The guard pulls on my arm as the dungeon doors are opened. After we were pulled out of the maze, the king didn’t look impressed and stormed out of the room. Hunter and Ryland gave me matching grins and looks of concern. It was hard to let the guards pull me away from them again.

“Chaz!” I scream when we are dragged back to our cages and I see him lying in a pool of blood inside mine. I struggle against the guard to get free as I wait as he opens my door.

“Chaz?” I hear Dante ask, but I don’t think he or the others can see what I can. They are still coming down the steps.

“Let me go,” I scream, fighting the guard who just laughs and opens the cage, throwing me in. I stumble, but quickly stand up straight as I run over to him. The door is slammed shut behind me and I fall to my knees in front of Chaz. I stroke my hand over his face, brushing his hair behind his ear and leaning down to listen for his breathing.

“Is he alive?” Zack demands from the next cage as I hear him and Dante being locked in. I gently push Chaz over onto his back and put my head against his chest, thankfully hearing the steady sound of his heartbeat.

“He is alive,” I say, taking a deep breath and trying not to cry as I look down at his swollen face. His eye is completely closed, there are little cuts all over his face, and I’m sure the damage to his body is worse.

“You need to check him for injuries, make sure there is nothing major,” Everly suggests from her cage, but I can’t stop staring at him as my mark starts burning. I stare down at all the injuries on him, feeling like I want to burn the world for what they have done to my Chaz.

“Cassandra, I know, but you need to do this. Snap out of it,” Dante shouts at me from Zack's cage, and I give them a shaky nod as I look Chaz over. I pull up his shirt and fight to hold in a cry at all the purple, blue, and black bruises all over his stomach. They look awful.

“Chaz is the doctor. I don’t know what to look for,” I say as I look at his beaten-up face. “Chaz, please wake up. I miss your voice, I miss you. I need to, I don’t know, hear you tell me a story of the islands you have been to,” I tell him. I place my hand on his cheek, but he doesn’t move.

“He could have internal injuries…Cassandra, I don’t know what to suggest,” Dante says and punches the bars. Zack looks down at us hopelessly and I shake my head, wiping my tears away.

“I will not lose anyone else, not one of my pirates,” I say before pulling his shirt down gently. I rest my head against his chest and close my eyes.

“Sleeping isn’t going to help,” Everly tells me in a worried tone.

“I’m going to hope the Sea God comes to me. Maybe he can help Chaz,” I say without opening my eyes.

“We should all sleep, and pray the same thing,” Zack says, and there’s silence as I hold Chaz close and beg for the Sea God to come to me. Please, don’t let death come for another person I love.

* * *

“You called me…it was unexpected,” the Sea God says as I blink my eyes open and naturally try to look towards him. My body stops me, freezing in place, but this time I can feel the warmness of my mark on my forehead. That’s a new thing.

“Chaz is dying…how can I save him?” I ask straight away, and the Sea God laughs.

“Hope,” he replies.

“I can’t lose him. I can’t deal with any more pain. Stop telling me riddles and help me! I will do anything,” I say, feeling like there’s a hole inside my heart at the idea of losing Chaz. Just imagining his swollen face, the bruises, and the blood, makes me feel nothing but anger and pain.

“Love doesn't save you from pain, child, but it heals the pain that is inside of you,” he tells me.

“What if you don't know how to save those you love? What if...there is no hope,” I whisper back.

“There is always hope, even in the darkest of nights. Hope survives, much like you did as a child. But you have love, the love of many...,” he pauses. “Love should give you hope, Cassandra.”

“Love will not heal injuries that could kill,” I pause. “Love did not save my father.”

“Maybe a small trickle of advice from a very old man might help…,” he suggests.

“Are you old? I wouldn’t know as I cannot look at you,” I respond, wondering if it’s his power that makes me unable to look at him.

“Old…timeless…immortal. There are many words for gods,” he says.

“What advice would a Sea God give his changed one?” I ask.

“That a changed one’s chosen cannot be killed unless the changed one who marked them is dead,” he says, and then the waterfall opens and I’m blinded with light before I can even say thank you. Before I can even ask what the cost of the advice is.

I blink my dry eyes open to see Chaz still unconscious on the floor. There is nothing other than the sound of his breathing that I can hear. What the Sea God last said to me runs through my mind. If my chosen cannot die while I live, if I mark Chaz…he might survive. I look down at his pale forehead, the smudges of blood that are there, and I wonder what he would think of me making this choice for him. It would mean we are bonded for life, and I don’t want to make that decision without asking him first, but I won’t watch him die when I know a way to save him. I won’t let him die when the magic I’ve always believed to be a curse, could actually protect someone I care for.

“Forgive me for this,” I say, knowing there is only one choice in my mind and I will not lose him. He can hate me later, and I can beg for him to forgive me, but at least he will be alive to be angry. I climb up, kneeling next to his head and leaning down, pressing my forehead to his without thinking about it anymore. The normal slight burning happens before my body feels warm, and then I pull away, seeing my mark on his forehead.

“What was that?” Everly asks, and I turn my head to the side to see her watching me.

“He is my chosen,” I say, and she looks between us. I lift Chaz’s head as I sit down and pull him onto my lap as I slowly brush his hair away from his face.

“Chosen?” she asks me. I look over into the cage behind me and see Zack and Dante sleeping.

“I feel drawn to those who are my chosen, and when I touch their forehead with my own, they get my mark and my protection. They cannot die unless I die, and I would die to protect them,” I tell her.

“How many pirates are your chosen, then?” she asks, with a little laugh.

“I think they all are. I felt a connection from the beginning and a draw to be near them ever since. They may not know it, but I am starting to realise old magic is at play here,” I whisper.

“I realised something in the games,” she tells me, and I tilt my head to the side as Everly looks at the ground. “I realised what it is to love someone, to really love them with every tiny bit of you,” she says. Her words are gentle and yet firm, with a passion behind them.

“How did you realise that?” I ask.

“When Zack and I got to the middle, Dante was already there. The worry they both had for you, it was fierce. They both looked like the world could burn down and die as long as you were safe, and then you shouted out,” she pauses, “and I will never forget the relief I saw. They both love you, the kind of love that could make anyone jealous and wish for,” she says.

“Are you jealous?” I ask her.

“Not in the way you think. I’m jealous I might never have a chance to meet someone and be with them like you have. But at least I got to see it. Real love, that is,” she says.

“What about the boy from Onaya?”

“Lust and love are similar things, but there’s a difference,” she replies.

“Love will give you hope,” I whisper in reply as I look down at Chaz.

“What hope is there when you have no love?” she asks me.

“Love isn’t just romantic, it can be in many forms. Like a love for a member of your family or friendship. I love you, Everly. You’re my sister even if we are not related by blood,” I tell her.

“Here I was thinking you forgot about me with your pirates there,” she says, but there’s humour in her tone.

“Everly, I never forgot about you. I just hoped you had a normal life, far away from here,” I comment sadly.

“I hoped you did, too, but it seems normal is not in our cards anymore,” she whispers.

“Normal is an overrated idea. We can live a life of pirates, magic, and love when we escape. I like the idea of being a pirate, out on the seas with handsome men,” I say, and she laughs with me.

“Is that what you want now? A life with pirates?” she asks me.

“With my pirates…yes,” I tell her.

“Then we need to escape before the games kill us,” she says, a shadow hanging over her words that makes the smiles drop from our faces.

“Yes, we do,” I say with a smile when I see Chaz move slightly in his sleep and notice his once-pale cheeks seem to have more colour to them. It’s strange how I can feel him getting better, without even checking. The bond between us all is getting stronger every time I bond with another pirate.

“I have this note. I found it in the cage when we got back,” Everly says, distracting me from my thoughts. She throws it through the cage, and it lands a little way from me. I reach out and grab it, pulling it back and opening it up.

“Did you read it?” I ask her, and she nods.

“I thought it was a personal one from the guard,” she comments quietly.

“The guard you trust?” I ask, and she nods, looking towards the door.

“We will need to be ready, and have guards we can trust,” I reply.

“We have one,” she says, and I look down as Chaz makes a little noise in his sleep.

“Is he okay? Your Chaz,” she asks me.

“He’s alive,” I tell her. “He will live and that’s all that matters at this point.” I just hope he doesn’t hate me for the choice I made without his permission.