Fireblood (Frostblood Saga #2)(93)
As we moved toward the exit, Prince Eiko led the way. “I will take you to a branch that leads to the eastern side of the island where Ruby said the ship is hidden.”
But as we neared the doorway, a silhouette blocked the opening.
TWENTY-SIX
THE FIGURE STROLLED FORWARD, removing a huge black shawl that fell to the floor. Torchlight shimmered over wheat-gold hair and tinted her white gown with an angry light, making her look both celestial and terrifying. Shadows hollowed out her sunken cheeks. She still looked gaunt, but much stronger than I’d remembered from my visit to the ship.
“Marella?” I murmured in amazement.
I glanced at Arcus. He looked shocked, then furious. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing here, but this isn’t a party, for Tempus’s sake. Get out of here before—”
“You always underestimate me,” she broke in, sounding irritated. “You do realize that just because I dress well doesn’t mean I’m a featherbrain?”
“Marella, this is not the time,” I warned. Then, because I couldn’t help myself, I asked, “How did you even get here?”
“Through the tunnels, of course. I had a guide who knew the location of the throne. My own personal shadow.” Though her words made no sense, her tone was relaxed and smooth, as if we all sat at a grand table for a court dinner. “Now, where is the shard? Ah, yes. I sense the tall one has it. Prince… Eiko, is it? If you’d just hand that to me, I’d be much obliged.” She waltzed up to him and held her palm out.
He regarded her in stunned silence.
“I don’t want to hurt you,” Marella explained. “But if you don’t hand over the shard, I’ll have to.”
“Marella,” I said desperately, “what are you doing?”
“I want the shard,” she said slowly, as if talking to a simpleton. She beckoned to Prince Eiko.
“I’m not giving it to you,” he snapped, clearly outraged by this confusing turn of events.
She dropped her hand. “Well, I suppose it’s as good a time as any to test my new abilities.”
She closed her eyes and dark tendrils flowed from her pale hair. A gossamer shadow took form in the air above her. First, its shoulders bristled with protrusions that appeared to be jagged icicles, with similar pointed shapes forming a crown on its head. Then there were hints of a humanlike upper body.
Dread sank talons into my fast-beating heart.
Somehow, the frost Minax was here.
As it hovered in the air, it whispered in a sibilant language I couldn’t decipher, though I could hear the fire Minax answering in the same tongue.
Both of them. Here. No!
Then, to my utter horror, Marella spoke in the same language, as easy and familiar as friends gossiping over tea.
A wash of ice settled at the base of my spine. Arcus was suddenly in front of me.
Terror elongated Prince Eiko’s face, accentuating the bones in his cheeks. “What—”
Marella fluttered a hand at the hovering shadow. “I’m sorry, how rude of me. You don’t understand its language. The Minax said ‘Give us the shard.’” She held her hand out again, palm up. “I hope you’re more willing now.”
We all stared helplessly. The Minax wasn’t something you could fight with frost or fire. It was made of mist and midnight.
“No,” Prince Eiko said shakily.
The shadow creature flowed toward him, its obsidian tendrils disappearing into his hands, which had come up to ward it off. His eyes widened and he jerked a couple of times before reaching, puppetlike, into his pocket and pulling out the shard. He extended his arm and dropped it into Marella’s outstretched palm.
She flashed a smile, as sparkling as a sunlit waterfall and as infectious as typhoid, the one I’d seen charm a roomful of courtiers. “Thank you.”
The shadow creature left Prince Eiko’s body and floated toward me. Arcus sent out a blast of frost that went right through its transparent form.
True vessel, it begged, drawing nearer. I shrank back instinctively.
“Return to me,” Marella commanded, and the frost Minax flowed back into her instantly.
“Marella,” Arcus said, sounding horrified, “how long has that… thing… been part of you?”
“It wasn’t easy,” she said softly. “I had to find it in Tevros. Convince it to choose me as its next host when the previous one—rather conveniently, mind you—died in a brawl over a game of dice. And then there was hiding my… condition… on the ship. Luckily, seasickness is an excellent cover for Minax possession.” Her breathy laugh raised a fresh crop of goose bumps on my arms. “That’s why I had to stay in my poorly lit cabin most of the time. I couldn’t let you see my veins. Also, I truly did feel ill at times, and then I had these strange visions… .I think I saw you, Ruby. In the Fireblood school, and once when you were in a cave or something. There was fire and lava. Did you see me? On the ship?”
“I think so,” I answered, feeling sick. I’d seen someone on a ship. It must have been Marella, or rather the frost Minax that was somehow still connected to me, sending me images she was seeing.
She nodded. “Most people who are possessed don’t survive longer than a week, but I’m stronger than most people.” She glanced at Arcus. “Sometimes at night I sent the Minax into one of your sailors for a few hours to give myself a rest. If you heard someone screaming with nightmares, that would be why.”