The Bound (Ascension #2)(28)

“Orden!” she shrieked. She could just start to make out Avoca and Ahlvie in the lead.

“Cast off!” Orden cried. “Captain Iscoe, let’s get this ship moving. We leave now.”

“What have you gotten me involved in?” he growled.

“If you cast off now, get us safely to the other side of the river, and ask no questions, I’ll double the sum that has already been paid to you. But we leave now.”

“Blood and bloody ashes,” he cursed under his breath. “Let’s get moving, men. What do you think I’m paying you for? Cast off!”

The crew burst into action. Cyrene watched with a fearful eye as her friends sprinted toward her, and the sailors worked to get the boat out of port.

Her friends were outpacing the soldiers on foot, but Cyrene saw two men step out of line and draw their bows. Her stomach dropped to her feet.

Cyrene zeroed in on the two guards who were aiming at Avoca’s back, and she reached for her powers. She knew she had the strength to stop them from doing this. If she could kill a Braj and take out a pack of Indres, then surely, she could stop a few arrows from killing someone she desperately needed alive.

But her powers never came. A flicker. There and then gone. It was like she had some kind of block that kept her from accessing them. She gasped at the effort she was exerting and held on to the rail as her knees nearly buckled underneath her.

Avoca and Ahlvie were almost on the dock when the arrow flew true and straight. Cyrene cried out Avoca’s name, but by her estimation, it was going to be too late.

At the sound of Cyrene’s voice, Avoca ducked and rolled to the right, just missing the first arrow. Cyrene felt Avoca latch on to her powers, like a fist to the gut. She coughed and sputtered at the feel of their connection in action. And then the ground began to tremble. Just lightly at first and then rockier until the guards were jumping around under the quake.

The boat heaved forward, and Cyrene fell to her knees with a lurch. She scrambled back up in time to see Avoca miss the second loosed arrow, and she ran back toward the dock.

Ahlvie was ahead of Avoca and took a large leap onto the boat. He collapsed to the ground, heaving big breaths. But Avoca was still too far away. The gap was widening further, and though she had outpaced the threat, she now had to vault herself off the dock and hope to make the leap or brave the current.

“Come on, Avoca,” Cyrene whispered.

They all watched her pick up speed as she reached the dock. Cyrene could see it now. Avoca wasn’t going to make it. There was no way. The boat was thirty feet out, moving toward forty feet. They were past the point of where any human could make that jump.

But Avoca wasn’t slowing down. She was going to try the jump anyway. There was no other option in her eyes as she ran. Just a clear determination to get away.

Her feet left the ground, and she was sailing through the air. Her body arced as she reached out toward the boat, but she was quickly losing ground. Soon, she would plummet into the river, and they might not be able to get her on board. Cyrene held her breath, and her knuckles turned white where she gripped the railing.

More than halfway across the distance, Cyrene felt a small tug in her chest. Her eyes widened when she realized what Avoca meant to do.

Suddenly, the water lifted under Avoca and careened her forward. The water pushed her the last ten feet with the force of a tidal wave propelling her onto the boat. The wave crashed wildly over Avoca’s head just as she reached the deck. The water sloshed onboard and threw everyone off their feet as it ferociously threw Avoca down. She rolled the length of the deck before smashing into the railing and lying still.

Ceis’f beat everyone to Avoca. He dropped to the ground at her feet and carefully rolled her onto her back. He placed his ear on her chest, but Avoca didn’t move. He cursed loudly, tilted her head up, and started pumping her chest. Three quick pumps to her chest and then a deep exhale into Avoca’s lungs. He repeated the movement. Cyrene watched Avoca’s chest expand.

After the second breath, Avoca coughed suddenly and spewed water out of her lungs. She leaned over and coughed until there was nothing left.

Cyrene sighed in relief, and Ceis’f sat back on his heels.

“You’re all right,” he said, reaching for her.

“Get off of me,” Avoca groaned.

She pushed Ceis’f away from her with one last sputtering cough and then rose to her feet, as if she hadn’t just inhaled half of the river.

Ceis’f sighed and followed her lead. Avoca crossed her arms. Besides being soaking wet, she looked better than most of the rest of them.

“What?” she demanded.

Ceis’f’s expression hardened. “Air would have been easier.”

Avoca shrugged and brushed past him. “Water worked.”

“Nothing to see here,” Captain Iscoe called out to his crew, who had finally righted themselves and were staring around in shock. “Get back to work. We’ve already lost too much time.”

“Perhaps we should all convene elsewhere,” Orden suggested.

He gestured toward the front railing where less people were around for eavesdropping, and the group followed him.

He plopped his big, floppy hat down on his head and then turned to face them. “We’re sure to have guards on our trail after all of that. So, we’re moving as fast as possible down the river. The captain said that no other ferries or boats would be equipped to make the trip until late this afternoon, and any that might follow us would be several hours behind us. With our luck, we’ll have a half day head start on our pursuers by the time we dock, and then we can lose them in the countryside.”