“Wake up.” I squeezed the barrier piece in my ungloved hand. “Wake up and when I command one piece, I command you all. Do this exactly: scatter in the water, circle the entire peninsula, and hold your position. Refuse to wash out with the current. Resist being swallowed. Don’t let yourself be buried.”
The expected dizziness came, making me sway. I breathed through it. Maybe that was all. Then black fuzzed the edges of my sight and my temples gave a single warning throb.
Everything spun. I groped for something to hang on to as I dropped forward. Hands grabbed for me—I caught the shapes of James and Melanie in my fading vision—and they held me upright.
“It’s working.” Tobiah sounded far away.
“Go into the water,” I commanded. “Follow my orders.”
Silver shimmered and people shouted. Barrier pieces slithered across the overlook, waterfalling into the Red Bay below. I clutched my piece, my connection, and peered over the edge of the cliff.
“Hold her!” Tobiah shouted. “Don’t let her fall!”
The hands on me tightened, but faintly I could see the shine of the barrier as it surged into the water, through the dark depths, and vanished.
Then the world faded.
FORTY-EIGHT
“IT’S NOT GOING to be enough.” That sounded like Chrysalis.
My head throbbed as I climbed back into consciousness. Melanie’s hands were cool on my cheeks and throat as she checked my pulse, which meant I couldn’t have been out for long. A few minutes. My head rested on her knees.
“What do you mean?” Melanie looked to her left, and the breeze caught her hair. “It has to be enough.” Her face was fuzzy.
No matter how deeply I breathed, I couldn’t clear my vision of the blackness simmering at the edges, fading into gray in the center. It would be a miracle if I could stand.
“You poured magic into the barrier, but not enough.” Chrysalis stood on the wall around the overlook, staring into the dark waters of the bay below. The white suit he’d worn to my coronation was battered and bloody, torn in a hundred different places. “This won’t work without more magic.”
I pushed myself into a sitting position, swaying. “When did you get here?”
The wraith boy flashed a smile my way. “Just a moment ago, my queen. I’m glad you’re awake.”
“Then this was pointless?” Melanie jabbed a finger at the bay. “Magic went into the barrier while the metal was molten. Now what do we do?”
I pried my hand open, stretching my fingers around the anchor scale.
Dizziness still swarmed my head, but my vision cleared a little. Around us, guards, nobles, and Ospreys stared on, their expressions a mix of fear and uncertainty. The queen mother and her sister moved to the fore of the crowd, closer to their sons.
Everyone was scared, which meant I should stand up and take charge.
James and Tobiah edged closer so that when I climbed to my feet and let them take most of my weight, it wasn’t obvious I needed help.
Chrysalis stepped off the rail and strode toward me, his movements mimicking mine after all this time spent together. “My queen.” An odd gentleness filled his voice. “I promised to protect you from the wraith, that I’d never let it hurt you.”
“I remember.” I brought my fingertips close to one of the burns on his face, but didn’t quite touch. He went so still he was nearly lifeless. “You did protect me tonight. When I told you to control the wraith, you did that, too.”
His eyes never shifted from mine. “But you also said it isn’t just you anymore. It’s the entire kingdom, and you need to protect everyone here, too.”
“That’s right.” I dropped my hand and stepped backward, carefully, because my balance was still weak. Behind me, one of the boys breezed his hands over my shoulder and waist, keeping me steady.
Chrysalis seemed to study me, or memorize me, and then he said, “I can do it. If you want.”
Yes, of course I wanted him to protect Aecor.
“I’m made of wraith,” he said. “Same as the beasts they used for the barrier. If I—” He shifted his weight and lowered his eyes. “You gave me life for a little while. I had the chance to experience something incredible, even though I made everything harder for you. But maybe this time I could help you get what you want—what you truly want.”
Silence fell across the overlook as people realized what he meant.
“You would sacrifice yourself for Aecor?”
“I would sacrifice myself for you, my queen. If that’s what you want.” Chrysalis tilted his head. “I’ve made many wrong decisions in my desire to serve you.” His gaze flickered toward Tobiah. “I’ve done many things that, now, I understand were bad. Even tonight, freeing Patrick and bringing the wraith. I thought only to help you. I thought I could control something uncontrollable. I don’t want to make more mistakes. I don’t want to cost you anything else.”
“So you’re waiting for me to order you to do this.” My throat tightened.
He nodded as the castle shuddered again. “I know you will make the right decision.”
No.
It was an impossible order to give.