“It’s already dirty now,” Grim said, frowning down at his sword. “Your limbs are next.”
He lifted his blade, and the man said, “Wait. Wait.” He trembled. “If I tell you, will you let me go?”
Grim considered. He nodded.
“Do you swear it?”
“We swear it,” Isla said, eyes darting to the man’s injury. He needed to cauterize the wound soon, or he would bleed to death in front of them.
The man swallowed. His words came out in just a rasp. “It hasn’t been here in decades. We stole it, but one of us went rogue. He took the sword and lost it to someone else. Only he knows where it is now.”
“Where can we find him?” Grim demanded.
“His name is Viktor. He’s been seen near Creetan’s Crag.”
“How will we know it’s him?” Isla asked.
The man let out a wheezing noise. He was pressing his wound against his body to try to stop the blood. It was getting everywhere. “He has . . . he has a snake. Takes it with him everywhere.” A snake?
“Thank you for being so helpful,” Grim said, sounding genuinely sincere.
Then he slit the man’s throat.
Isla gasped. She watched the man choke on his own blood before he collapsed on the floor.
“You promised,” she said, turning to him.
Grim frowned down at her. “No, Hearteater,” he said. “You promised.” Tears stung in the corners of her eyes. They swept down her cheeks. He looked at her with disgust. “Don’t tell me you are crying for that filth’s death.”
“Filth?” she asked, incredulous. “He is one of your people.”
“Don’t speak about my people when you don’t know the first thing about your own. Locked in a room with the glass painted over . . .” Grim bared his teeth at her. “He was a thief and sold much more than just rare objects,” he said. “He deserved to die, and I was happy to be the one to end him.”
Isla swallowed. She turned to the other dead body in the room. Then to the man she had stabbed in the side with his own dagger. He was dead now too. And the man who was now no more than ashes . . . A sob scraped against the back of her throat. “I—I’ve never . . .”
Grim just stared down at her. His expression did not soften in the slightest in response to her tears. He watched her cry for a few more seconds, before saying, “It gets easier.”
Then he took her arm and portaled them back to her room.
She had to close her eyes against the sudden rush of nausea. She didn’t want to retch again. She didn’t want to think about what she had just done—
“There is a celebration on Creetan’s Crag in two weeks,” he said. “That’s when I’ll return.”
Her eyes were still closed when he left.
I DO NOT DIE TODAY
The outcome of the battle was not set in stone, that was what the oracle had said. Those were the words Isla clung to as her own death replayed in her mind, over and over again, and as she watched Oro rage against the vault.
He had tried to use her power to open the door, but it remained closed.
“Oro,” she finally said, placing a hand against his tensed back. Only then did he stop.
He pulled her into his arms and said, “He isn’t going to kill you. I will rip him limb from limb before he ever hurts you.”
The floor seemed to tremble with his promise. She had never seen him so disheveled, so . . .
Afraid.
She was afraid too. “I need to know. You and me . . . we have a love bond. Does that mean if I die . . . you can take my abilities? You can save the Starlings and Wildlings?”
Oro’s eyes flashed with fear. “You’re not going to die, Isla. But yes. I should be able to.”
Her relief must have been visible because Oro became more distressed. She placed her hands against the sides of his face. “You aren’t going to lose me,” she said. “I’m not going to die.” She would make sure she kept that promise.
Which meant they needed to make sure they won the war.
“I’m going to see the Vinderland with Enya,” she said. “And you need to be okay with that.” The Sunling was waiting for her now. They were going immediately.
More fear and pain had hardened in Oro’s eyes, and she understood, she really did. If he was set to do something reckless, she would feel the same way. She thought of her guardians then, and Cleo with her son.
It was possible to love someone too hard. It was possible to turn love into a prison.
He finally nodded. “You’re right,” he said. He walked her over to Enya, who was waiting beyond the Mainland woods. Before they left, he pressed a hand against her arm. Sparks erupted from his touch, shimmering, covering her entire body from the neck down. It formed onto her as closely as her clothes. Besides the faint sparkle, it was nearly invisible.
“It’s a Starling shield,” he said. “Like the one you’re creating for the battle, but smaller. Can you take it over?”
She focused on the energy. Breathed in and out. Slowly, under her command, it dripped down her fingers, past her skin. Keeping the shield in place took effort, but she was grateful for its protection.
“It’s not invincible,” Oro said, “but it will stop an arrow.”
“Thank you,” she said, before lifting on her toes to kiss him. At first, it was soft, but then Oro grabbed her like he was afraid she wouldn’t be able to keep her promise, like she might be gone any day now. His fingers ran through the back of her hair, tilting her head, giving him a better angle. His other arm curled around her waist, and she felt her shield ripple there. She pulled him closer.
Enya cleared her throat, and Isla tore herself away. The Sunling shook her head at them while Isla drew her puddle of stars and portaled them to the people who had split her heart in two.
Wind howled in her ears. Her cheeks went numb. The air was white, coated in a thin layer of snow. They were on flat land, yet fighting against the current of the snowstorm made every step forward feel like climbing up a mountain.
“What a charming place to live,” Enya bit out, before her body was coated in reddish gold. It wrapped around her like Isla’s Starling shield, then spread beyond, warming the air around them until Isla could feel her nose again. “That’s better, isn’t it?” she asked. The snow below the Sunling’s shoes melted and sizzled.
Isla searched the blank horizon. There were a few monstrous mountains, covered in sharp panes of ice that looked like scales. “I don’t know how they survived out here,” she said. She remembered coming to Vinderland territory with Oro, during their search for the heart. It was hard to imagine, but back then, it had been colder. Ever since the Moonlings left, Moon Isle had increasingly gotten warmer.
“Are you . . . are you afraid?” Isla asked, wondering if she sounded like a fool.
Enya only glanced over at her. “No. Not at all.”
“Why not?” she said. “The Vinderland are warriors. I’ve seen how well they fight”—which was why they so desperately needed them in battle—“They don’t just kill their enemies . . . they eat them.” And not because of a curse. Simply for pleasure.
Enya stared at her for a long while. “I’m going to tell you something only Oro, Cal, and Zed know.”
Isla blinked. She was surprised Enya would tell her anything personal. They weren’t necessarily friends. It had been clear from the beginning that Enya was like a shield around Oro, protecting him at all costs. Her loyalty was to him, not her.
She waited.
“I know exactly when I will die,” Enya said.
Isla stopped and was instantly drenched in cold, now outside of the dome of warmth Enya had created.
She thought of her vision. Her own death.
“What? How—how could you know that?”
Enya motioned for her to keep moving, and she did. “The day I was born, a Moonling sent for my mother. The oracle wanted to see her. She hadn’t thawed in a while, so it was considered important. She visited her, holding me. The oracle told my mother she had seen my death.”
Isla realized they had more in common than she’d thought. For a moment, she wondered if she should tell Enya about her vision. Who else would understand?