Kelia had been taken from the Wraith to a mangled boat on the west side on the island. This boat did little to blend in with its surroundings. Both of the Shadows who had taken her were sleeping; she could tell from the deep snoring in the room next to her.

She was currently unable to move as rope kept her bound to the mast and unable to speak because of a dirty handkerchief tied around her mouth. Bangs danced in her eyes and she could not even move her head to get them away. She squirmed, hoping the thick, brown rope would give even slightly or that she would be able to slide out somehow.

Unfortunately, nothing she tried worked.

The Shadows who had kidnapped her hadn’t harmed her, but that was only because they planned to bring her to the Queen. The Queen would not be so gentle. But Kelia didn’t have her blade with her, so even if she managed to escape, there was no way for her to fight her way back. Casey and Robert—the other Shadow, she learned—had left her with nothing but her clothes and messy braid. They’d even taken her boots to relieve her of any shoelaces that could be used to choke them.

The only weapon within reach was the piece of rope that kept her pinned to the mast.

Heavy, grey clouds blotted out the sun in the sky, and waves pushed the small boat around more thoroughly than Drew's ship. Kelia was starting to feel the effects in her stomach. If she vomited, she could very well choke since there was not outlet for her, so she tried to breathe in the cold, clear air.

She looked out over the island at the lush, tall trees and the rich greenery. Even from her position, she could see more of the town than she had been privy to the night before. These looked like small houses rather than established businesses with small, square windows and rounded doors. It was difficult to make out anything else, other than the tall building farther into town.

Thick mist coated the island in a protective blanket. Kelia closed her eyes as fog rolled over the small parts of her exposed skin.

Her eyes teared up in frustration. Her body was starting to ache, being in the same position for a long amount of time, especially with her scars from her time in the Society’s Sightless program. She didn’t want to sleep—could not, even if she tried.

She furrowed her brow at that thought. She hadn’t gotten through that to give in to this. This would not be what happened to Kelia Starling. She would not cry because life was too hard or because she didn’t know how to handle the situation. She needed to trust herself. The answer would come. It always did. It just required more patience than she was used to having.

So she continued to wiggle and press and move against the rope, hoping that even though she could not see any difference in her bindings, she was doing something.

Kelia wasn’t sure what time it was; it must have been the same day, but the shift in the sun’s position in the sky suggested hours had passed. She was so tired, she could barely continue to stand, and her knees tingled as though they would give out at any moment, but that would only cause her further discomfort at having nothing but rope to hold her up.

Worse, her stomach was sending mixed messages to her body, which then caused her body to produce sensations that were detrimental to her focus and her resolve. How Kelia could feel both nauseas and hungry at the same time was beyond her, but her head pinched with frustration anyway. With her muscles tight and strained, it was difficult for her to keep moving against her bindings.

Tears pricked the corners of her eyes. Her jaw quivered, and she let out a frustrated shout that did nothing except press back into her mouth against the handkerchief.

There was no breeze, not today, but at least the clouds still blotted out the sun. It made it difficult to discern the passage of time, but it also kept the temperature nearly bearable.

Unfortunately, her bindings remained unchanged from what they had been hours ago. She felt weak, in desperate need for sustenance with no clue how she was going to acquire some.

Her eyes flitted back to the island, hoping someone might come to these docks. But judging by how neglected this place was, how empty the area was—void of all vessels save for this one, the boat they used to get here, and perhaps one other ship—it appeared as though the west side of the island was rarely used if not abandoned entirely. Which meant there was a slim chance she would be found, and even if she were, there was a high likelihood that she would not be found by anyone who would actually do anything to help her.

Kelia ground her teeth as tears slid down her cheeks and soaked into the handkerchief gag. Her skin on her face tightened from residue of dried tears that she longed to wipe off but was unable to. Her helplessness only made more tears fall.

Why did the Shadows need her? What was the purpose of taking her? The Queen wanted Drew. Certainly, Shadows that she met on other ships claimed the Queen had a bounty on Kelia's head. However, it was difficult for Kelia to understand why. Emma could explain that Drew cared for her, but Drew cared for Emma and for his sister as well. Why did these Shadows think it would be better if they took Kelia rather than Wendy or Emma?

Unless the thought had crossed their mind, but they rejected because both Emma and Wendy were powerful witches. Because they would be difficult to fight with. Because perhaps even if one of them was taken, they could manipulate the rope, they could free themselves from being bound with ease.

Kelia was a mere human, with no powers to her name. She could not free herself with her mind, with an incantation. She had only her hands and perhaps a weapon—if only someone would provide her with one. She was...useless. Weak.

A human.

I'll be the worst fucking thing that ever happened to that bitch, Kelia thought to herself. She would to put up whatever sort of fight she could, even if it did nothing, just to be difficult. Certainly, she would not make this easy on the Queen.

A big, fat drop of rain landed on her nose, and Kelia pressed her lips into a thin line. Rain would come, and Kelia would endure it, just as she endured everything else.

Another hour passed, perhaps two. It was difficult for Kelia to know and easy for her not to care. She was simply waiting for the evening, waiting for the rain to slow, when she expected she would get more of an opportunity to free herself. Once the Shadows woke—once they left this island and started to head to wherever this Queen resided—an opportunity would present itself.

She hoped.

Something caught her peripheral, and she turned her head as best as she could. There seemed to be something in the distance, something red and black. It seemed to be moving...

She blinked once, trying to clear exhaustion and faded tears from her vision. At first, she did not believe anything could be there. However, as they got closer, the greenery surrounding the strange objects moved.

Something was approaching.

People.

That had to be people.

Kelia shouted, only to have her voice muffled by the soaked handkerchief. The rain was still light. The sky, however, seemed intent to change that. Thunder grumbled in the distance. Kelia predicted the storm would not pass the Island of the Damned until nightfall, and perhaps, if Casey and Robert were awake, she might be able to talk them into sheltering her. However, if people were coming toward the dock, perhaps she could find a solution that did not involve the Shadows at all.

Kelia cleared her throat. She had not spoken for hours and wasn’t sure she could trust her voice, which would be muffled by the cloth gag all the same.

She could make out two distinct forms from the figures in the distance but could not see faces or even decipher if they were male or female. There was something familiar about them, though.

She closed her eyes and breathed in deeply. The clean, cool scent of the rain refreshed her senses and helped her turning stomach. The boat rocked back and forth, getting more violent with each passing hour. But she was holding her own, and hopefully would not have to for much longer.

When she opened her eyes again, the figures had reached the dock. Female. She could tell they were female. One of the females had dark hair and what appeared to be an olive complexion. The other was pale with frizzy red hair.

Kelia's eyes sprang open, and she pressed against her confines, forgetting that she could not simply go to them the way she wanted to.

Emma and Daniella were walking to the ship.

They must have realized she was missing. She would bet Drew sent them looking for her, and for once, she was thankful for his rescue. All her talk about not needing his help, but the truth was, just like sometimes he needed her, she needed him, too. Him, and Emma, and even Daniella.

It did not matter if she could not rescue herself this time. All that mattered was that they came for her. Her new family.

The sky was still overcast, with mist-like rain falling and caressing her face. Although she had a gag in her mouth, she decided they still might be able to pick up her muffled shouting. Witches might not have a superhuman sense of hearing, but they did have enhanced abilities. With Emma’s abilities, could she possibly feel Kelia’s distress?

Kelia's throat burned as she cleared it and tried to shout through the gag again.

Daniella and Emma were looking, but in the wrong direction, and now they seemed to be moving farther from her rather than closer.

Tears spilled down Kelia’s face, which frustrated her even more. She did not want to be weak, crying because life was too difficult and she was unsure how to handle it. She wanted to be strong. She wanted to prove everyone wrong about her. Show them that she wasn’t just a mere human. That she wasn’t just an easy target for the Queen to use to get to Drew.

Yet she could not even free herself from these damn Shadows. The last thing she wanted to be was a damsel, and yet, among her crew, how could she be anything but? She had no abilities, no powers, no way to defend herself unless she had her blade.

She shook her head, trying to get rid of such thoughts. Being tied to the slender mast on a mangy boat gave her too much time to think, too much time to sit around and feel sorry for herself. She needed to break free from her thoughts and focus on what was important—freeing herself.

As she continued to struggle against the ropes, she realized how exhausted she was. Her body stuck in a standing position—the same standing position for hours on end—coupled with the fact she had eaten anything today, nor had she drunk any water, left her weak. Any movement was an effort, and she felt herself start to resist the movement so soon after she started it.

You think Drew Knight would see you as a partner? a cruel voice asked. As anything worthy of his affection? Of his time? He must always come chasing after you. First, with the Sirens. Then, with the Mage. And now, with the Shadows. And that was only one night. You are a risk unworthy of his time.

Kelia clenched her jaw as the cool rain fell on her face.

Stop, she told her inner critic. This was no time for pride. Nobody could be strong all the time. She needed her friends.

She closed her eyes and surrendered to the moment, put all her trust in them. They would find her. They had to.

And if they didn’t, her situation wouldn’t be any different, so there was no use letting it distress her further.

The witches seemed to circle back now, their booted feet finally stepping onto the rickety wooden docks. They strode to the end, not far from the boat where she was being kept prisoner, though they wouldn’t be able to reach her without another boat.

Emma pointed to one of the boats—the rowboat the Shadows had stolen from Drew's ship. Due to the torrent of the sea, the boat had been pushed against the sand on the small beach. Both women hurried to walk off the dock and into the rocky sand where they grabbed the boat. They then carried it to the ocean. Within moments, they had pushed the boat into the ocean and hopped inside.

In a manner of minutes, Emma and Daniella maneuvered toward Kelia. Because of the small size of both vessels, one of the witches had to stay behind and hold the second boat to keep their own from floating away.

Kelia expected Emma to come and retrieve her, leaving Daniella to hold the boat side by side, but it was Daniella who stood and carefully climbed onto Kelia's vessel.

"Not surprised to see you're in trouble," Daniella muttered once she was directly in front of Kelia. "Again."

She took off the cloth gag first, and Kelia gulped in her first real breath of air in too long.

"Hurry up and get me out of here," Kelia said breathlessly.

Daniella started to rub her hands together, slowly at first, then faster, until smoke slipped out from between her palms. She let out a frustrated grunt, dropped her hands and shook them out, then started again. More smoke.

It was becoming obvious to Kelia that this was not Daniella’s desired effect.

"What's wrong?" Kelia asked in a sharp but low voice.

"The rain keeps putting out my spark," Daniella muttered.

"Well, try again!"

"What do you think I'm doing?" Daniella snapped. "You're not being helpful."

Like salt in an open wound.

“I’m sure you’ll get it,” she tried, though she couldn’t conjure a confident tone as being encouraging of Daniella didn’t come naturally.

“That’s worse,” Daniella said. “Don’t be lame. Just shut up.”

On her third try, a small ball of flame molded to Daniella's hand. She smiled to herself and placed her hand on the thick ropes, just far enough away from Kelia that it didn’t burn. In another moment, the ropes gave way, and she nearly collapsed.

"We must go," Daniella said, curling her fingers into a loose fist and extinguishing the flames. "Drew Knight is absolutely sick with worry for you, which means he's an absolute pain in everyone's arse."

Kelia bit back a smile. But just as she shook the last piece of rope off and took Daniella's hand to start toward waiting boat, a voice boomed from behind them

"And where do you think you're going?"