Page 5 of By the Flames of Her Fury

“How do you know?” Starke asked.

“I just do.” He wouldn’t understand. He didn’t know about my magic. He had no clue there was an entire land just south of the Shattered Spine that housed people born with all sorts of magical gifts. The phoenix imagery meant nothing to him, but it was everything to me.

“Look at this,” Starke called. He faced another skeleton lying a few yards away. “The navigator, perhaps? This looks like a map.”

I knelt once more at his side. He pulled out a brush and carefully swept the dirt from a weathered, wrinkled surface. Sure enough, in the clutches of skeletal fingers was a piece of parchment. A faded compass rose rested on the bottom corner.

“Careful,” I urged, sucking in a breath as he pulled the parchment from the death grip.

Starke raised an eyebrow at me. “I’ve been doing this a lot longer than you, V.”

“Sorry. Continue.” I pursed my lips, watching him loosen the map little by little. When it came free, I released a breath. “It’s torn,” I said, deflated. Above the compass rose was the bottom half of a large mass of land, ripped across the middle. “Do you recognize the continent?”

Starke’s brow furrowed as he pushed back a lock of hair that had come loose. “It doesn’t look like any of the islands. We can take it back to compare it with⁠—”

The ceiling trembled. Rocks cascaded to the ground, coating us in dust. The floor vibrated as bones rattled against stone, bodies of the fallen crewmembers unraveling and falling to their sides.

“Alright, that’s it. We need to get out of here.” Starke firmly gripped my hand, yanking me to my feet.

My eyes were glued to the navigator. “But what if there’s⁠—”

“Nope.” He tugged me forward right as the entire cave rumbled. “We’re not dying for this.”

“You’re no fun,” I grumbled, letting him push me ahead of him toward the exit.

I thought I heard him mutter, “Yeah, I’m just a fool.”

I whirled around. “What?”

“Nothing. Keep going.” His hand rested at my back, hurrying my pace. Larger boulders crashed from the ceiling as the walls shook. We sprinted the remaining distance to the end of the tunnel, dodging the falling stones.

A small dot of light up ahead marked the beach. “Run!” Starke shouted. I put on a burst of speed as fissures appeared at our feet, running all the way to the surface.

As we neared the exit, Starke dropped the lantern and used both his hands to shove me, sending me flying through the opening. A shower of rocks rained down my back.

“Starke?” I called out. The entrance had completely caved in. Panic crawled up my throat, a thick, viscous emotion I hadn’t felt in as long as I could remember. “Starke!”

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a hand emerging from the rocks. I scrambled to him, shoving away the stones until I could grip his arm and haul him out.

“At least we didn’t get caught by patrol,” I said, panting. The glare he shot me would’ve been sobering if I wasn’t so relieved.

The deafening crack of cannon fire split the air, and both our heads jerked to the water.

I spoke too soon.

My eyes widened. Offshore, a sleek, black ship with the Twin Tides insignia on the sails aimed at Starke’s ship, the White Moonstone. Smoke rose from its side as water sloshed against the hull of both vessels. Another cannon blasted from the patrol ship—a warning shot that barely missed our starboard.

My gaze darted to the little dinghy we’d pulled onto the banks of the island. Three men in uniform examined it, until one looked up at the sound of Starke and me.

“Hey, you there! Stop!” the guard shouted, putting a hand on his sword handle.

Starke heaved out a sigh. “How do you plan to get out of this one, V?”

2

Vera

Sand burst around the guards' boots as they sprinted toward us.