Page 97 of Untamed

“Perhaps if I’m desperate enough.” Beatriz pulled me toward the door by my arm.

Bruno stood, but Zichri cracked a chair over the back of his head.

“Where’s Minerva?” I asked.

“Waiting outside, I hope.” Beatriz whipped her head around at the sound of footfalls.

The portly cook shuffled toward us with a pan in hand. “What happened?” When she got to the doorway, she gasped.

For a split second, I thought she might smash the iron pan over our heads, but she ran across the room and swung it at Whyzer Patro.

The whyzer twisted in time to save his head, but his body got the full blow.

“Get out!” the lady screamed. “And take the staff.”

Jaime took a single gulp from his wine glass.

“No!” I shouted. But it happened so fast, and Beatriz pulled me through the dining room doorway.

Zichri and Jaime followed us, leaving the cook alone with the old man. We shuffled down the hall.

Beatriz tugged me down the hallway, into the entry hall, and out the servants’ door of the castle. Fields of white flowers in perfect little rows stretched over the mountainside.

“Keep moving, you’ll catch a fly.” Beatriz yanked me by the wrist, dragging me across the field toward the forest’s edge.

“What is this?”

“The last relic.” Her strides grew heavy as we descended even further.

I wiggled out of her grasp and plucked as many petals as possible in a matter of seconds. All the time I’d spent studying the history of the Agata Sea and the relics left me with no doubt that we might need these if we planned to make it out alive. An arrow flew in our direction, whistling over our heads.

Jaime grabbed my wrist, and Zichri grabbed his. Arrows continued to shoot through the sky like they couldn’t aim worth all the gold in Giddel. Beatriz held tight to Zichri’s other hand too. If I didn’t know any better, a gifting was at work.

I tripped and fell, losing hold of the staff. Jaime bent to pick me up, releasing Zichri’s hand. An arrow landed an inch from me with a thud. I inhaled so loudly I didn’t hear the next arrow whistling overhead until it grazed my hair. Horrified, I saw Jaime had an arrow sticking out of his shoulder.

Snatching the staff, I almost got hit. I tried to lift Jaime, but his weight and the unrelenting fire of arrows gave me the shakes.

Zichri put his arm around Jaime and a strange electrical sensation buzzed between Jaime’s and my touch. Now, all together, we held on to each other, trudging along at a slug’s pace on account of my injured betrothed. We turned out of thefields, but arrows continued to fire where we had been before. Either something strange was working to keep us out of sight or they were very bad marksmen.

The four of us kept on moving into the jungle beyond the fields, limping and all.

Blood trailed down Jaime’s tunic in amounts that made my lunch curdle like crumbly cheese in my stomach. Who knew where Minerva waited for us? Why did she have to be so far? Steadying a bloodied Jaime who’d drunk deadly poison, it hit me anew that he might die, and I blinked back tears. The thought that I might live the rest of my life without Jaime, that I might have caused his death, put such a weight on me that my knees buckled.

Chapter 44

Beatriz

“Where are we going?”I yanked my dress from a branch and took hold of Laude’s hand again.

“To the boat.” Zichri kept a firm grip on my hand and another on Jaime’s side to keep us invisible.

I didn’t point out that we had left a bloody trail any tracker would be able to follow. It was only a matter of time before someone caught us, and the tiny rowboat would be of little use out at sea if theMagdelenahad fled.

Throbbing through my fingertips, my panic—along with that of my three companions—could become a powerful weapon. If only I had a clue about how much control I could wield over my powers. My uncle had said this gift would be useful and to relax and let the Ancient One guide me. Yet being on the run for our lives put a mountain-sized obstacle on that plan.

The approaching sunset painted the sky in shades of orange and purple. Night wouldn’t make our escape easier.

We arrived at the beach and finally had to disconnect. Poor Jaime’s skin appeared pallid compared to his normal ruddy coloring. Laude clutched one hand to her chest but seemed none the worse physically.

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