Page 144 of Heir of Broken Souls

“Nothing living dwells beyond this point.”

Our heads rear back in shock.

“Nothing living?” I ask.

Knox sounds perplexed. “Surely there is a fish or two?—”

“Nothing,” Amelia cuts in sharply.

Naia raises her hand, halting her second before she lays those glowing red eyes upon me. “We speared our power out. There is not an inch of life to be found. No coral, no fish…there aren’t even any currents. It’s as if nothing wishes to be near it.”

“We should take the advice of the ocean,” Amelia chimes in.

Knox’s brows furrow. “Not even a current?”

That explains the calmness of the ocean.

Naia lowers her voice as if afraid the ocean will retaliate against her words. “We fear that dark magic is present.”

“That’s even more of a reason to continue on,” I find myself saying.

Naia swims forward, leaving her pod behind. “We have already lost so much,” she whispers. “We fear we will lose more if we continue.”

Knox nods solemnly. He understands. We all understand. “I can’t ask you to go on if you don’t wish to, but we will. With or without your assistance.”

“I’ll send the griffins to scout the area, see if they can find anything from above,” I offer, and Naia gazes at us with such a withering stare I remember the days when I was afraid of them—and for good reason.

“Do you truly think that is wise?” she asks coldly.

I open my bond to Knox, allowing him to feel my determination.

We must go on, otherwise this was all for nothing.

Knox slides his hands into his pockets. “I trust the prophecy, and I trust that the end is near if we seek the answers it offers us.”

Naia stares me down before dipping her chin. “Fine, we will continue to escort youdespiteadvising against it.”

“Are you sure?” Knox asks, his gaze flitting to the lone pink mermaid.

Naia’s chin lifts. “We will not watch you travel ahead while we cower in the ocean’s shadows. We are not cowardly creatures.”

“No, you certainly aren’t.” Knox’s lips twitch, a smile threatening to rise. “If you wish, once we find whatever we’re looking for, you can return to the ship.”

She openly frowns. “You’re not taking the ship with you? How are you traveling?”

“We’re taking the emergency rowboats. If Delilah truly has to raise a sunken island, we don’t know how far it will stretch, and we don’t want to chance losing our only way home.”

She clicks her tongue. “Wise choice.”

I bite down on my own smile. It sounds like she has to spit the compliment out. Knox catches on to my amusement, but he has no qualms about the small grin he finally lets out.

“Very gracious of you.”

She tsks, waving her scaled hand in the air. “Hurry your griffins. We wish to get this over with.”

“We’re here?” Knox leans out of the ship’s window.

“If you don’t want your ship to be wrecked, I wouldn’t travel any farther.”