Page 55 of Pearls of Salt and Sacrifice

The words soaked into Reva’s thoughts and took root like the blight that had dug into Etthan’s soil. Her stomach lurched, and she feared she would vomit all over them both.

What—or who—was Cassandra planning to sacrifice?

“What do you mean?” Reva choked the words past clenched teeth and shook her stepmother again. “Tell me!”

Cassandra never answered. She simply lifted her hand and pointed to something above Reva’s left shoulder.

Reva released her and spun to search the battlements above them. Her stomach clenched and plummeted when she saw the small crowd gathered on the ledge above them.

“Oh, sand and pearls,” she whispered.

Dread slammed her like the kraken’s massive, shadowy arms pounding against her castle. Cassandra wasn’t planning to stake out a goat to appease the monster. It wasn’t that sort of blood sacrifice.

It was worse. So much worse.

Above her, on the battlement, half a dozen guards stood around a lone figure stretched between two posts, arms bound and pulled taut.

She would have recognized that elvish form anywhere.

As Cassandra’s intentions became clear, Reva’s entire body shook with shock. Her stomach tightened into a knot so tight she feared her insides would be crushed.

“This is the only way for me to regain control, Reva,” Cassandra said in a tone that held no pity or remorse. “It’s either your prince’s life…or all of our lives. I’ve already performed the binding words. There is no other way.”

“No,” Reva mouthed the word but could manage no sound.

“He must be sacrificed for the good of Etthan. There’s no other way.”

Chapter Seventeen

Something snapped inside Reva, and fury swept her shock to the side. “Have you lost your sand-loving mind?” she screamed at her stepmother. “Murder isn’t the answer!”

Cassandra backed away from Reva, still clutching the pearl in both hands. “This is how it must be, Reva. Give up the elf prince. You still have Felix, yes? You can have Felix and his kingdom. I will have Etthan. One little sacrifice, and all that we’ve dreamed of can be ours.”

“Cassandra!” Reva stalked closer to her, fingers curled into fists as a light drizzle began to touch her shoulders. “This is not my dream. Even if I were to marry Felix, his kingdom will never be ours. He’s a third son!”

“We have the power now,” Cassandra continued as she backed into the railing, as if she hadn’t heard anything Reva said. She held up the pearl. “Etthan for me. Desta for you. Together, we will control the routes and waterways. We’ll stop the blight. We’ll—”

Reva couldn’t listen anymore. She drew back a clenched fist and drove it hard toward Cassandra’s face. Pain throbbed in her knuckles, and the impact jarred her arm as Cassandra screamed, dropping the pearl and grasping for her injuries. Reva dove for the pearl, scrabbling on the damp stone floor. It finally rolled to a stop, and she snatched up the black orb.

An icy chill ran up her fingertips.

Now if she could only get to Jareth in time—

Hands grabbed her hair and jerked her head back. Shards of pain yanked at her scalp as she stared up at Cassandra’s bloodied, feral face.

“You stupid child!” Cassandra flung the words at her so hard, spittle flew from her mouth and mingled with the rainwater splattering against Reva’s face.

Reva braced herself for pain and threw her weight backward, into her stepmother’s legs. Cursing, Cassandra stumbled to regain her balance. Reva yanked free and rolled to the side, coming up in a low crouch on the slick balcony floor. Her scalp prickled with pain where Cassandra’s fingers had torn hair out by the roots.

The castle shook from yet another attack from the kraken. Rock screamed against rock in a cacophony of rending sounds as the south tower fell. One minute it stood tall and immobile, and the next it crumpled from the pressure of a coiled arm around its exterior, plummeting in a thousand pieces to the lower levels of the castle.

The floor shuddered beneath her, the stones tumbling in a roar down to the sea.

How many people had been inside that tower?

She didn’t have time for this. She needed to get up on the battlement before it was too late, while there was still time to save Jareth and everyone else in Etthan.

Her gaze roamed the distance between her and the battlement, resting on the trellis overrun with vines and crimson sand flowers that stretched from Cassandra’s balcony up to the battlement above.

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