it’s my body that’s struggling to keep up.
I feel us fast approaching the others when all breath is stripped from my lungs. I drop to my knees, clutching my throat. Darkness plagues my hazy vision, reminding me of the time I was in the water with the Lusca, drowning as the ocean held me in its clutches.
And then it’s just gone. I clutch desperately at the roots beneath me as I gasp in my breaths.
Bastian’s suffocating.
“Keep going,” I rasp, shaky as I drag myself from the tree and force one foot in front of the other until I can regain the ability to run. “They’re close. Keep sharp—”
Another wave of breathlessness hits, and I start to sink when the other two hook their arms beneath mine and haul me up between them until I can steady my trembling knees once more.
Damn this blasted curse.
My chest seizes, skin warming in a sign I know means Bastian’s near. But the jungle is dense and dark beneath the canopy of thick leathery leaves, and I can’t see him.
Why can’t I see him?
“Look out!” It’s Ferrick’s voice, but the warning comes too late. Oversize roots rip from the ground beneath me, forcing us back. They lift into the air, and I realize what they’re doing just in time to push Shanty and Vataea back. The roots triple in size before they smack onto the ground at full force, striking me hard in the chest. I wheeze, but there’s little time to gather myself before more roots are torn up, stretching and elongating as they reach to ensnare us.
“That’s enchantment magic,” Shanty whispers, awestruck. She shrinks back, narrowly avoiding the roots that wrap around my legs, slicing her knife through them to free me. Quickly, she reaches into a pocket and draws out one of the poached vials of poison with a skull on the label. She dunks several needles into it, then pins them against the underside of her fish bone bracelet. Two of the needles, however, she keeps tucked between her fingers.
“And levitation magic, by the looks of it.” I drag myself closer to them, throat raw.
“Which one of you is the queen?” The low, familiar voice twists my chest, creating knots that threaten to steal my breath. “Show yourself and I’ll let everyone else go.”
Before I can say anything, Vataea’s nails are digging into my wrists. “Not one word.”
When none of us step forward, there’s a break in the canopy overhead and a shift of movement. I clutch Rukan’s hilt tight when I see them—the boys hover in midair, suffocated by the vines that threaten to drop them at any given moment.
If they were dropped, Ferrick might stand a chance with his restoration magic, and Casem could use his affinity to air to cushion the blow, but it would undoubtedly kill Bastian.
“Stay back! It’s—” Bastian’s words are cut off as a vine snaps from around him and whips to his mouth, lodging itself in his throat. He chokes on it, gagging. I feel Bastian’s pain in my bones, like it’s my own. It takes everything in me not to show that pain. Not to choke on the ghost of the vines squirming in my throat.
I won’t reveal my curse before my enemy. Besides, I don’t need Bastian to tell me who I’m fighting. With a pit in my stomach, I realize I already know. While several people knew I was coming and which room I’d be staying in, only one person was in Ikae recently, and would have had the chance to study enchantment magic.
“Stop being a coward and show yourself, Elias.” I wrench my hand from Vataea’s and step forward. Shanty’s enchantment magic may be all over my skin, but Elias takes the gamble that it’s truly me. Perched upon a too-thick branch, he uses levitation magic to float his body to the ground, hazy white eyes locked to mine.
“I was hoping you’d be dead before morning.” His voice thins. “You’re smarter than I gave you credit for.”
“That’s what all the boys tell me.” I clutch Rukan close, trying to figure out how to get near enough to strike. “I thought you practiced mind speak.”
“Have you never considered there are a few of us who practice both?” His pride is sickening.
I hate that I scream when the ground falls out beneath me, my body yanked forward by his levitation magic. When he catches sight of Rukan, however, he gives pause to whatever idea he’d been brewing and drops me back to