His footsteps pounded behind mine as we clamored to the deck. I caught Mariana’s gaze and gave her a questioning look.
“Zhou,” she said, voice breathy with panic. She pointed toward the port rail near the stern. “She’s found us.”
I scanned the eastern horizon, squinting against the morning sunrise that had set the sky and waters ablaze. An incongruent black shadow disrupted the flat line where sky met sea—too distant to reveal details but undoubtedly a ship. “You’re sure it’s her?”
“I’ve never seen that ship before.” Clarice brushed past me on her way to the helm. “If it’s one from Zhou’s fleet, we can’t risk letting it catch us.”
“So we’re going to run for it?”
“Ambrose calculated the distance. If we pick up our pace, we can make it to Inselgrau before nightfall.”
“Maybe it’s just a merchant ship going to Inselgrau.”
Brow furrowed and eyes closed, Jackie tensed beside me and grunted. His eyes popped open and glinted like steel. “It’s not Zhou or a merchant.”
Clarice frowned. “Then who is it?”
“It’s the Council of Magic.”
My stomach turned to ice and dropped to my feet. I didn’t ask how he knew. If it really was the Council, I would’ve been more surprised if Jackie hadn’t been able to identify them.
“Why would they follow us across the ocean?” I asked. “They must know our ultimate destination. Taviano would’ve told them. Why not wait to intercept us when we arrive in Braddock?”
Jackie’s jaw clenched. “I think it’s safe to assume they’ve sent forces there as well—one by sea and one by land, forming the pincers of a claw to pin us in their grasp.”
“Then it’s a good thing we aren’t sailing to Braddock,” Clarice said.
I blinked at her. “Not sailing to Braddock? But you said—”
“I said what you needed to know at the time. But delivering two wanted fugitives to the biggest port city on Inselgrau would have been a bad idea, even before we knew the Council was on our tail.”
“So where are we going?”
Jackie answered. “Somewhere a little closer to home.”
“Whose home?”
He ignored my question, letting me make my own assumptions. My conclusion was that he and Clarice had likely arranged to sail us to Fallstaff’s front door—or as close as we could get, considering Fallstaff was at least an hour’s ride from the nearest beach.
Jackie leaned close. “Can’t you do anything to stop them?”
“I was just wondering the same thing about you.” I gathered energy from the atmosphere, wrapped my intentions around it like a slingshot, and hurled lightning at the Council’s ship.
The bolt disbursed harmlessly over the surface of a Magical barricade surrounding the ship—the same kind of barricade Taviano had used to protect himself against me in the basilica. I could, perhaps, pour enough energy into an assault that would eventually defeat that barrier, but it would leave me bankrupt and vulnerable, and those were the last things I needed to be.
“Nothing changes.” Jackie raised his chin and peered across the sea. “We still run for Inselgrau. It’s our best bet for evading capture.”
Because I could think of no reason to disagree, I stirred the air currents, reaching not for thunder and lightning but for cool moist air. I tugged the closest stratus clouds, lowering them to the water’s surface, and once the colder moisture from the north blew in and touched the ocean’s warm waters, a thick fog rose between our pursuers and us.
Jackie stood silently beside me, observing the process. He nodded as the fog thickened into a white, impenetrable wall. “Clever girl. You’ve come a long way since we first met.”
I shrugged off his approval. “Desperation makes a compelling teacher.”
He pulled me aside where no one could overhear us. “The fog won’t keep them away for long, though.”
“What about your Magic? Haven’t you got anything up your sleeve that could help?”
He ground his teeth. “My time in prison and Taviano’s attack affected me more than I’d like to admit. I’d prefer saving my energy for when things become truly desperate.”
“I’m not looking forward to learning your definition of ‘truly desperate.’”
Clarice narrowed her eyes, giving us a suspicious look, obviously perturbed that Jackie and I were plotting without her. “Did you not tell the captain about me? You didn’t tell her who I am?”
“I told her my companion was a curious individual, a young woman of uncanny talents.”
“But does she believe in me?”
His lips twisted into a crooked frown. “What do you mean?”
I raised my voice, assuring Clarice could hear me. “Captain, you’re an Insligrish native, correct?”
She bobbed her chin in affirmation.
“So you’ve heard of the Stormbournes?”
“I left Inselgrau as a child and haven’t been back except for the occasional and very brief port call in Braddock, but I haven’t been away so long as to have forgotten the ruling family’s name.”
“The Stormbournes no longer rule Inselgrau.”
