his thoughts, even though that wasn’t one of her actual abilities. He didn’t want to let him loose. He was a big, hulking liability. Mekhi was sure of it, or maybe Riette was making Mekhi the mirror she didn’t want to see.
“Allow me,” said Damian. Riette turned and watched the large man next to Samantha. She had just finished whispering something in his ear, and he was returning to his full and terrible height.
“Now he speaks?” Mekhi grunted.
“He’s spoken before,” said Riette, though she muttered an, “I think.”
Corin held Mekhi’s arm again. “I don’t like this.”
“It’s what we came for,” Riette reminded her. She turned back toward the cage. A large part of her expected him to be staring when her gaze returned, but he wasn’t.
His large hands still gripped the bars with chains on his wrists that caught the light every so often, and there was a smirk on his lips, as if he was laughing at a joke. Or at them.
But his gaze was downward, looking at the fallen guards.
Damian took a step forward with Samantha at his heels. Riette’s eyes met Trinity’s over Samantha’s shoulder.
Riette had assumed Trinity would be standing with Cassian, but after all of the bloodshed, Trinity stood with Guy on the outskirts.
Guy looked worse for wear. Blood was splattered on his shirt and on his face, but it was Trinity that looked haunted. There were the ghosts of purple bruising under her eyes, and Riette wondered if she had had the heels of her hands pressed there to hide herself from the carnage.
Riette wouldn’t blame her if she had. Even now, she could still feel the flames licking her hands just beneath the surface, looking for more danger, still feeling it in the air.
The rooms around them were still. A quick glance showed her that almost every room had its occupant standing against the bars. They didn’t say anything, though.
Coming from a wall of noise to one of silence, broken only by the collective breathing of so many people and the words of her group, troubled her in such a way that she felt woefully uncomfortable.
“It’s an honor, sir,” said Samantha. She stood behind Damian as her giant protector tested the strength of the bars with a quick tug of his hands.
Riette watched Zeke lift a brow but say nothing. He didn’t look back at Riette. She knew he could feel her gaze, but not knowing how she had that knowledge, she didn’t know what to do with it.
“I haven’t been called ‘sir’ in a long time,” he said, and there was a laugh barely hidden in his voice.
“Fucking travesty, I’d say,” said Samantha. Riette watched Samantha’s cheeks and took in the red that colored them. She had her hands at her sides and kept opening them and closing them reflexively.
Mekhi mumbled something Riette guessed was cousin to “kiss ass,” if he didn’t say it outright.
“You’d be in small company,” Zeke continued. “I wasn’t put in here for being voted most lovable.”
“That’s because the people who respect you aren’t the people in power,” continued Samantha.
Damian pulled against the bars in front of him, testing for weaknesses. Samantha reached up behind him and spoke words Riette couldn’t hear as she grabbed what she could of Damian’s shoulders.
Riette shared a look with Mekhi. They had seen so little of Samantha’s magic that it was easy for them to forget she had any.
She knew a terribly small amount of how mages worked, but she also knew that underestimating it could get her killed, their tenuous alliance be damned.
A snap echoed in the cavernous space. Riette startled and looked back to see bars in Damian’s hands.
A smile came to Zeke’s face but then disappeared. Something more serious fell in its place.
Zeke joined Damian from the other side. There were only a few bars left between them, and with the strong hands tugging and gripping from opposite ends, quick work wa
s made of all that stood in their way.
The hole that they made wasn’t terribly large, but Zeke maneuvered his way through it. Riette wondered briefly as she watched more of him emerge.
Riette closed her eyes and shook her head. She wasn’t going to do this. She wasn’t going to fawn over Zeke like some giddy schoolgirl.
Tingles in her chest be damned.
There was too much at stake. The bag on her back, much lighter now without Bark and Barry inside, still held the book that was heavily magicked and held secrets that could save everything she cared about at home, everything she knew and held dear, minus the people around her.
Riette opened her eyes and took inventory of her group. She needed to be a leader. She needed to make sure that they were all okay. Bark and Barry were close to her heels. Mekhi and Corin still stood watching. Cassian met her glance and gave a short nod of his head. Riette knew he had already done his assessment, like she should have. Like her mother would have done by then.
She could hear Damian’s voice mingling with Zeke’s. She wondered what Damian would talk about. She wondered a lot of things.
“Eat,” Cassian barked. She jumped at seeing Vitan bark in front of her face.
The rest had their chunks already.
“Eat,” Cassian said more softly, but the force didn’t leave his voice.
Riette tore a chunk with her teeth and crushed it as she chewed, thinking.
She met Guy’s glance from across the room. He took an extra-large bite of Vitan and wiggled his eyebrows at her. She laughed sharply before putting a hand to her mouth.
Zeke turned at the sound. He said something softly to Damian, who looked at Samantha.
“We need to get out of here, guys. Far as fuck and just as fast. These people, my people, won’t stop when their prize pony leaves the pen.”
“Let’s giddy-up,” said Mekhi, turning. He kept his hand in Corin’s as they faced the way they came.
Zeke took a step forward, and a guard Riette had thought for sure was dead grabbed his ankle. He was hardly alive, more a collection of charred remains after sparring with her, but his grip locked on Zeke.
He considered him for a moment before raising his boot to a toddler’s height.
Riette turned her head quickly, but she couldn’t block her ears before hearing the crunch of his boot finding connection on the fallen guard’s head.
“The fuck was that?” muttered Guy.
Zeke looked up from his bloody work and raised an eyebrow at him. “That? That was a debt being repaid.”
Riette knew they didn’t have time for her to ask him what the fuck that meant, but she also wasn’t sure she wanted to know.
“Let’s move,” said Samantha. She ran to where Mekhi was heading, but Zeke stopped them.
“No, not the main entrance. The guards they’ll send will be coming from that way. We need to go left. There’s a small door.”
“How the fuck would you know about a small door when you’ve been locked in a cage?” asked Riette.
He laughed. “There isn’t a cage I don’t know my way through, and they couldn’t have built this shit without me.”
Riette opened her mouth, but Samantha cut her off. “No time.” She turned toward Zeke. “Go.”
He stood taller and led them to the far-left corner to what seemed like a wall. He gestured ahead. “The door’s there. Doesn’t look it, but it is.” He turned toward Samantha. “Blondie will go first. Then the bear fella. We’ll follow from there.”
“We take orders from the prisoner now?” Mekhi asked Riette.
She lifted a shoulder. “Until we get out of here, seems so.”
They started ahead. The other prisoners started up again. It was one thing when they could see them. The awe of seeing one of their own freed was enough to shake them to their cores and bury their voices. But now that they were leaving without breaking the cages that kept them in?
Riette felt the beginnings of a riot in the air around them. She knew they needed to move.
She jogged with the others, keeping the group tight and making sure Bark and Barry didn’t get trampled in the process.
Riette felt Zeke at her back before he announced himself. She didn’t talk to him. She wouldn’t. Not until she got her thoughts in order.
“Elf, huh?” he asked behind her.
She didn’t answer, but she knew she was in fucking trouble.
Chapter 27
They got out of the cages of the floating prison. The wind was aggressive outside. The storm had colored the sky in purples and blues, and the clouds were heavy with un-spilled rain.
The rains themselves had subsided, even though the crackling of thunder boomed and shook the ground beneath them. The trees swayed and bent in unnatural angles.
Riette looked toward Cassian. She knew his wind powers were responsible for the torrent.
“I may have overdone it.” There was color on Cassian’s pale cheeks, but he didn’t look ashamed.
Samantha smiled and did a twirl, looking at the sky above her.
“No shit,” said Mekhi, but he was smiling and cracked his knuckles.
“You meant to say ‘holy shit’,” said Samantha. She stopped, but her dizziness continued. “I thought twirl-y eyes was the only one with firepower.”
“We’re all fairly capable of fucking shit up,” said Riette. “I thought you knew.”
“Let’s measure each other later, after we’re safely on the ground,” said Guy.
“Safely?” Samantha asked. “You’re in warlock territory, darling. You look like a walking, talking, annoying lemonade. You’re a straw away from a good time by any fucker here.”
“You’re a poet,” said Guy, grabbing Trinity’s hand and walking to the edge. He looked down. “Still high as shit.”
Zeke joined him and glanced over the edge. “We leap. Grab the trees on the way down to minimize damage.”
“We’re not all half as tall as the distance,” said Mekhi. “You just suggested fancy suicide.”
Zeke didn’t give him a glance.
Samantha looked back and forth between them before speaking. “He’s right. If we catch a tree, the chances of us all dying from the drop go down considerably.”
“From like ninety-nine percent to ninety-two, give or take,” said Mekhi. “Got-ta love those odds.”
“Let’s do it,” said Corin. The others looked at her in shock, all but Zeke. “What? I want off this floating turd.”
The guards could still be heard on the other side.
“Can you up the wind?” Riette asked Cassian.
“Up it?” Samantha asked. “It’s the thing fucking our plan right now.”
“No, it’ll help carry us to the trees. We’ll be wind-born for a bit, which gives us longer to grab the trees.” Riette turned toward Cassian again. “So?”
He shot Trinity a sheepish glance. “Maybe with Samantha, I could—”
“Done,” said Samantha. She ran to him, grabbed his hands, and closed his eyes.
Cassian stumbled back. “I, uh, actually need my hands.”
“Shit, sorry,” said Samantha. “Where do I grab you?”
“Let me lead,” said Cassian.
“I’d like to jump now,” said Trinity. Her voice made it sound like a joke, but the way it ended sounded false to Riette. She tried to catch her eye, but Trinity was focused on the scene in front her.
Cassian and Samantha connected, with Cassian putting Samantha’s hands on his shoulders. They both closed their eyes. With Samantha being quiet and the storybook way Cassian looked, they were a picture.
Riette just couldn’t figure out what book the picture was coming out of: romance or horror?
The skies grew darker. Noises came from behind them. Riette could see the first signs of the guards descending. They were getting close.
“Guys,” Riette warned.
“Let them do it,” said Trinity, surprising Riette.
The wind picked up. It cycled around them
and whipped Riette’s hair. She bent down and gathered Bark and Barry.
She leaned into their small forms as she held them in front of her. “You all hold each other. You don’t let go. Bark, hold on to me. Barry, you hold on to Bark.”
They nodded, and Barry purred against Riette’s hand. She put them on her back and braced herself. Her adrenaline pumped in her veins. The wind picked up yet again.
A bolt of lightning flashed in the sky, and the crack of thunder boomed.
“Now?” Guy asked.
“Not yet,” said Zeke. “A little further.”
The wind moved with such force that Riette felt she would be blown off the structure before jumping.
“Now,” barked Zeke. He looked at Riette. “Go!”
Riette turned toward the edges. She checked on Bark and Barry again. The trees seemed to bend and not be nearly tall enough. The wind whipped at her back.
She looked ahead. She felt the world seeming to swirl and bend around her. Then she took a step and the prison fell away.
The air caught her after a second, and she grabbed for the trees.
The branches slapped at her hands, slipping through her grasp. The wind had gotten her this far, but grabbing something that was moving faster than she was made it nearly impossible.
She tried again, and she prayed that Bark and Barry could keep holding on.
Another branch hit her stomach, slapping against it. Riette sucked in a breath, but her hands grabbed the slender trunk of the young tree in front of her.
She found her grip, and she held on, even as her grip guided her descent down the tree. The bark of the tree scratched and ripped the flesh of her hands.
Riette continued that way until she was close enough to the ground that she jumped from the tree and landed with her knees hitting the earth.
She looked back. Guy was already on the ground. Trinity and Cassian were close by to them. She looked to her left. Corin and Mekhi were jumping from another tree.
