ARI

The last of my magic poured out.

I staggered, my legs weakening, and I dropped to my knees on the rocks. That much energy leaving all at once… it made me feel like a dying man in the Sahara.

The ground rumbled again, more magic tearing through it in waves, originating from closer to the mansion. Hope rose in me. The ruanir were alive. They were fighting back.

A wind kicked up, throwing sand and grit into the air, obscuring everything. Dehaian figures tumbled to the ground, knocked over by the gusts. Others skidded to a stop, looking around frantically; all I could see were their silhouettes and their bloodied spikes in the hazy light from the gazebo. For a moment, the dehaians seemed to debate whether to continue chasing down my people, and then one of them shouted something in a language I’d never heard. As a group, they turned and ran for the water.

Straight toward me.

I gasped, struggling to reach my feet. The dehaians charged at me. I saw the closest take aim with something that looked like a gun.

A cold hand grabbed my arm and yanked me out of the way. A brown pod struck the place where I’d been. Vines exploded over the ground.

“Run!” the blond guy yelled.

Releasing my arm, he shoved me ahead of him. We took off across the rocks.

The dehaians shouted behind us. I threw a glance back to see half a dozen of them break away from the main group and race after us.

They were so fast.

I stifled a panicked cry. My legs felt thick from the expenditure of magic and I couldn’t summon more energy no matter how hard I tried. The sand dragged at my sandals, making me struggle like I had weights attached to my feet.

The boy swore, desperately, vehemently.

Something hit me from behind. The beach disappeared and the night did too. The world became a blanket of fog and a sense of motion surrounded me, like suddenly I was moving with impossible speed.

And it hurt. All of it hurt. Every inch of my skin felt like it was burning.

I shrieked.

The sense of motion shifted instantly. The fog vanished.

I tumbled to the ground, choking on pain even more than shock. I felt like my skin was boiling on my body. I wanted to scream.

I couldn’t even breathe.

The agony began to fade. I opened my eyes and looked down at my arms, terrified of what I’d find.

My skin looked normal. Untouched. And meanwhile, the excruciating pain was disappearing like it’d never happened.

But my ring was destroyed. A blackened hole was all that was left of the gemstone in its setting.

I stared. Magic. That’d been magic. An ungodly amount of it that, from the way it’d hurt, had to have been from the ocean.

My eyes caught on the scrub grass beneath my hands, and the pale sand as well. My heart pounding, I lifted my gaze. Nothing around me looked like Judge Engle’s property. It didn’t look like anywhere I remembered seeing at all.

Definitely ocean magic.

I shivered, fear running through me. I was okay, though. I wouldn’t have absorbed any of it. I just wouldn’t have. And my ring had probably been destroyed in the fight and I simply hadn’t noticed. But meanwhile, I was on a beach that wasn’t a thing like the one in Maine. Dunes topped by pale grass shone in the moonlight. The clouds were gone. Even the air was ever-so-slightly warmer than it had been.

The blond guy stood about ten feet away, watching me. “Are you alright?”

His voice was tense. Guarded. He seemed on the edge of leaving.

And he’d brought me here. I wasn’t stupid. If it’d been anything else, he’d seem shocked. Or at least he’d be looking around.

He wasn’t taking his eyes off me.

My shivering grew stronger. “What are you?”

ARI

My gaze flicked over it all, taking everything in, only to be brought to a stuttering halt by the object at the center of the room. A chair like the kind from a dentist’s office but with straps on the arms and legs. The thing was made of dark leather and iron, and mostly reclined so that whoever was on it would be lying nearly flat under the bright overhead light.

My feet stopped. This was a bad idea. I couldn’t do this. I was making a mistake.

Judge Engle caught sight of my expression. “I realize this must look intimidating, but please understand that it is only for your protection.”

“You’re going to strap her into that thing?” Jace demanded.

“For her protection,” the judge repeated.

“But you’re…” I swallowed, working to make my voice sound less faint. “I mean, this looks like enforcer stuff. I’m just going to, like, connect to the Beast. Not become it or something, right? Surely you don’t have to—”

“I understand your trepidation,” Judge Engle interjected. “But please try to see that while it may seem like overcompensation, this truly is to keep you safe. We are dealing with incredibly dangerous magic, Miss Moreau. It is vital you remain still during the procedure. If you should change position or flinch at the wrong moment…”

I nodded on autopilot. My gaze didn’t leave the chair.

It took tremendous effort to make my feet move. On unsteady legs, I crossed the room. Cold leather chilled my back through my shirt when I sat down. Two of the assistants set to strapping down my ankles while two others took my wrists.

My heart raced. This was such a bad idea. I’d never had such a bad idea. But if I hurt anyone with this ocean magic inside me, if the dehaians actually were starting up their war again…

People could die. My people. Maia. Dhanya. Jace. I couldn’t let that happen.

I drew a deep breath, struggling to calm down.

“Now,” Judge Engle said while a redheaded woman brought over a syringe filled with strange green liquid. “This will help you remain relaxed.”

I watched the woman nervously. She ignored me. With meticulous gestures, she swabbed the inside of my arm with frigid alcohol and then lifted the syringe. I winced when the needle bit into my skin.

Pressure built at the spot where the needle rested in my arm. I concentrated on continuing to breathe.

A second slid past. The strangest feeling began to spread through me, like the rock-solid connection to my body had suddenly come loose. My awareness of my arms and legs, of the straps over them, faded into nothing. My racing heart slowed till every beat felt centuries apart. The light fragmented gradually around me, scattering and drifting apart and turning to rainbows as if I was viewing the room through a kaleidoscope of cut glass.

Judge Engle appeared near my feet. Jace was a blur by the door, though I could feel his eyes locked on me.

The judge lifted a hand. A twinge of fear stabbed through the haze inside me. I remembered this. It wasn’t good. I didn’t want to feel him doing this to—

A wet, cold blanket of magic engulfed me. Drown me. I felt like I’d been plunged into swamp water. Like my throat was full of algae and slime. I choked on the air, trying to breathe around it, while my body lurched in a desperate attempt to escape the feeling.

The sensation grew worse. Stronger. I heard someone shouting, the sound far away, and then I realized it was me.

And Jace. He was struggling to reach me. The enforcers were holding him back. I gasped, trying to tell him to stop fighting. They would hurt him.

I couldn’t do anything.

Other judges appeared. Their hands rose and blackness swallowed me before I could make a sound. And I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t see. Everything was the dark, deathly magic of the judges and in it, I was dying.

A new sensation joined the first. Bright enough to hurt, sharp enough to sting. It surfaced inside me like a rope of light and I scrambled after it, latching onto the new presence like a lifeline.

It was a mistake.

White-hot fire exploded through me. I screamed, my body arching in the restraints, while everything inside me burned to nothing, leaving only an ashen darkness that took the world away.