Page 90 of Untamed

Minerva shook her head. “Perhaps we can cut time.”

“How tired are you?” Zichri asked.

“I have a couple more hours in me.” She turned in my direction as if to ask my opinion.

“What are you suggesting?” I asked.

Zichri licked his bottom lip with his gaze shifting across the horizon. “She can teleport us ahead like she did with theMagdelena. It cuts time, but she can burn out quickly. We’ll be stuck on the island if she does. The Ancient One be with us if we must go back on that galleon.”

“How far a walk is it to the castle? If we have a couple hours of walking, she might be more spent than if she sped us along.”

The corner of Minerva’s mouth twitched upward. “My thoughts exactly. With such a far view of the castle from the galleon, I couldn’t safely take you into it, but I can do something to help.”

“Minerva.” His tone contained a playful reprimand in it. “You can tell her what happened last time you burnt out.”

The girl’s eyes widened in a silent plea to Zichri.

I averted my gaze, catching the glint of a sailboat cutting through the shallow waters. One man with binoculars pointed out toward theMagdelena, and a bearded fellow signaled toward us. “We’re spotted.”

Minerva’s fingers wrapped around my wrist and wind swept across my body. I blinked and the three of us were deeper in the forest. I glanced over at Zichri. He met my gaze and scanned the beachfront between the trees. Leaves clapped overhead, and birds chirped in the canopy. For a long beat, we stood in silence.

“I think they’re over here,” a deep voice said.

A force yanked me through space, leaving me in a darker, shadowed portion of the forest. We continued several rounds of teleporting twenty or so arm spans closer to the castle, closer to our adversary.

By the time we could see the fortified structure, we were at the edge of a field. Minerva panted. Sweat glistened on her forehead.

“Let’s stop here.” Zichri broke from her touch and treaded along the edge of the field.

I followed close behind him, in awe of how large a garden was kept here in this remote place. The rows and rows of silvery flowers must have been cultivated by a human hand. Minerva crept behind me, falling into a slower pace. She must have been exhausted from using her gifting all morning.

Zichri stopped. My feet continued to move, and I crashed into him in full motion. I clung to his waist so I wouldn’t fall. Minerva sucked in a quick breath but disappeared and reappeared in front of Zichri.

Footfalls sounded somewhere in the field. Zichri motioned for us to get down, and we dropped so fast, I daresay a rock couldn’t have fallen faster. The aching seconds that followed crawled by. A strange perfume clogged my nose with its poignant scent. Sweat continued to pour like rivers along Minerva’s hairline.

“No one here,” shouted a man from the incline above. He continued over the crest of the hilled garden and disappeared.

Huddled with arms still around Zichri’s waist, I dared not move until he twisted to put his arms around my shoulders, breaking my grip.

He pressed his lips up to my ear. “Are you all right?”

I nodded.

“We can’t let Minerva teleport again.” He paused, his warm exhale tickling my ear. “She will faint if she overexerts herself.”

Both of us turned to Minerva. Her skin had paled, and more sweat trickled to her jawline. Her dazed eyes focused on a plant, and she blinked far too slowly. She plucked a white flower, velvety and small. What was she doing?

Before I could ask, she chewed on the petals and swallowed. My mouth hung open in shock. Zichri’s cheek muscle flexed. Did she know what type of plant this was? I surely had never seen this type of flower before.

She swiped her face with her sleeve, color returning to her skin. She mouthed to Zichri, “Eat one.” A quick point of her lips toward the plant in question prodded us onward. She plucked a couple more flowers and placed them in Zichri’s palm.

Examining the small petals and iridescent pollen that smelled sweet as honey, I plucked one flower from his palm.

Minerva swiped at my hand and shook her head.

I hissed, “What is this?’

She tapped her lips, hushing my next words.

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