A flash of light erupted from the well, so great it swallowed the entire island. It lasted no longer than a blink, but the ghosts vanished.
Bandur’s remains were a pile of ashes. The wind swept them up from the stone floor and scattered them over the raging waters below.
Gone was the well of the blood of stars, destroyed by the eruption of light. In its place was a mess of broken rocks and stones. Debris whirled across the rooftop, tiny pebbles prickling my skin. Edan shielded us with his cloak.
“We have to get off the tower!” he shouted as the winds picked up. Something roared in the near distance, like the rumble from the belly of a terrible beast. It took me a second to realize the island itself was crumbling.
Another quake. The world tilted so violently I couldn’t keep my balance.
I staggered back, and Edan caught my arm.
Below, Lake Paduan’s waters crashed and heaved. Edan was fumbling to unroll the carpet. With a glance, I took in the rips and tears, the holes and broken tassels, and claw and teeth marks….
“It’s not going to fly,” I said, touching his arm. Without my scissors, I couldn’t fix it. My demon’s magic was destructive, and Amana’s I could not control. I had understood my scissors—how to wield them and channel magic into the garments I’d sewn—but now they were gone.
“The only way is to jump into the lake.”
“Together, then,” he said, pulling me up toward the parapet.
The wind howled, and my hair flew wildly behind my shoulders. I looked down and was immediately grateful for the fog shrouding the waters, obscuring just how high we were. Even then, I could see the foam curling over the dark, stormy waters.
“You can’t swim,” I remembered. “Edan?”
“There’s no other way.”
Behind us, the wind grew strong, and the tower rumbled.
“Ready?” he asked.
I nodded, interlacing my fingers with his. “On the count of three. One, two—”
We jumped.
I couldn’t see the water below, which made the plunge even more frightening. The water growled, alive with the wrath and fury of all those who had perished in its depths. I gasped, feeling the force of gravity pull us down, down, down.
I braced myself for landing, my stomach twisting and my heart in my throat.
At the height of my fear, the wind wrenched my hand away from Edan’s, tearing us apart.
“Maia!” he shouted.
“No—” I started to shout, but no sound came out. Salt air rushed up into my nostrils, and a beat later, I shattered.
The crash into the lake hurt so much my body was in shock. I had forgotten what pain felt like. Water thundered in my ears and the cold began to numb me.
But it was the burning in my throat that reminded me to kick, to work, to live.
Reflexively, I swam for the surface.
I sucked in a gulp of air. The tides were fierce, hungrily trying to bury me in their depths, and water splashed at my face as I thrashed.
“Edan?” I yelled. It was so dark I couldn’t see anything. “Edan!”
My dress lit up with the brilliance of the stars. At once, the waters were illuminated, and I saw him, sinking into the depths of the lake.
I dove after him, grabbing him under the arms and kicking back to the surface. Then I hooked his arm over my shoulders.
“Edan?” I cried worriedly. “Edan, are you all right?”
He coughed, water spluttering out of his nose and mouth. His arms splashed clumsily until I steadied them, relief thudding in my ears.
“That’s the closest I’ve come to drowning in centuries,” he said.
“You scared me!”
Behind us, the isles sank into the lake, creating a vast whirlpool whose violent winds I could feel even from here. I watched Lapzur fold into the darkness, the Thief’s Tower disappearing last. Never to be seen again.
“Well, I guess there goes our option of swimming to the nearest shore,” Edan said, his tone more wry than grave. I placed a salty kiss on his mouth. Only he could find humor in a moment like this.
But he did have a point. The carpet had flown us quite a distance to reach Lapzur. Without it, we were stranded in the water—from our point in the lake, I couldn’t even see any sign of land.
Yet I didn’t panic. My mind was already spinning with an idea: after he had marked me, Bandur had been able to journey far from the isles through glass and nightmares and smoke. A demon that was not bound as guardian of Lapzur could probably do much, much more. I remembered how Bandur had thrown me into the well—and how I’d flown up away from its depths. Heat coursed through my fingertips, a spark I’d been struggling to hold back, igniting the flames within me.
“Wrap your arms around my waist,” I whispered to Edan. “And hold on.”
We shot out of the water, my skirts blooming like a lantern as it floated us to shore.
Once we landed, the fire inside me extinguished. I let go of everything and collapsed.
* * *
• • •
A familiar heart beat against my ear, steady and gentle, in a rhythm I’d heard many times before. As I stirred, a warm breath tickled my cheek. A thick cloak was draped over me, a comforting arm wrapped around my waist.
I couldn’t have been asleep long, for it was still night.
I twisted to face Edan. His collar was damp, goose bumps rising on his exposed skin.
“You’re shivering,” I said.
“My clothes will dry,” he replied through his teeth. “Don’t worry about me, xitara.”
“I’m not cold,” I said, only to realize it wasn’t true. The air was frigid, and for the first time in weeks, I tasted the frost on my lips when I breathed in. The only thing that kept me from shivering was the blood of stars.
“What are you—”
I pulled my dress over my head, unknotting its buttons. Without my scissors, there was no elegant way of undoing them.
I ignored Edan’s protests and wrapped the dress’s folds around us both, summoning warmth into the shimmering fabric.
Slowly the color returned to Edan’s skin, but I helped hasten the process by kissing him. It was only dawning on us now that we’d won.
Bandur was dead. His tower on Lapzur had collapsed.
The whispers had stopped.
I breathed in, relishing the silence in my head. I could finally hear myself breathe, could hear my heart racing so fast and unsteadily every beat echoed in my ears. The throbbing in my temples had ceased, and my eyes had stopped burning. And pain—I’d felt pain when we crashed into the waters.