Page 53 of Birthright

“Yeah, why?”

“Our magic is working, maybe they do too.” He dug through his bag, pulled out three glowing amulets, and handed them to me. I sat behind my father and put his head in my lap after hanging the amulets around his neck. “Water?” Manus handed me the canteen. There wasn’t much left. I poured some on my father’s lips. His tenseness eased a bit but he was starting to shiver.

Abbey found some stones and spelled them to heat up. We arranged them around his narrow sides. I rubbed his hands in mine. His bones were almost as fragile as the skeletons in the boneyard.

“Bran must have been blocking the magic.” Manus handed me another of the warm stones. “We’re dead if Nessum finds us in here. He’ll just make the mountain fall on us.”

“Either that or Nessum was blocking the magic and is gone. He really freaked when he realized I knew how to kill him.” I rubbed my father’s hands gently as we talked. The sounds of the attacking Slaugh lessened as they gave up their futile attempts to penetrate the wards.

“Nothing like mortality to scare the crap out of an immortal Dark Angel,” Abbey added as she hovered over a warm stone.

“You fought with heart today, Keena.” Manus touched my shoulder.

“Howard died,” I said, looking away. I remembered the image of his little body broken in Manus’s hands.

“He gave his life honorably, Keena,” Abbey said softly. “That’s a good way to die for any Kith creature.”

“We’re not out of this yet. We still have the ocean to cross tomorrow and I’m guessing the wicked half-sister knows we’re here by now.” I told Abbey about the brush. She was sufficiently grossed out by the thought of Feldema with either Bran or Nessum. The boat ride home was going to be difficult at best. I was so thrilled by the thought that my stomach turned in anticipation of the waves.

We sat quietly for a while and I thought of Tynan, knowing he must be worrying. I wouldn’t call to him until tomorrow, until I was safe. I didn’t want him to come for us tonight. I felt the familiar pangs of guilt mixed with love.

Coyle moved on my lap. He opened his eyes—my eyes—and looked up at me. He tried to speak but only croaking noises came from his throat. I brushed his cheek and he leaned his face against my hand and closed his eyes again. “I’ve got you, Daddy, don’t worry. I’ll get you home. You rest. I’ll get you home.” His shoulders relaxed and his breathing leveled.

I traced shaky fingers gently over a large scar that ran from his neck across his chest and ended just under his right arm. It was thick and stiff to my touch. Most of his body was now wrapped in tattered fabric we’d taken from one of the shacks, but the exposed parts were all damaged. They had left little of him unscathed. His light gray hair was thin, his face even thinner. His hands looked to have once been large and strong, but now were ravaged from abuse. We had wrapped the gaping wounds from the nails tightly in more fabric.

I cried inside as I touched every badge of courage etched into his flesh. He had endured almost decades of hell because of me. I couldn’t bear the guilt. I felt my body trembling.

He moved and struggled to look into my eyes again. I felt a tiny bit of energy from him. His magic. I felt it in my mark and opened myself to it. Opened myself to magic that felt so close to my own. I let it crawl into my heart and wrap around me. He was holding me the only way he could. The man lay dying and even in his pain he was trying to comfort me. I leaned down and kissed his forehead, touched his cheek with mine. We were linked by our magic in a way I knew would be there forever. I felt him gain strength from the magic I wrapped around him. It wasn’t healing him, but it was strengthening him.

Manus kept watch over the door for a while. “They went off to collect. I think we can get some sleep in shifts.”

“I’ve slept a bunch hanging around in that dungeon,” Abbey said. “You two sleep. I’ll keep watch.”

“You sure?” Manus asked.

“I could use some coffee but I can manage it. Besides, I need to keep warming those stones or we’ll all freeze to death.”

Manus moved behind me to put himself between the rough wall and my back. He was warm and solid. “This is a change. You usually sleep on me.” I laughed and he gave me a small shake. I was asleep much faster than I thought I would be.

Abbey woke us as dawn was pushing its way through the darkness. We gave Coyle the last bit of fresh water and headed through the boneyard. The bones started pulling themselves together, but they were no match for us now that our magic had returned.

The boat was still where we left it. Manus tentatively set Coyle on the floor in the center, while Abbey and I crawled onto the makeshift seat. As Manus shoved off, I held my breath. I could feel Feldema’s power rising from the splashing of the waves. It lapped at me as the water hit the side of the tiny boat.

I felt the full surge of my powers as soon as we were away from the desolate island, which now just looked like a pile of rocks in the water. Nothing more than an obstacle for ships and boats to avoid. We sailed easily into the open waters. As the tiny boat carried us on the winds toward WildLand, we looked uneasily out over the rough waters, watching, waiting for Feldema’s fury.

“She’s toying with us,” Manus said, looking out over the bow.

Abbey heated another stone and placed it up against Coyle’s chest. He was starting to shiver again. I sent him a warm rush of my power. His magic responded to mine like a brush of a kiss on my cheek. I couldn’t believe the tenderness of the unseen caress, it warmed me in return from the inside out.

We sailed in silence for about an hour. Maybe more—it was hard to tell. I started to see the barest tinge of green on the horizon. I let out a deep breath at the sight of it.

As soon as I felt the wave of relief rush over me, the wind came to a stop. The ocean smoothed to glass as the sail fell empty and quiet. “Shit.”

“Look alive!” Manus said.

I took a piece of the rope that was holding the sail and cut it, tying one end to my arm, just above the elbow. Manus looked at me with one eyebrow raised. I pulled my mother’s sword from my back and tied the other end of the rope to the hilt. “I’m not losing this to the sea for her to have.” I stood to see how far the rope let the blade fall. I had tied it just out of my reach, but it wouldn’t be lost to the sea.

There was a lurch in the water off the port side. “Here we go, guys,” I said. “Brace yourselves.” Abbey put herself down in the bottom of the boat with Coyle. Manus and I stood with our legs apart and our swords out.