Escape to the Sea (Tangled Hearts #1)

Chapter 21 A Desperate Play

Tomlyn

Back in the caves, that single moment where your body moves before your brain does has saved my life more times than I can count. Sometimes, when you’re in the Trunk, you can smell when something is about to go wrong. People hold their glasses tighter in the taverns, or clear off a certain street. It’s pure survival instinct to know when something is about to go tits up.

We are well past tits up now.

Sylf hasn’t said two words since we exited the manse and headed back into the meadow. It’s always the worst when she’s quiet. Usually, it means she’s plotting someone’s death. At least this time I can say for certain it isn’t mine.

She’s directly in front of me, lagging behind Desire and Ephraim, who are trudging ahead of us. I elected to take the rear. Ephraim’s shoulders are tightly drawn back as he marches through the meadow. We really pissed him off this morning.

Yesterday he stopped at each crest of the hill, sketching some flowers and petals of others.

Now he’s barely giving them a second thought, his eyes fixed forward at the sheet of golden light. The curtain itself looks like someone drew a straight line across a canvas. Yesterday he sprinted towards it like a man possessed, moving faster than I would have imagined.

Now, he’s moving slower, but with purpose. And he hasn’t looked back at us once.

I wonder how long it will take for him to calm down. Do I need to wait a couple of tendays before even bringing it up, or worry about getting my head lopped off? Or does he burn hotter and faster? I guess it really doesn’t matter.

I walk up towards Sylf, trying to get within earshot. Her lips are in a tight line, her eyes narrowed on the curtain ahead. She is very pointedly not staring at Ephraim.

“Babe, talk?”

“There’s nothing to talk about,” she hisses back. “We need to get away from Desire as soon as possible, find somewhere to hole up for the night. They want something from him, but I can’t figure out what.”

I step up next to her, the words registering slowly. She doesn’t think we’re going to make it out. It seems impossible—this is Sylf Dawnwood, the infamous Atrea Silverleaf, thief, informant, ex-assassin, the one who always has a plan.

And she’s given up.

Her gaze catches mine and she stops, turning to face me fully. Soft but determined, she says, “We will find a way, Karadin . I promise. Make a deal?”

She purses her lips and gestures to Desire. “Not with that fey, I wouldn’t.” For a moment her face falls. “I thought the first time I’d be here was with my father,” she says. “I know about some of the arch-fey, the Warden of the Grove, the Celestial Who Shines in the Skies, the Bloody Hound… but not Desire. Maybe if we can get to the Glistening Jungles we can find the Prowler of the Canopy. My father had a good interaction with him—he enjoys a good hunt.”

“Why do you not Sea-walk before?” I ask.

We continue walking together, a touch further behind Ephraim and Desire, and she keeps her voice low. “My father says he was always called, despite being from Selbrod. When he was young, he and his brother would slip into the Sea like walking into a room. I always hoped that I’d get that too… but the routes were closed to me,” she explains.

I don’t know much about Sylf’s family, but I’ve picked up that she and her dad have a much different relationship than I ever did with mine. Usually when she talks about him, she’s frustrated. But here, I can hear the admiration, the respect, even if she is a little disappointed.

“If he can get out, so can we. I need time, is all.”

She’s desperate; I hear it in her voice, see it in the grim determination of her face. But I know my karadin, and Sylf backed into a corner is dangerous. The more control she thinks she has the better.

I take her hand and squeeze it comfortingly. In Kastii, I say, “I’ll follow you, Karadin . From here, into Otho’s embrace. Always. After all, the dust comes for us all.”

She pauses, then smirks, eyes narrowed dangerously as she gives the charger reply in turn, “And may we be one step ahead.”

I don’t like the idea of being stuck here, but if I’m placing my bets on anyone, it’s definitely Sylf.