Chapter 57 Isaiah
ISAIAH
More ships floated across the sky, the town below being sectioned off as soldiers touched the ground and began their search.
I knew they weren’t just here for the medallion.
I never understood Nismera’s obsession with Vincent.
It wasn’t love. After everything that had happened, I suspected she was incapable of that emotion.
So, her sending this many ships after him and the witch who betrayed her told me one thing.
Whatever power that medallion possessed, it was important, and she desperately wanted it back.
“Dianna just had to cause a scene,” I said.
“I don’t think it’s just Dianna.” Kaden sneered. “They had to be in the area already.”
“Nismera really wants that medallion.”
Kaden only nodded. We moved along the outer city wall but saw no sign of the witch or …
My thoughts died when I saw the enormous warship in the distance, recognizing the intricate design along the side. That was Milani’s warship. If Milani were here, that meant she was too. Excitement fizzled through me, and everything receded. Nothing else mattered.
Kaden caught my eye and shook his head. “Isaiah. No.”
I held his gaze, resolve settling into my bones. “I have to try, Kaden.”
Adrueth soldiers shoved their way through the city, searching every shop and every home, leaving nothing but destruction and chaos in their wake.
Kaden and I had fought over this, and I wished more than anything that I could explain my need to get to her.
Fuck, I wish I could explain it to myself.
The woman hadn’t even spoken to me. She couldn’t, but I couldn’t help how I felt.
And gods above, I wished I could. I knew it seemed stupid to him, and maybe it was.
It embarrassed me that I cared for someone who, if they got their mind back, would probably hate and despise me as Essa had, yet every cell in my body screamed for Imogen.
Go! Run! Get her! Get her!
Kaden searched my face for a long moment before cursing. “Fine,” he growled deep in his throat.
“Fine, what?” I asked, my gaze flicking toward the ship again, feeling the pull and eager to find her.
He threw up his hands, clearly resigned. “Let’s go.”
I arched my brow. “Let’s? You’ll come with me?”
I couldn’t keep the exhilaration from my voice. He was agreeing?
“Yes,” he said, frowning. “Now shut up and go before I change my mind.”
“What about the medallion?” I asked, watching the winged adrueth soldiers jump from the ships and soar over the city as they continued to search. We didn’t know what the medallion did exactly, but we both knew that if Nismera got ahold of it again, we were all fucked.
Kaden looked at me and shrugged. “If I have to choose between the world and my brother, it will be you.”
Kaden and I fought like beasts at times, and in the past, we’d both said hateful things we didn’t truly mean.
But there was one indisputable fact between us.
Since the day we’d entered this world, it had always been the two of us looking after each other.
He had given up so much for me, and here he was, prepared to do it again.
If I tried to hug him, he would call me insane and change his mind.
Any words of affection would make him recoil, so I just gave him a quick nod and smiled.
“Follow my lead then,” I said, taking on the form of a small feathered beast native to Goldpass.
Kaden rolled his eyes and let out a deep sigh before changing.
We took to the skies, soaring straight for her ship.
The clouds surrounding it created a haze we could easily pass through undetected.
As we drew closer, I saw an open port. Soldiers launched themselves into the air, and I charged ahead, my tiny wings beating frantically.
We easily slipped onto the warship in our bird forms. Once inside, we changed again, matching our appearance to that of the adrueth soldiers filling the craft.
No one paid us any attention. Everyone was too focused on their orders.
We tucked our wings tight against our backs and strode down the corridor, the inside a maze of twists and turns.
I’d only been inside Milani’s ship once, for a meeting ages ago.
I’d forgotten how massive it was, a small fucking city built to fly at light speed.
It would be impressive if she weren’t a whiny, self-absorbed twat.
Kaden waited until another command came over the intercom before he stopped in a section nearly clear of soldiers. “Go north. I’m going to check the east side. If you find her, grab her and flee. Shout through the bond, so I know to follow,” he said in a low voice.
I nodded, my hand reaching out and clasping his biceps as he turned to leave. “Thank you for this.”
He sighed in exasperation and glared at me. “Just hurry up. I don’t want to be here all damn day.”
Slapping him on the shoulder, I shot him a quick grin, and we split at the next corridor.
I strode along the corridor, slowing nearly imperceptibly before the doors that broke up the smooth wall to my right, the one on my left made of seamless metal.
Nothing pulled or tugged at me. I didn’t know why I thought it would.
We had no true connection, but I kept going, checking every room.
We had entered through the lowest section of the ship when we’d snuck onboard, which seemed to house the bridge, control centers, sleeping corridors, and weapons rooms. I stopped at a large gold and white door and entered, but all I found were adrueth soldiers sitting before screens and panels of flashing lights, working to keep the massive warship in the air.
They looked up as I entered, but nobody looked alarmed or said anything. She wasn’t in any of them.
Where the fuck was she?
I stood in the hall and closed my eyes. Taking a deep breath, I focused on her and tried to get a hold of the near panic ripping through me.
Usually, I had no problem compartmentalizing my emotions, but not with her.
I didn’t know what I felt for her, but I knew I had no control over it.
I inhaled deeply again and unclenched my fists.
I tried to reach that nameless voice again to see if it would whisper or scream.
I just needed to focus. My mind drifted, images of her at Nismera’s palace, blonde hair pulled back too tightly, eyes the color of sea foam and lilac.
As my mind calmed, lightning struck my soul, and a faint tug pulled at me.
My eyes flew open, and my head snapped back, my feet moving of their own volition.
Above! That nameless voice screamed. Above!
I should have had more tact. Maybe I should have been smart and conniving, like Kaden or Dianna, but that wasn’t in my nature.
I was more commonly described as impulsive, and that was one thing that would never change.
I ran down the hall, my eyes glued to the ceiling.
The wings on my back were causing too much drag, and I instinctively shifted back to my mortal form, allowing me to move as fast as I needed.
Not shifting my eyes from above, I suddenly crashed to a stop and crouched.
With a powerful push, I launched myself into the air, bursting through the ceiling and into the room above.
Broken wires sent sparks flying all around me as I landed.
Several people cursed behind me, but I didn’t turn, unable to take my gaze from her.
She looked like a living dream. Her hair was how I’d left it, pulled back from her face, but I’d never made it so cruelly tight.
Anger made my jaw clench. I knew the female soldiers liked to mess with her.
Did they not know she’d get headaches that way?
Of course, they knew. They just didn’t care.
She stood with her back straight and her arms at her sides, her ocean-blue eyes staring at me.
It was probably because I had hit my head coming through the floor, but for a split second, I thought I saw her blink and her lips flicker in an attempt to smile.
As quickly as it happened, reality set in, and three guards rushed me.
They came at me with their weapons raised, but I didn’t care.
I had found my gravity once more at the sight of her, and nothing else mattered.
With a flick of my hand, the room exploded in blood and gore, painting the floor between us in red.
Desperate to get to her, I stalked through the carnage and cupped her face, wiping away the tiny red splotches marring the perfection of her skin.
“There you are,” I said, even though I knew she could not hear me.
Smiling, I shifted to her side and wrapped my arm around her back.
Once I was ready, I spoke the words to make her relax, the same ones used to put them to sleep.
Her body slumped, and I caught her, lifting her against my chest. I spun, Imogen limp in my arms.
A siren blared, and more guards roared their way into the room.
I curled around her, shielding her with my body and my thick armor.
The adrueth soldiers rushing at my back stopped as, one by one, their heads burst and their bodies fell.
Blood sprayed, coating my back, but not a single drop hit Imogen.
“Did they hurt you?” I whispered as the ship began to tilt.
Of course, she didn’t answer, yet her lashes fluttered against her cheeks as if her body were trying to respond despite her inability to speak.
I sighed, knowing I was probably imagining shit again.
She had no free rein, and no matter how much I loved Kaden, I hated him for what he had done to her.
I knew it was wrong and impossible, but I couldn’t deny how my body and heart ached for her.
“No one will hurt you ever again,” I told her as I headed for the door. “I swear it.”
Another loud boom shook the air, and I glanced out the window.
Below, some of the ships were rising while soldiers boarded the ones on the ground, preparing to evacuate.
They would only be leaving if they had completed their mission.
They must have procured the medallion and had likely killed the witch in the process.
But now that I had Imogen back in my arms, I just did not care.