Page 111 of A Storm in Every Heart
“How long does the invisibility last?” Kastian asks from somewhere near the window.
“No idea. Aurelia didn’t give instructions.”
“Let’s assume it could wear off at any moment, then,” Jett says. “You two should leave now, and we’ll leave in half an hour.”
“You sure you want to be alone with the pirate?” Kastian asks, sounding dubious.
“I resent that, sir,” Connell snaps. “Perhaps I’m the one in danger, you ever think of that?”
“You’re definitely the one in danger,” Jett snaps, then turns toward the wall where he seems to think Kastian is standing. “It’ll be fine, I’ve been stuck with worse people for far longer than a few days.”
“Where will we meet you?” I ask.
“It will probably take two days to reach the border of Vernallis without horses or flying,” Kastian says, his voice coming from the complete opposite side of the room from where Jett is looking. “Let’s meet there two nights from now.”
Jett agrees, and they speak in fast whispers, working out the details of where and how we’ll meet back up.
Hardly listening, I instead turn to look in the direction of Kastian’s voice, suddenly very glad we can’t see each other.
Two days alone with Kastian traveling through the swamp with no one else to play buffer. I think I’d rather be stuck with the pirate.
ODESSA, AGE 16
Ilie awake for hours staring at the ceiling of my luxurious guest room. Lyra left quite some time ago, but I can’t seem to get her words or her vicious scowl out of my head.
Lady Lyra Von Bargen is clearly much more calculating than I would have thought from our first meeting, but it’s not even her I’m worried about. She didn’t really threaten me, she just stated what she believes to be a fact; as far as Lyra knows, sirens are cursed to kill any man who loves them.
I wish I could dispute it. I wish I knew for certain that she was wrong, but I’m not sure. Of course I’ve heard the legends about sirens, but I assumed they were just that—legends. I’ve never felt any desire to turn any man into my slave. I’ve never wanted to drown anyone.
Except, that’s not true.
I thought about drowning just the other day, the moment I realized that Prince Kastian was engaged to someone else. But,was I thinking about drowning him or her? I’m not sure, and I’m equally unsure if the difference matters.
And what about Papa? I can’t ignore the brutal way my father died. What if he hadn’t wanted to drown that day eight years ago? What if he was somehow compelled, and what if my mere existence is enough to doom Prince Kastian to the same fate?
I don’t know what to believe, and it’s the uncertainty that’s killing me.
I grit my teeth and kick the covers away from my body, throwing them to the floor in a heap. I can’t keep lying here doing nothing. I’m going to lose my mind.
I stand and cross to the window, pressing my forehead to the cold glass. The palace grounds fan out in front of me—sprawling gardens, the ocean in the distance, and the occasional flare of torchlight as a patrolling guard passes beneath the window.
My gaze catches on the horizon, on the ocean in the distance, and suddenly I can’t be here anymore. I feel like I’m suffocating. I need to go outside. I need to move, to breathe.
With trembling hands, I snatch my quilt back off the floor and wrap it around my shoulders. Then, moving with a purpose I don’t quite understand, I open the door and slip out into the corridor.
The hallway is dark, the sconces guttering low. I creep past the other guest suites, careful not to make too much noise.
The entire castle is asleep, and the corridors are even quieter than they were when I met Kastian mere hours ago. I pass no one as I hurry toward the hallway outside the dining room, then past the open balcony and toward the stairs.
I let my fingers trail along the banister as I descend the staircase, steadying myself against the swirl of vertigo. Reaching the bottom, I let myself out a side door into the gardens.
The sky is still dark, but the moon is full, and the silvery light is enough to see by as I wander through the palace garden.Eventually, my feet carry me to an ornate metal fence on the very edge of the palace grounds.
I walk along the fence, and it doesn’t take long before I come across a gate beyond which a rocky trail disappears into waving dunes. Far off, the vast expanse of the ocean stretches out, its waves crashing rhythmically against the jagged shoreline.
As I stand frozen, one hand on the gate, a ghostly wail rings through the night louder even than the sound of the distant crashing waves.
Suddenly I know exactly where I’m going.
