Seba suddenly realized how short of breath she was. Her nostrils were dry and her throat was burning. Her knees gave way and she sat down hard at the edge of the wharf.
“Zumarra help me,” she whispered, though she knew the Allentrian guardian of watermagic had also been snared—possibly killed—by the Shadow.
“Queen Sebaris!”
She sensed a wall of concerned humans closing in and flung up a hand to stop anyone from touching her. “Leave me be! I am conferring with Aquella Amanzi.”
But she wasn’t. She glared into the nereid’s eyes, grappling with frustration and a growing fear. For once, Amanzi had nothing to say. She let Seba sit in silence as chaos swirled around them.
This couldn’t be the end—neither for Allentria nor Max. She had seen the future, and it had looked nothing like this.
A
