The man tilts his head to the side, his long black hair tied back, and sighs with the drama of someone who enjoys the sound of his own voice. “My name is Jesper, Miss Jane. I’m the leader of the Order of Ash.” His voice drops to a near whisper, his gaze dripping with menace. “Let’s see… are you aware of being immune to fire?”
“Yes.”
“Did you know your children will inherit that?”
I frown. “Yes.”
Jesper grins, his teeth gleaming. “I see, I see.” He pivots slightly. “There are other Cinders like you. If anything, I’d say you were createdjustfor this purpose.”He glides his hand along the side of my cheek, seemingly examining my face and I do my best not to act as repulsed as I feel. “We’ll probably breed the women and use the few men as foot soldiers. The more are born with these powers, the more Morvock’s legion will rise.” He looks me over, from my sand-covered hair down to my boots. “And I’m rather interested in the female that Morvock needs to rebirth himself with. There’s time for at leastonebirth from you. Would like to see you cleaned up.”
The threat almost doesn’t even faze me, because IknowI wouldn’t let that happen. I’d stab my womb ten times and heal the carnage without even athoughtif I got so much as awhiffthat he would seriously do that. “I know you need me to be compliant. Rape willnothelp you there,” I tightly reply.
Be meek, Jane.
“Leave her be,” Misery grits out, his grating voice making me shiver. “You cannot have her yet, Jesper. Not until we are in mylands, whereno onecan touch us. She is to be un-accosted until then, or else it will mar her rehabilitation.”
At leastsomethingis in my favor.
“Now we just have to field the fact that Ritter and his witchy ally will be after Jane,” Blackwell comments, while Jesper looks me over like he’s examining a horse he’s about to purchase. “Shouldn’t be an issue since we made it here safely. Once Tempest gets any insight that Cypress is involved, she will be the last person to help Ritter or Soren; the pirate queen is crafty. She’ll figure it out real fast. And then they’ll be shit out of luck getting to us fromherharbor.”
My heart sinks at that statement. What does that mean? Where the fuck are we, anyway? Jesper stands, and I stare at his boots, much like I did to Soren when we first met. There’s hardly a scuff on them.
“Is that why you were delayed?” Jesper asks.
“Partially. We figured it was best to have Ritter and Soren’s men all with Tempest, where they won’t be able to secure passage once the pirate queen learns who they’re working with. Compared to Skull’s Row where they could have takenanyship. It should buy us time. All we need is a little over two weeks before we can pass over to Morvock’s lands. Merciless will be here to assist as well.”
My deep breath spreads my ribs in a painful expanse, my gaze darting all over the sky that stars are slowly fading away from.Oh, shit.
“So who is this other woman?” Jesper asks.
“Anya. One of Soren’s closest followers. She pursued us into the forest and did a terrible job staying hidden. We took her, wondering if we could use her against Jane. Or cut off parts of her and send them to Soren to get him riled up. Take advantage of his rage and let him burn himself first. It seemed like a waste of bait.”
Will these people stop fucking using my friends? Or talking like I’m not right here?
“We need to move,” Misery says. “Secure her at the castle, and then we travel in a fortnight. We shall begin Jane’s mental rehabilitation immediately.”
I nearly snort.Okay.Rehabilitation my ass.
It all begins to move, and I’m chucked into the back of one of two wagons, Anya and I pulled separately. The smell of damp hay fills my nostrils, mixed with the faint metallic tang of blood—mine, maybe hers, or someone else’s. My fingers twitch uselessly, bound too tightly to offer any relief. My world tilts and jolts, and I do everything I can to strategize while I havesomeversion of rest. I have two weeks, according to them. Two weeks to show them that I’m the spawn of Skull’s Row and of a mother who was tougher than the rest, worthy of being the wife of aZenith.
Two weeks to find these damn sirens, so I can metaphorically put a massive hole in their ship to let it sink, and then focus on returninghome.
It’s time to let them know whoJaneRitter is.
J A N E
Iadmit my weakness once we’re at the battlements of the castle, disappointed that I’m actually relieved. My legs are shaky from hours of being bound and hauled around, and my wrists throb where the rope has bitten into my skin, and I hope so badly I get to be freed, even if it’s to a cell.
The castle appears to sprawl along the coast. Unlike the Spiraling Stone, which towers above the jagged cliffs, thisfortress is squat and solid, built with practicality in mind. Its wide walls end at the ocean, as if daring the sea to claim it.
I risk sitting up to get a better lay of the land once we pass through a large,thickarchway, the teeth of a portcullis pointing down right at me until I'm officially within the castle’s walls.
Okay, free the sirens.
Whatever that means.
When no one barks at me to lie down, I can’t stopstaring. Whereas Skull’s Row is a hot mess of humans, these ones are all dressed nicer, wearing the same black robes with an orange belt around their waists, the fabric evenly cutting off at their ankles. Sometimes, someone wears a white version.
There’s even red robes, and my jaw drops when I think back to Blackwell and his fire mage—we’re really in the Fire Isles, aren’t we?
