Page 38 of Children of Anguish and Anarchy

Like clockwork, thunderclouds gather on the far horizon. They glimmer like black pearls. Inan rises to his feet and stares at the flashing masses.

“How did you know?” he asks.

I place my hand over the medallion, praying it doesn’t glow under my wrap. The fear I haven’t allowed myself to feel crawls back in as the storm draws near. Lightning starts to crackle, and I see the blood-red moon behind my eyes. I feel it in my bones.

I’m running out of time.

“We need to get to higher ground,” Inan says. I don’t fight him as he helps me back onto my feet. I hook his injured arm over my shoulder, and we take off.

Hours pass in silence as we make our way through the bamboo trees. The green stalks grow high above our heads, disappearing as we reach a steep incline. The trickle of a waterfall guides us as the first rain falls. I set Inan down by the bank and he drops to the fresh pool, inhaling the water like air.

As I join him, my muscles tense. It’s been so long since the two of us have been like this. The trickling waterfall brings me back to the dreamscape, the world Inan and I created in our minds. Suspended between our conscious and unconscious states, together we made the dreamscape come alive.

Thinking of the plane now, I see the white dress I’d always wear. I feel the delicate reeds our bodies tangled through. In the dreamscape, I let my guard down.

I fell under his spell.

“There’s a cave.” Inan points up the waterfall. “We might as well wait out the rain.”

My stomach clenches tight as we hike.

I try to erase the memories of the last time we were alone all night.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

INAN

DAY TURNS TO NIGHT.

The storm rages beyond our cave.

I sit at the mouth, silent as I watch the falling rain.

Everything it took to escape the Skulls plays through my mind. Their brutal fists. Their bronze smiles. I wonder what it will take to defeat them for good.

I wonder how to keep Zélie alive.

I glance over my shoulder to find her sitting by the fire. She hasn’t moved since we entered the cave. She clutches the wool wrapped tight around her chest, staring at the dancing flames.

Despite how many times I’ve asked, she won’t tell me what happened after they took her. I don’t have a clue what she knows. But the girl who was taken from the cage is not the one who sits here now.

Her white hair spills over her dark shoulders like a cloud. Every wound she had before has disappeared. The way she walked onto the beach, it was as if she called forth the storm. She squeezes her eyes shut whenever lightning cracks from above.

And then there’s my magic.…

I lift my own scarred hands. With a push, the blue wisps of my oldpowers come forward again. A curse I reached for every night on that horrid ship, reignited the moment Zélie’s fingers met my skin.

Everything I wanted to protect Zélie from on that vessel already feels like it’s come to pass. There’s not one scar on her body, yet I’ve never seen her look so afraid. The way she stares at the fire, it’s as if something inside her has died.

The Skulls have done something to her. She’s changing, right before my eyes. How can I keep her out of Baldyr’s hands if she won’t tell me what she knows? How can I protect Orïsha from the Skulls’ attack?

If she won’t talk, then I’ll find out for myself.

My magic burns as it pushes free from my wounded hand, gathering around my fingers in a turquoise cloud. For so long magic has been the only way for me to get through Zélie’s walls. The only time she’s been forced to let me in. If I can just peek inside her mind, then I’ll have another clue.

I may discover what King Baldyr’s planning to do.

I hold my breath as I release the turquoise cloud. It travels across the cave floor like a snake. I follow the trail as it closes the space between Zélie and me, crawling toward her back.

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