Chapter 39
Chapter
Thirty-Nine
Erinna was late.
Her bag dug into her shoulder, heavy with books she’d grabbed in those final frantic minutes—volumes that might hold answers or might be useless; she wouldn’t know until she had time to actually read them.
Her boots scuffed against stone as she hurried back through the stacks, that nagging certainty dogging every step: she’d missed something. Something important. Something vital.
She rounded the final corner into the first room and found Kane lounging in a cracked leather chair, looking like he had all the time in the world. Afton paced near the door, restless energy radiating off him in waves.
“Find everything you need?” Kane asked, but before Erinna could even open her mouth—
“Doesn’t matter. We’re leaving.” Afton murmured an incantation, the words sharp and clipped, and the bricks along the side wall began to shift. Stone grinding against stone, revealing a passageway Erinna hadn't noticed on the way in.
She glanced at the door they’d originally entered through, then back at the newly formed exit. “What about—”
“It only opens from the inside,” Afton cut in, not bothering to look at her. “And it seals once we’re gone. No one gets back in.”
Of course it does. Because nothing with mages was ever straightforward.
“Mages,” Kane muttered, echoing her thoughts as he pushed off the chair and followed Afton into the passage.
Erinna adjusted the strap on her satchel and hurried after them, the weight of stolen knowledge pressing against her ribs.
They wound back through narrow corridors lit by witchlights that flickered as they passed.
Nothing but dirt and stone surrounded them, the air growing damper the farther they went.
No more shelves. No more books. Just the three of them and the echo of their footsteps, heading toward whatever came next.
The journey back was much easier, but Erinna’s stomach twisted into knots as they neared the exit. She needed to think of her next steps and come up with a plan soon.
Afton pulled ahead, his pace quickening as though he couldn’t wait to be rid of them both. The distance between him and Erinna widened until she found herself walking alongside Kane in the dimness.
Part of her ached to go home. To see her father’s face, to sleep in her own bed, to pretend for just a few hours that her life hadn’t been upended by a mark she didn’t understand. But she still had nothing to show for her troubles, save for a pile of books and parchment.
Erinna still needed to find a way to break the curse, and there was one name that kept cropping up in her search.
Nama Kellori.
If Afton was right, she may be able to transmute the curse or direct her to someone who could. More than that, it seemed the esteemed Professor of Transmutation knew more about her parents than originally thought.
It was clear. Erinna needed to find her in the Initian Islands, and hope she hadn’t already left with her family.
The Kelloris owed the Yarrows a favor, and Erinna was inclined to collect.
She fell in step with Kane and cleared her throat. “The Initian Islands. That’s where you’re headed next?”
Kane glanced at her, one eyebrow raised. “Yes. Why?”
Erinna’s fingers tightened on the strap of her bag. Just say it.
“I need to speak with a friend.” She paused, the next words tasting strange in her mouth. “I was hoping I could travel with you. With your crew. For just a little longer.”
The silence stretched long enough that Erinna started mentally preparing for him to say no.
Kane studied her face in the flickering light, something unreadable passing across his expression. Eventually, his face softened, and he opened his mouth to speak.
The sound of moving stone echoed off the walls as they made it to the end. Then a shout erupted from ahead.
Then another. Then unmistakable clash of steel on steel.
Afton had already broken into a run. Kane swore under his breath and took off after him, one hand going to the blade at his hip, the other summoning fire.
Erinna kicked into a sprint behind them, the satchel bouncing painfully against her side. The narrow passage opened up ahead, pale daylight spilling in—and with it, the sounds of chaos.
The academy was on the island. Smoke and screams filled the air. The static of arcanum was suffocating.
They had run out of time.
Stone ground shut behind them, nearly clipping Erinna’s heel as she stalled.
At her side, Afton moved his hands in a blur. His body shimmered into nothingness. The Minor Apprentice had turned himself invisible. Another rare feat only the most practiced enchanters could perform.
“Two of them made it in!” someone cried.
She and Kane were spotted.
Dread curled around her legs and froze her body.
Kane was a blur of shadow as he leapt into the fray. Erinna was left alone, where she stood. Watching as her worst fear unfolded.
“Get your head on, Yarrow!” Lila’s voice cut through the din of battle.
Erinna sprinted for the dense thicket at the edge of camp, branches whipping at her arms as she dove into cover.
Her father had taught her enough to defend herself—how to fall without breaking bones, where to aim if someone grabbed her—but nothing that would help against this.
Academy-trained mages didn’t brawl. They obliterated.
A concussive blast tore through the air behind her. The shockwave hit like a wall, lifting her off her feet and slamming her into the ground. Her palms scraped against dirt and rock as she tried to catch herself, the impact jarring up through her wrists. Ears ringing, she twisted to look back.
Another spell lit up the camp. Bright, vicious, and powerful. High-level casting. The kind that left craters.
She pressed herself lower into the undergrowth, heart hammering against her ribs. There was no way the academy mages could sustain such power for long. If they continued, surely one of them would be forced into Burnout.
Through the bushes, Erinna saw pirates sprawled across the ground, struggling to get up.
Some didn’t make it to their knees before a dagger was plunged into their backs or swiped across their throats.
Two academy mages wound through the chaos in the courtyard.
One of them with an unmistakable mop of light brown hair.
Damien mumbled incantations beneath his breath, mage armor glinting in the sun. He must be fresh from initiation.
Erinna’s heart sank to the bottom of her feet.
More cries and shouts joined the cacophony of aggression.
A flash of fire and smoke raced across the courtyard.
In one hit, Kane sent a mage into the wall.
The loud cracks were from either the cracking of stones or splintering of bones. Erinna figured it was both and cringed.
She turned her attention back to Damien. For a moment, she wondered if there was a world in which she could reach out. Ask for assistance.
But then he raised his hands.
Arcanum shimmered like a haze of heat around his body. So quick, Erinna nearly missed it, he lashed out with his Talent, paralyzing a few pirates before calling to his fellow mages.
He’d grown much better than Erinna realized. Her throat ran dry as she watched him move back to the crumbling archways, disappearing among the throng.
Another concussive blast rattled the dirt beneath her feet.
Move, move, move, move. She scrambled farther into the thick vegetation, willing her legs to carry her away from the fray.
A piercing wail assaulted her ears and froze her once again. Someone had gotten to Inez.
Erinna’s chest constricted. She couldn’t just hide. Not while Inez was out there. She’d already lost too much, watched too many people slip through her fingers.
Not Inez. Not here.
Sweat built on her palms. The familiar prickle of Talent bloomed beneath her skin. Ice made its way slowly through her veins.
No. She pushed it down, forcing it into slumber. It would only get in the way at best.
Erinna launched from the thicket. She couldn’t let Inez die here. She didn’t know if her heart could take the loss.
A blast shattered the earth inches from her feet the moment she broke cover, spraying dirt and stones across her shins.
They’d been waiting for her.
Erinna skidded to a halt, scanning desperately for an opening. Four mages—robes marked with academy sigils—and at least a dozen pirates locked in brutal close combat. Too many. Too clustered. No clear path through.
A wet, choking sound erupted beside her.
The elemental mage who’d nearly blown her apart staggered forward, hands clawing at his throat. Blood fountained between his fingers in a scarlet spray, and he crumpled, convulsing once before going still.
Erinna could feel Kane before he spoke. Heat rolled off him in waves. “You need to keep moving, Erinna. Fight or hide. Staying still is death.” He dripped with sweat, hair plastered against his face. Blood stained his clothes and spotted his cheek. Wild fury danced in amber eyes.
“Inez,” Erinna croaked.
Kane hardened. “Go. I’ll find you as soon as I can.” Another piercing scream assaulted the air. Kane’s face distorted in hatred, one of his crew was gravely injured and screaming for help.
Before he left, Kane snatched Erinna’s hand and pressed the hilt of a dagger into her palm. “Please, don’t die.” The words came out raw, barely audible, before he disappeared into the battle once more.
Erinna clenched the dagger, the hilt still warm from Kane’s hand.
Fear, grief, and fury rose to her throat in a tangled web that threatened to unravel her. If she fought alongside the crew of the Hellish Rebuke, that would all but seal her fate as a traitor.
If she ran to Damien, threw herself into his arms, and begged for forgiveness, that would be the end of her journey. She’d never get the chance to finish what she started. The fate of her and her family would rest in the hands of newly minted Chancellor Haru Tyril.
Another cry sliced through her thoughts.
No time.