Jirral paused. “Chloe’s right. She needs to get out of here.”
I turned away from them both. This wasn’t going the way I’d planned – though on measure, I didn’t really know what I’d intended anyway.
Not this, though.
“My friends will help me get out of town,” Chloe said. “I’ll go as far from the ocean as I can stand and… and maybe the Sylphaen will leave you all alone.”
She paused. “I’m sorry for this, Zeke. I am so,
so
sorry.”
I looked up at her. “It’s not your fault.”
She gave me a grateful smile, though she didn’t seem to believe me.
“It’s the best option,” Jirral said to me. “Given what she is, she can probably get farther inland than they’ll be able to reach.”
My brow furrowed. “Huh?”
Chloe looked down.
Jirral glanced between us, seeming surprised. “You didn’t tell him?”
“I only found out yesterday,” she explained defensively, as if repeating something she’d already said.
He paused. “Chloe is half landwalker, Zeke.”
I blinked.
“They’re real,” she told me. “My mom was one. The ocean makes them sick, so they keep away from it normally, but she… she didn’t. I think that’s why I could stay on land all those years, though. The dehaian stuff didn’t start,” she grimaced, as if searching for a word, “start waking up till I came to Santa Lucina.”
I stared at her.
“Real-life legend,” Jirral said. “Though from the stories, your friend shouldn’t even be alive. Landwalkers aren’t like humans; dehaians can have children with them, but the kids from those unions –
if
they even survive infancy – they never manage to change without dying.”
The memory of what happened when she’d entered the water yesterday flashed through my mind, leaving me to wonder if that’d been the effect of the neiphiandine after all.
“Maybe that’s why it hurt so much,” she offered softly, as if reading my thoughts.
Jirral made a sympathetic noise. “There’s a chance, though, now that you’ve survived changing, that things might balance themselves back out for you. Let you remain on land longer than us, or go farther inland than we could reach. Possibly even stay in Kansas till the Sylphaen can be stopped.”
“You think so?” Chloe asked, hope in her voice.
A breath escaped me.
He shrugged. “Maybe. Regardless, it’ll be better if you put distance between you and Nyciena, before the Sylphaen try something else to get their hands on you.”
Her hopeful expression melted into something almost pained at the words.
“It wasn’t her fault,” I snapped.
“No, of course not,” Jirral agreed. “But she’s still the reason they’re–”
“I said it wasn’t her fault.”
The words were hard, and at them, he paused. I looked away, my heart pounding.
“It wasn’t yours either, Zeke,” he told me quietly.
I shook my head. I knew that. Ren had been an ass for suggesting otherwise.
Even if I had been the one to bring her here, knowing full well the Sylphaen were after her and that they’d do anything to get what they wanted.
I’d just believed Nyciena would be safe.
Drawing a breath, I pushed the thought away. Clearly, I’d been wrong. So wrong. She needed to get as far from here, from us, as possible. Back to that human boy, and her human friends, and everything there.
And who knew when she’d come back.
“Zeke…” Chloe tried.
“How far inland can you go?” I asked, the hard tone returning.
She hesitated, watching me, and then gave a small shrug. “I didn’t feel too bad in Utah. Not like I did in Colorado, anyway.”
I nodded. Hell of a lot farther than us, then.
“Good,” I said. “Let’s go.”
“Now, hold on!” Jirral protested. “You can’t leave this second!”
I ignored him and headed for the cave exit.
“Wait,” Chloe said. I glanced back. “What about Ina and Niall? You need to be here for–”
“They have the guards,” I replied. “And the Sylphaen… they’re after you.”
“But you–”
“I can take her back,” Jirral said.
“No.”
He studied me for a moment, and I could tell he knew what I was thinking. That it was good that he’d helped Chloe – helped her more than either of them were probably telling me – but he was still the last person I’d trust with anyone’s safety.
His face darkened. “Zeke, this is foolish. You can’t just go off on your own–”
“You good for travelling now?” I asked, turning back to Chloe.
“No, she’s not,” Jirral answered for her. “She needs to leave, yes, but not to race out of here this second.”
Chloe glanced between us uncomfortably. “I-I’m okay, yeah.”
Jirral made a frustrated sound. “You–”
“Fine,” I said over top of him. “Then Jirral, you tell Ina to stay with Ren. Niall too, when he wakes up. And Chloe and I will–”
“You honestly think I’m just going to let you go out there on your own?” he interrupted.
“If you want to stop Ina or Niall from following me.”
“You can’t–”
“There aren’t any guards to escort us, so don’t try suggesting it. And my friends in Nyciena wouldn’t dream of pissing Ren off by helping me. You’re not exactly in the best shape for the speed we need to travel either, so–”
“Well, neither is she!” Jirral looked to Chloe. “You may think you’re better. You may even feel better. But you’re not. Sieranchine’s effects are only as stable as the time you give them to sink in, and after what they did, that time is going to be a while. Push now, and you could tear muscles, rupture an organ, anything.”
He turned to me. “Those Sylphaen beat her, Zeke. Blindfolded and cuffed her, beat her like hell, and then locked her in a box so they could take her away without anyone seeing. She could barely move when I found her, and that was an hour ago. So you tell me, is she good to travel now?”
I froze. Chloe looked away.
“I thought not,” Jirral finished. “She’s not going anywhere. Not until she’s actually well. And neither are you.”
He took the torch from Chloe roughly and headed over to wedge it into a crevice in the wall. “You go back to Nyciena, Zeke. To the palace and you stay there. Chloe and I will leave for Santa Lucina in a few days.”
I was still watching Chloe. She wouldn’t look at me.
“Zeke?”
I blinked, remembering to breathe, and I pulled my gaze to Jirral. “She’s not going with you,” I said, trying to regroup.
“Stop being a–”
“I said she’s not!”
Shaking, I stared at him.
“You will stay,” I continued to him, each word tight. “You will tell Ina not to leave the palace. Niall too. And I will go with Chloe once she’s well enough to travel. Understand?”
He paused. “You are
so
like your father.”
I didn’t respond. I wasn’t sure I could.
“I’ll stay,” he agreed. “On the condition that once he’s well enough to move, I’m telling Niall where you went. And if he chooses to bring a hundred soldiers with him to guard your foolish ass and drag you back to Nyciena, so be it.”
My teeth clenched. “Fine.”
“Fine,” he agreed. “Then I’ll go make sure we’re still safe here.”
He looked to Chloe. His gaze ran over her, as though he was deciding what to say, and then he just turned and swam out of the cave.
A breath left me. I glanced to her as she returned to the bed of seaweed. Sinking onto the leaves, she folded her tail in front of her like a human hugging their legs to their chest.
And she never once looked my way.
I shivered, my skin crawling at the idea of what they’d done to her. How they’d hurt her. I wanted to ask if she was okay, though I knew it was a stupid question. She’d been through hell since she’d found out she was dehaian.
No one would be okay.
I grimaced and turned back toward the cave entrance. None of this was her fault. My father’s death, Ren’s stupidity, or the fact that if I could have, I probably would’ve punched a hole through the cave wall right now.
It had nothing to do with Chloe.
She was just paying for it at every turn.
And if I ever got my hands on the Sylphaen who’d caused this…
With effort, I drew another breath. I’d get Chloe to safety. I’d do it, even if I still didn’t like the idea of taking her to Santa Lucina. Then I’d get back here. I’d find Liana.
And this time I’d make sure she didn’t escape.
Chapter Twelve
Chloe
My arms around my tail, I sat on the seaweed and tried not to feel uncomfortable with Zeke only a few yards away.
I failed.
His dad was dead. Without more help from a real doctor, Niall might soon be too. Zeke’s world had gone to shambles in the space of a few hours.
And all because I was here.
I wanted to swim like crazy for Santa Lucina right this moment, if only to keep things from getting any worse.
But I remembered what Jirral had said.
My grip tightened on my tail. He had to be wrong, though. About the sieranchine, about all of it. I was fine. I may not know about their drugs, but I knew about me. And I was fine.
I wished he hadn’t told Zeke what happened, though. I didn’t want Zeke thinking he needed to worry about me. Not when everything else in his life was already a mess.
And anyway, I just really wanted to move on. Get back to land and away from the dehaians, because the Sylphaen were hiding among them.
Could be any one of them.
I shivered. So I needed to leave. That was the important thing right now.
My insides quivered and I drew a breath, trying to keep the trembling at bay.
I’d get back to land, though. I’d get there and then everything would be fine.
My eyes closed, but that was just as bad. It made me feel like the hood was on my head again. Like someone might hit me again. Drawing a sharp breath, I opened my eyes, scanning the cave.
It really felt like the Sylphaen might just come from the walls.
As irrational as that was.
I swallowed. I was fine. The sieranchine had worked, I was healed, and I was fine.
And now I needed to go.
“Zeke?”
By the cave entrance, he turned his head, though he didn’t look at me.
I cleared my throat. “I wondered if maybe we could–”
“How many were there?”
I blinked. “How many…?”
“Sylphaen. The ones who hurt you.”
On the seaweed, I shifted uncomfortably. It wasn’t important. I didn’t want to think about that.
“Chloe?”
“Zeke, I–”
He turned to me. A shiver ran through me at the look in his eyes.
Zeke meant to kill the Sylphaen the moment he found them. I could tell that as easily as if he’d said it aloud.
“How many?” he repeated.
“F-four.”
“Was Liana one of those who hit you?”
I shook my head, not taking my eyes from him. “I don’t think so.”
He nodded and turned back to the cave entrance.
I waited, but he didn’t speak again. “Look, um… I know what your grandfather said, but do you think maybe we could go ahead and–”
“We’re not leaving yet.”
I let out a breath. “I’m really fine. And maybe if we travel a bit slower than–”
He turned back toward me again, the answer clear on his face.
Frustration welled up in me, along with a trembling sort of rage that just made me want to scream.
Pushing away from the seaweed, I swam for the cave entrance.
Zeke rose quickly, blocking my path. “Chloe, you can’t–”
I retreated, not wanting to be touched. My gaze darted around to find a way past him.
He tensed, watching me.
“I need to get back home, Zeke,” I told him. “Please. I-I can’t just stay here waiting for you, Ina, or Jirral to be the next person the Sylphaen–”
“Chloe.”
Breathing hard, I met his sapphire eyes.
“They’re not here because of you,” he said gently. “I don’t care what Jirral thinks. No one kills a king just because they want to get to one girl, no matter who that girl is. But if you go now…”
His gaze went to my cheek and his brow furrowed, as if he was searching for words.
I looked away.
“You need time too,” he finished. “Please.”
He motioned to the seaweed. I hesitated, and then sank to the ground near the cave entrance.
With a vaguely irritated sigh, he joined me.
“You’ll feel it if someone comes near this place, right?” I asked after a moment.
He nodded.
“But the other side of the hill–”
“When Jirral gets back, he can keep an eye on that side.”
I glanced to him. He sounded like he’d prefer if his grandfather stayed there.
“What… what is it between you two?” I asked hesitantly.
He looked away.
I winced. I shouldn’t have asked. It was probably the wrong thing to do. Almost certainly, in fact. But every time Zeke and Jirral were in the same room together, I felt like I was trapped in no-man’s land while the two of them lobbed grenades at each other from the trenches.
And I really wanted to know why.
“Who was…” I tried to remember the name and failed. “That person he mentioned back at his house?”
“Miri.”
Zeke’s voice was quiet.
My discomfort grew. He sounded half-dead. “If you don’t want to–” I started.
“She was my sister.”
I shifted awkwardly.
“She died when I was seven.”
He paused.
“We were visiting the Stovarlia Preserve. It’s a place about half a day from here. Jirral had taken us to see the coral reefs. Me, Ina… and Miri. She was five.”
He paused again, his gaze on the dark water beyond the cave.
“Driecaran spies found us. They’d bribed their way past the border. Learned of our plans. Their leaders were in a pretty vicious territory dispute with Dad and…” He exhaled. “And they thought this would give them leverage.”
I shivered.
“They killed the guards with us so fast. I’d never seen anyone die before. And then they grabbed Miri. Jirral, though, he… he didn’t fight them. He held onto me and Ina, and he just talked. Bargained. And did
nothing
as they took Miri away.”
Zeke fell silent. I didn’t move, uncomfortable at the idea of even making a sound.