Page 73 of Untamed

Minerva moved her hands like a music conductor, but a man in black appeared.

The man shook his curly head in confusion.

I screamed. Minerva’s eyes widened.

The intruder yanked out a dagger, but Minerva threw a portal open between him and me. Confusion contorted his face, and Minerva pushed him forward, but he caught her wrists.

I rushed forward to help her and felt my body being yanked through space. A cold blackness swallowed me whole. I breathed in salty water and flailed. I didn’t know which way was up or down. Thrashing my legs and arms, I realized I had fallen through the portal into sea water. Would I drown? I calmed my body, remembering countless leisurely swims.

A barely discernible glow undulated through the waves, my only compass through the inky blackness of the night. I kicked hard and scooped my arms down to propel myself toward the surface, lungs burning.

Finally, I broke through the surface and sucked in a lungful of air. A splash sounded to my right and then another. Something tugged on my foot. I grabbed something soft and stringy.

Oh, Ancient One, please let this not be a jellyfish.

Someone inhaled beside me. “Is it you, Beatriz?” Minerva asked in a raspy voice.

“Thank you, Ancient One!” I treaded the water, relieved.

“We’ve got to go. He’s nearby.” Minerva yanked my arm, and my body tumbled forward, hitting something hard.

Leaves and grass poked at my face. I rolled over, knocking into a panting Minerva. Torchlight from afar touched her profile. The back side of Aracibel’s towers shone above us. We had landed in the gardens where we’d walked earlier that day. From this angle, I could see the empty balcony of the dining hall where I had been standing mere minutes ago.

“We’ve got to get back up there.” I pointed. Sea water dragged the immaculate dress, now clinging to every curve of my body and weighing down my movements.

Minerva stood. “Lucas is with them. We should go back to the dock and make sure all the portals I opened are closed.”

I shook my head. “They had Monserrat. Cosme and Lucas were fighting.”

She sighed with exasperation. “I don’t know.”

“Please.” I squared in front of Minerva, only catching the shadows of each of her features. “They’re outnumbered up there. Where’s Zichri?”

“We went looking for Ignacio and Fermín. I left him in the palace and went to check back on my portals.” A quiet beat passed and then she gasped. “La Lavia’sgone.”

“What?” I spun around to face dark sea water in the place whereLa Laviashould have been. My heart stopped.

“Perhaps they moved. Focus on what we can do. How can we help your brother?” Minerva’s gentle question settled over me.

Grappling for a good answer, I found myself repeating Uncle Uly’s words from those many lessons in Giddel. “I’m a tamer. I can use their emotions against them.” I closed my eyes and allowed the energy inside me to flow through my shoulders and down my arms. The markings shone with golden light along my knuckles down to my fingertips. An instant connection formed between Minerva and me. Tremors of fear wove within the girl.

How could I shape her fear into something useful?

“Minerva, we’re going to get through this.” I patted her shoulder. “You were given a powerful gift for a reason.” Her emotions rocked like crashing waves within her, and I pictured the sea’s tides settling.

For aching seconds, Minerva said nothing. She grabbed my wrist. “Walk with me.”

Wind tore at my hair and skirt until we stepped onto stone. A balustrade touched my back end, feeling precariously close.

We’d landed on the balcony looking into the dining hall. Bodies lay on the floor. People scrambled around the room while others fought in hand-to-hand combat. Minerva waved toward the corner like a conductor ending a song. She looked over her shoulder with scrunched eyebrows. “It was slightly open.”

“Don’t worry about it.” I bit my bottom lip, realizing that I hadn’t even looked over atLa Laviawhen I’d teleported onto the dock. Lots of sailors had been awake and at the ready on the ship for our return with Laude and Jaime. At least they were safe.

Minerva let her gaze drift into the hall where movement coiled through the center of the space. A table smashed against the wall. As my gaze drifted over the room, I couldn’t find Cosme. Men in black livery clashed with the Aracibel guards.

Not a person was using their gift.

I released my powers, allowing the invisible lines to form. Last time I had let my energy flow, I’d spoken the sentiments and let them wash into the room like the surf of the sea.

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