"What's happening?" he shouted.
"We're out of time," Lyana said, worry lines digging into her forehead. "I'm not strong enough to keep the isle from sinking. It's been bobbing in the ocean, trying to find its balance, and I think it just did."
"It’s going over?"
She rolled her lip between her teeth and nodded.
"Do we have time?" he asked. The castle courtyard was visible through the fog, the stone wall normally hiding it from sight crushed beyond repair. Below those grounds, Cassi was locked behind bars with no avenue of escape, exactly where he'd put her. If the isle sank, she'd sink with it, and if she died, he might as well have put the blade through her skin himself. "Lyana, do we have time?"
Determination hardened her features. "We'll make some."
54
Cassi
It’s a fitting way to die, Cassi thought as she watched her body roll across the moist stones of the dungeon, limp and lifeless, while the ground gave way beneath her. Alone in the dark. Undone by my own lies. A creature of the sky swallowed by the sea.
What a metaphor for her life.
She couldn't even be mad—she had no one to blame but herself. Her decisions had ruined lives. Her choices were the reason she was here. If she'd done what Malek had asked, she'd be in Da'Kin right now, safely by his side, still his favored spy.
She'd rather be dead.
At least this way she wouldn't go to her grave a liar.
Her one regret would be in not finding the courage to visit Rafe, to tell him to his face how sorry she was. She didn’t expect forgiveness. She simply felt it was something he deserved to hear, and now he never would.
Of course, in these final minutes she could try to race across the sea and dive into his dreams. It would probably be a better use of her time than this—hovering over her body, watching it slam into the wall as the isle tilted, unable to do anything. A cut split her forehead and the blood dripped down the side of her face, but she didn’t even feel the pain. She wanted to. She'd rather feel the breaks in her bones and the cuts along her skin. She'd rather feel the burn of life in her lungs when the water rushed in and pulled her under. She'd rather anything than this horrible detachment.
Maybe that was why she couldn't leave. Even traitors and spies didn’t want to die alone, and she couldn't bear to abandon her body to face the end on its own.
Or maybe it was because she was waiting.
Waiting for the impossible.
Waiting.
Waiting.
Waiting.
And then she heard it—the soft rumble of voices at the other end of the hall. If she'd had breath, she would have held it. This was too much to hope for, too much to dream of. Her story was one of abandonment. Her father left her first, before she ever had the chance to learn who he was. Then her mother, in a way, as she handed her toddler of three over to the crown. Then Malek, as he gave her wings and hoisted her above the clouds, only to drop her in the middle of vacant tundra where she cried and cried until a dove patrol found her. As a girl growing up an owl among doves, her caretakers had been plenty, shifting from one nursemaid to another, not a one sticking around for long. She'd learned that people didn't come back. They left. Again and again, they did nothing but leave. Maybe that was why she'd loved her books—they couldn't get up and walk away. Maybe that was why she'd always been so afraid of telling Lyana the truth—in her mind, that would be the end. Of them. Of their friendship. Of their sisterhood.
She should have known better.
She should have known Lyana, her queen of prophecy, her best friend, wouldn't be like all the rest. And she should have known the man by her side wouldn't either.
Xander, Cassi thought. You came.
They flew down the hall side by side, flickering torches guiding their way through the dark depths of the dungeon. By the time they reached her cell, the room was nearly on its side. The door sat below them as though it were the floor, and through it, Cassi's body lay sprawled against the roughly hewn wall. Xander knelt across the bars, all his focus on the lock, but Lyana searched the darkness just beyond the halo of light.
"Cassi!" Lyana cried, spotting the body. "Xander, open the door. Cassi, can you hear me?"
"I've almost…" He worked the key, pursing his lips. "There!"
The heavy iron swung inwards, dropping down so fast Xander fell through the opening before his wings could catch him. Lyana followed more gracefully, arching her wings so she landed with control beside Cassi's immobile body. Golden magic erupted around her palm, quickly enveloping the entire room. The cut on Cassi's forehead sealed, along with any other physical injuries she hadn't felt. But no matter how much magic her friend funneled into her body, there was one break that wouldn't mend—the most important one.
"Are you healing her?" Xander asked from the other side of her body. It was strange to think that a power that was so blinding to Cassi was invisible to his eyes, nothing more than a strange current in the air he could feel but couldn't see.
"I'm trying."
"What's wrong?"
"I don't—" Lyana broke off, her brow furrowing.
"Is she…?"
"No."
More magic filled the tiny cell, so potent it saturated Cassi's spirit, sinking through her diaphanous form, as warm as the sun.
I'm here, she wanted to say. I'm right here.
"Cassi!" Lyana called, shaking her limp shoulders. If only it were that simple. Instead, her head lolled to the side. "Cassi, wake up!"
"What's her injury?" Xander asked. "Maybe I can help."
"That's what I don't understand. There's no injury."
"No injury?"
"It's like I can feel her but she's not there. She's somewhere else. She's…" Lyana trailed off as she lifted her face and scanned the room. The deep umber of her skin shone richly against the soft light of her magic. She was regal as a queen, and her eyes narrowed as her gaze landed on the spot where Cassi hovered.
I'm here.
This time Lyana heard her. Through her power she sensed Cassi's spirit, and her fingers rose to cover her gasp. The shock on her face was quickly replaced by a realization—whatever kept Cassi from her body was a wound she didn’t know how to heal.
"Lyana," Xander murmured by her side. His face was also lifted toward the iron door swinging overhead, though there was no way he could see what she saw. He saw something though, his brows drawing together in concern. Water glistened on his cheek. For a moment, Cassi thought it was a tear, but then another droplet splashed against his pearly skin. "Do you hear that?"
"What?"
He touched the water slipping down his jaw. In the silence, the subtle trickle drawing his attention was as loud as a rushing river.
Lyana's eyes widened, her voice panicked. "We have to get her out of here. You grab her legs and I'll grab her torso."
They moved with haste. Xander dug his elbows under her knees as Lyana did the same with her shoulders. By the time they lifted Cassi's body off the stones, grunting from the heaviness in her limbs, an unbroken stream of water dripped through the cell bars, landing with another splash by their side. It was awkward to maneuver her through the narrow door, one not meant for flying, but after a few tries they found a way. In her spirit form, Cassi hovered behind, wishing there were more she could do as they soared over the liquid cascading down the hall. With each passing second, the gush strengthened. When they reached the stairs, the splashes soaked their clothes, slapping against the walls and spraying the ceiling. With the isle on its side, the long winding steps from the dungeon went not up, but sideways. They rushed to carry her to safety, but the ocean water kept coming, thickening and strengthening, weighing down their wings as the narrow strip of air grew thinner and thinner. One by one, the torches lighting the way went dark. The castle descended into shadow, nothing but the subtle sheen of Lyana's magic to light the way.