Page 108 of When Wishes Bleed

“You’re my prince,” I offered weakly.

“Why, Sable?” he growled.

He was insufferable. He knew why.

“Why, Sable?” he repeated, softer this time.

I threw my hands in the air. “Because I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you!”

I couldn’t. If he died, the weight of my soul would bring his back. But still, the thought didn’t just sour my stomach. It ripped my heart to slivers.

The anger melted from his face and he pulled me into his chest and wrapped me in a hug. I held tightly to his back, fighting tears that threatened to spill.

Cyril could have killed us all.

“I love you, too,” he whispered, sliding his hand over my hair. He took a shuddering breath. “I’m sorry I yelled. I was scared out of my mind. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you, either.”

“Look,” Mira said from nearby. She bent at the waist and plucked something off the sand. “A nautilus shell.”

“What is happening?” Rose demanded.

In the blink of an eye, the wind died and the ocean stopped roaring.

Everything went completely still.

Mira covered her gasp with her hands. “Bay,” she whispered, dropping to her knees.

Brecan knelt beside her, his face full of despair. “Wayra, too.”

“Are they dead?” I asked, dreading the answer but feeling the truth in my bones.

Fate stirred within me.

Mira sobbed, head in her hands, rocking back and forth in front of the still sea. The nautilus shell lay forgotten in front of her.

The camera crew caught the entire thing.

“We’re returning to the palace. Everyone to the carriages!” Tauren shouted.

Brecan grabbed the shell Mira found and stuffed it in his pocket, then he and I helped her stand and walked with her to the carriage. I wrapped my arms around her and let her cry on my shoulder.

Tauren would have to explain what happened, as best he could, to Rose and Estelle.

“Are you sure they’re gone?” I rasped when the carriage lurched forward and we rolled away from the dead sea.

“I’m sure. Remember how everything in the soil died with Ela? It’s the same with Wayra and the wind, and Bay and the sea,” Brecan explained.

Even without their confirmation, I felt the loss of them.

“At this point, it’s safe to assume that Ethne is also gone. We can’t wait any longer. We must return to Thirteen before she kills all the witches.” Brecan’s knuckles turned white as he clutched the nautilus shell, turning it around and around in his fingers.

The sun began to set as we raced through the countryside at a much faster pace than we’d set on our way toward the shore.

Mira’s eyes glazed over as we passed into Sector Six. “The gull has crossed the border.”

A tear fell from her eye. Her message to Bay arrived too late.

Within moments, she began to shriek, flailing around and patting herself down. Brecan took her face in his. “Mira. Look at me.”

---