“Any regrets?”
“A million or two.” Felix blinked up at him. “Is it . . . is it really you?”
Jonas nodded. “It’s really me.”
Felix shook his head, still too afraid to believe this could be real. He felt something hot and wet on his cheeks. Tears. “How?”
“You’re not going to believe me, but you have Prince Magnus to thank for this. He and I are allies now. Sort of. He got your message, then sent me here to kill his father.”
“Now I know I’m dreaming. You’d never stoop so low as to help the prince.”
“A lot has changed since we saw each other last.” Jonas held out a small key and fiddled with the cuffs, finally easing them off Felix’s bloody wrists. “You think you can stand?”
“I can try.”
Jonas helped him to his feet, and Felix saw the shock on his face as he took in the sight of his missing eye. He swore. “You’ve been through hell.”
It hurt too much to laugh, but that was an understatement if ever Felix had heard one. “Yeah, to the darklands and back again. How did you find me here? Mikah’s revolutionaries planned to break some of their people out of here today?”
“Not exactly. They were sure you were already dead, but—I don’t know. I had this feeling you weren’t.”
“And this feeling was so strong that you risked busting into a Kraeshian prison to see if you were right?”
“Looks like it worked.”
“You came here to help me.” Felix stared at Jonas, and the tears began to fall again. “Damn it.”
“If that’s your way of saying thank you. . . .”
Another short, painful gasp of a laugh lurched out of Felix. “I should be begging for your forgiveness right about now.”
“No, I should be begging for yours,” Jonas said. “I’m sorry, Felix. I’m sorry I doubted you.”
Felix drew in a ragged breath. “Let’s put it in the past where dark things belong. Right now, I need an enormous favor.”
“Anything.”
“Get me the hell out of here.”
The rebel grinned. “That I can do.”
Jonas quickly explained that the dungeon was in shambles and the Kraeshian revolutionaries were working their way through it, freeing prisoners and killing any guard who tried to stop them. Felix just stared at his friend, his words a comforting buzz in his ears as Jonas helped him to his feet, his body screaming in pain with every movement.
Jonas helped Felix through the cell door. As they gingerly traversed the hallway, Felix saw what was left of his torturer, slumped over against the wall, hacked into several pieces.
Felix nodded at him. “That’s unfortunate.”
“Why’s that?”
“I wanted to kill him myself.”
Jonas shot him a dark grin as they continued to navigate the ruined dungeon.
“We’ve got a lot to do,” Jonas said as they began up the stairs. “And we need your help. Are you in?”
Felix nodded. “I’m definitely with you. Whatever you need.”
“I have someone who can heal you quickly.” Jonas looked him over again, grimacing. “I don’t think she can help with your eye, though.”
“Ah, thanks for the reminder. I knew I forgot something in my cell.”
“Here, consider this a gift.” He fished into his pocket and handed Felix a black eye patch. “I’m sure it’ll look better on you than it did on me.”
Felix looked up at him, puzzled. “I won’t ask.”
Jonas grinned. “So how’s your redemption plan coming along?”
Felix laughed, and it hurt just a little less this time.
• • •
The eye patch was going to take some getting used to, but Olivia managed to heal all of Felix’s other wounds.
As the Watcher worked on Felix, Jonas looked on, vocally annoyed that her healing recipe hadn’t included cow dung this time.
“I had to use that on you back then. You still thought I was only a witch,” she explained. “There are no witches powerful enough to heal serious wounds with touch alone.”
“Whatever you’re doing,” Felix said, gritting his teeth through the pain of the miraculous earth magic, “don’t stop.”
The prison break had officially marked the start the Kraeshian revolution. Rebels, including those who’d just escaped from the prison, poured out into the streets ready to fight, itching to take over the Emerald Spear and the Jewel itself.
Still, after Mikah explained the current situation, Felix knew—with fewer than three hundred dedicated rebels currently on the island—they didn’t have nearly enough revolutionaries to succeed in a takeover in a city this size.
Even with twenty ships of Kraeshian troops sailing to Mytica to help with the king’s “peaceful occupation” the remaining guards in the city outnumbered the rebels ten to one.
Still, Felix was even more impressed with Mikah now than when he’d first learned of his ambitions. He’d never known anyone more determined to make a difference in the world, no matter how long it took.
“Where’s Taran?” Felix asked him now.
“On the south side of the city. I put him in charge of the faction over there.”
“Who’s Taran?” asked Nicolo Cassian, whom Felix remembered as Jonas’s redheaded friend who’d helped them rescue Lys from her execution.
He’d asked about Lysandra, but hadn’t gotten a satisfying answer. Likely, she’d stayed behind in Mytica to keep an eye on Prince Magnus.
That, or perhaps she hadn’t been as forgiving as Jonas, and still blamed him for what happened that terrible night in Auranos.
He’d have to deal with her later.
“Taran’s a rebel,” Felix replied. “You might even know him already. He’s from Auranos originally.”
Nic shrugged. “It’s a pretty big kingdom.”
“Amara and the king should be nearing Mytican shores by now, right?” Jonas asked.
“They probably have two or three days left ahead of them,” Mikah confirmed. “And the rest of the ships are only a half day behind them.”
“We need to get a message to the prince,” Felix said. “To warn him what’s coming. If this so-called peaceful occupation has anything to do with Amara, then Mytica is in for a lot of violence. She’s the one who’s taking over, and if the king gives her any problems, she’s going to kill him.”
“I don’t see anything wrong with that,” Nic said.
“For all his greed and ruthlessness, the king values Mytica,” Jonas said, pacing back and forth, his arms crossed. “What Amara must want most from him is to get her hands on the rest of the Kindred.”
Felix had admitted his stupidity and confirmed that the king had the air Kindred, but Jonas assured him that that was the only one the king would have in his personal possession.
Amara, that wicked, deceitful black widow spider, had the water Kindred the whole time, and Felix had had absolutely no idea.
“A raven won’t get there in time,” Jonas said. “Olivia?”
She came to his side. “Yes?”
“How fast can you fly?”