Page 152 of The Secrets of Jane: Reborn
Death. Murder. Jealousy. Her face warps into a sorrowful rage, tears welling in her eyes. “Heleftme, but then tookher.” Her eyes flare, this woman knowing she’s lost everything she wanted; I can sense the depths of it. “I tended to her. I didn’t even hurt her when I could have!” she yells at me, as if it will help. “Oh, how Iwantedto?—”
I slam her against the wall, her head cracking against the stone as she slumps to the ground, useless and in the way. I focus back on finding Bones.
Where is that lucky fucker? Why isn’t he moving with the others?
Relief floods me as I exhale when he appears through the carnage, the fire mage clearing a path for them and the Cinder, who still carries that torch like it’s priceless gold.
Bones is motioning to this building, or that one, and the fire mage follows his orders.
He’s enjoying himself.
“Bones!” I shout, and he straightens, standing to attention. “We’re getting in the waters, heading to Storm's Fury!” I motion for Roy. “You’re coming with us. The other Cinders can find their way out. Take that flame with you.”
The fire mage nearly lunges at Roy, who jumps back quicker than she moves.
“What if you don’t make it back!” the mage yells out. “I need that back within theweek!”
I watch as Bones guides Roy, and I feel out for anyone I may have missed. The energy of everyone relevant to me centralizes in the harbor, and as the mage looks like she might throw fire my way, I throw a glare at her. “You can have your chalice back once we’re in the waters,” I say, not having time for this. “Roy will be given a choice to go with us, or stay with you. Once we’re far enough away from you, he will leave it in the harbor.”
The Cinder looks back when his name is mentioned, and I can already tell he will choose to go with us.
It’s a hustle forward, barely anyone around to challenge us. My attention is on the piers, then at the sirens that float in the violent waters. Darkwater is already sailing out, the back of her nearly turned all the way to us, flames still burning in the braziers at the prow.
As we make our way down to the piers, the water rocks them, and a few slip into the waters, only to surface and be pulled in the opposite direction of the current. One siren yells out to getmy attention, the fires glistening against her skin. “Hold your breath! We will swim you to the ship, but not with marrowkelp. We are saving it!”
I motion for everyone else to get in. “I’ll go last!”
One by one, everyone plunges into the water, the sirens pulling them swiftly away from the burning wreckage. Ritter is one of the first, the energy of that man nearly frozen by desperation as I can feel theyearsof build up, so close to getting what he wants.
Basilisk is lost somewhere in the middle, and Bones is one of the last men in as it’s just me and the Cinder. “You will wait in these waters until we are far enough to not be in danger, then you place the chalice on any ledge.”
Roy actually hesitates as he looks at the lapping water, and I push him in, his scream swallowed by the waves, before jumping in myself. A wave crashes into my body, and hands are on me to pull me under while I hold my breath, two sirens grabbing me and swimming swiftly in the waters before I breach the surface.
The icy grip of the water shocks my system, extinguishing the heat of the flames that warmed my skin. Two sirens have a hold of me, their hands cold and firm, and we plunge beneath the surface once more. I hold my breath, the pressure building in my chest as they propel me forward with incredible speed. When we break the surface again, the storm’s wrath greets us as the heat of Ashfire is no longer on me. Rain lashes down in torrents, and the swells rise and fall like living beasts, tossing us like driftwood.
It was easy to forget about the storm with the inferno.
The harbor is a vision of hell. Flames devour Ashfire, their light reflected in the black waters. Smoke churns upward, mingling with the storm clouds above. Embers fall like fiery snow, carried by the howling wind. I stare at the devastation, mychest heaving as I struggle to process it all. All that effort, all that blood, and Jane is still out of reach.
The rain makes it hard to breathe, each gasp tasting of salt and ash. The sirens pull me onward, their strength unyielding. Finally, through the chaos, I see it—a massive ship looming ahead, its silhouette cutting through the storm that I completely missed, like it appeared right from the shadows.
The bow has a head of a wolf with silver on its teeth.
Tempest…
The Sea Wolf rises and falls with the waves, its red sails bright like bloodstains against the sky. Rope ladders dangle from its sides, thrashing wildly in the wind. One of the sirens surfaces beside me, her voice sharp and urgent. “Get on the ship! Tempest requests that you ride with her!”
“My men go first!” I shout. It’s one thing to lead an attack, but this is to ensure they’re all on board. I do my best to count as they all climb, Ritter going first, then Rorge, then quite a few more before Donna. Basilisk is among my people, with Bones the second to last before I’m upon the ship as it’s in the water.
It feels entirely wrong to touch the outside of the ship’s belly while out in the open ocean.
“Hang onto the rope loops if you hit a swell!” the siren yells.
I grab the rope, threading my freezing hands through a loop as a massive swell crashes over me, threatening to rip me away. My grip holds, and I climb as soon as I possibly can, each movement a battle against nature. It doesn’t help that I can barely feel my fingers.
Hands pull at me to get me over once at the top, the blue fire of Storm's Fury close behind us. Boarding the Sea Wolf, in a fucking storm that’s verging on a hurricane, wears me out more than the fighting we just did.
“You alright?” one of her crew asks. “Drink this—it’s a fire tonic. It staves off the cold of the ocean!”
