The Rose Society (The Young Elites #2)(89)

“Get closer,” I call to Magiano, pointing to a clearing in the sky.

“If you have any clever ideas for how to do this without killing ourselves, I’m happy to listen,” Magiano shouts back.

I look harder at the Beldish formation. The royal ship is protected on almost all sides. A half circle of warships. Beyond them is another ring, and then another, until all of the ships look like a honeycomb.

“Look out!”

I throw myself flat against the balira at Magiano’s warning call. A cannonball explodes near us, sending a surge of sea spray high up in the air. I duck. Our balira jerks sideways with a roar, one of its wings singed. I catch a brief glimpse of the Beldish warship that fired at us. My energy churns madly within me, feeding off the fury and fear from the thousands of soldiers in the bay. It builds and builds, until the flesh right underneath my skin tingles from it, as if it might rip me completely apart.

The tether between Enzo and me trembles. I look around instinctively. My heartbeat races. He’s here. The bond trembles violently—as if he has realized I am near too—and an instant later, I see him. He is on the back of a balira, and a stream of fire bursts from his hands, aimed down at the Inquisition ships below. Inquisitors follow closely on his tail. A Beldish rider near Enzo screams as he weaves fire right out of the air and hurtles it toward the soldier. Fire consumes the soldier—he falls from his balira’s back, and the balira, now without a rider, dives toward the water.

Enzo, I call through our bond. He turns to face me. His energy hits me hard, right as I try to exert my own power. Magiano shoots me a look and tightens his grip on me. For a moment, Enzo meets my gaze, and his stare is hard and dark. I know right away that the Daggers have told him everything.

He turns in the direction of an Inquisition warship. He opens his hand, then closes it into a fist. The simplest, smallest movement.

A line of fire explodes across the surface of the water with a deafening roar. The flames race toward the ship at terrifying speed, then burst and curl as they strike the ship’s mighty hull. The fire swallows the wood. Flames shoot high into the sky, engulfing the entire ship. The blast blinds me. I throw an arm across my face, trying in vain to shield myself from the heat and light. My bond pulses violently, his energy feeding mine, the heat scalding the insides of my body. I tilt my head back and close my eye as anguished screams reach us from the Inquisitors on board the burning ship.

The fire hits something—the gunpowder of the cannons. A fierce explosion shudders on the ship’s deck. Burning splinters of wood fly into the air, some rocketing toward us, smashing into the water in giant plumes.

I need to control him. Enzo’s energy is finite, and making such a big move will almost certainly take something away from him. But suddenly it is all I can think about. If I can gain control over him, then we can win this battle.

“Get us closer to Enzo,” I say.

“As you wish, my love.” Magiano pulls hard on the reins, and our balira veers off our course to fly beside Enzo. On our other side flies Sergio and Violetta. Magiano pushes us forward until we are a triangle, and then he takes us down hard.

We skim along the ocean surface. Cannon fire explodes around us, but Magiano pushes on. I feel the balira shudder underneath us. It is injured, and it will not fly us for much longer.

We sail past the burning ship, and as we do, the Beldish queen’s vessel suddenly comes into view, startlingly close. Enzo’s balira draws near, and my heart soars, our bond screaming for us to be closer.

Then, suddenly, Magiano yanks us to one side. An arrow hurtles right over our heads. I only have time to let out a startled cry before I see another balira pull up close to us. Maeve’s hard eyes bear into mine. She hoists her crossbow at us.

I fall flat against our balira’s back. Behind Maeve, Lucent lifts an arm—a blast of wind hits Magiano and me. I squeeze my eye shut and hang on for dear life. Our balira screams in protest. It flips in midair. When I open my eye again, Maeve has pulled right next to us. She crouches against her balira and makes a flying leap toward ours.

Her sword is in her hand the instant she lands. She lunges at me. I’m so surprised that all I can do is throw my hands up in defense. My powers lash out desperately at her, seeking to wrap her in an illusion of pain. For an instant, it seems to work—Maeve shudders mid-attack, then drops to her hands and knees. Magiano whips out a blade of his own and slashes at her. But another blast of wind from Lucent forces him back. At the same time, Maeve glances up at me with clenched teeth, fighting to tell herself that the pain she’s experiencing isn’t real.

“You little coward,” she spits at me. Then she manages to come for me again. Her blade glitters.

Another cannon explodes near us, hitting our balira’s other wing, and it careens wildly out of control. Suddenly I feel nothing beneath me but rain and air, and all I can see is a blur of sea and sky. I reach out blindly to grab for Magiano’s hand, but I don’t know where he is.

I hit the ocean hard. The icy water knocks the breath out of me, and I open my mouth in a vain attempt to scream. My hands grapple for the surface. Cannonballs and arrows streak through the dark water, leaving trails of bubbles in their wake. The muted sound of explosions sends tremors through my bones. My lungs scream. This is the Underworld, and I will meet the gods on this dawn. The fear trapped inside me bursts free, and my powers veer wildly out of control. For an instant, I remember what it felt like to stand within an inch of the burning wood at the stake, an inch from death. I feel my power intensify and the whispers ignite in my mind.