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the cliff
edge.
    “Sophia!” Tate shouted before she thought
better of it, and clamped her hand over her mouth.
    The movement cost her dearly. She felt
herself sliding and couldn’t react in time to brace herself. In a
cascade of dirt and rocks, she tumbled free of the cliff face—
    —and found herself plucked from the air, all
of the breath stolen from her lungs as something squeezed her body
like a vise.
    It wasn’t until excruciating pain radiated
through her chest and she tasted her own life’s blood as it filled
her mouth that Tate’s confusion vanished and terror took hold.
    Mercifully, by then her heart had almost
stopped. She only had to suffer the fear and deadly pain for a few
more gasping heartbeats before it was over.
     
    Jabari’s admission that they didn’t know what
the rogue Mercesti sought as they killed innocent Estilorians had
Caleb’s Gloresti instincts surging. He wanted to be helpful…wanted
to stop this group from harming another being. And when he looked
between his brothers, he knew the same held true for them.
    A sound behind them had him turning in
concern. When he spotted Tiege clutching his chest and kneeling on
the ground, Caleb’s heart plummeted. Even as he hurried toward
Tiege, his son turned and looked behind him, his head moving
frantically.
    Only when Tiege sprinted for the forest like
demons breathed fire on his heels did Caleb understand.
    Tate was gone.
     
    Sophia’s anger morphed into embarrassment
right after she shoved Quincy off the cliff. For all holy sake…the
guy could fly. It wasn’t as if he would actually hit the water.
    The sound of her name echoing up the cliff
face as Quincy fell had her looking around in confusion. That had
sounded like Tate.
    A noise echoed from across the lake, like a
pile of rocks coming loose from their moorings. Sophia watched with
astonishment as her cousin slid off the cliff almost directly
across the water. She had the numb thought that Tate couldn’t fly,
and if she didn’t get far enough away from the rocks, she would
bounce like a child’s toy all the way down the cliff and cause
herself serious injury.
    That thought hadn’t even had time to fully
form before the kragen erupted from its cave within the cliffs and
snatched Tate right out of the air with its tail.
    Sophia watched in frozen shock as the huge
black beast took flight. Its wingspan shadowed half the lake. And
when its long, curled tail whipped Tate away from the cliff, a
spray of something wet and warm flew at Sophia, coating her like a
mist.
    She could only think, Quincy .
    Her throat wouldn’t work. Her body wouldn’t
cooperate. It all seemed like a dream. Until she caught a brief
glimpse of Tate’s face and watched as the life leeched out of her
cousin’s eyes.
    Just as the kragen surged away with Tate
wrapped in its tail, Quincy reappeared.
    “Sophia!” he cried, landing and hurrying over
to her. “Holy light—are you okay? You’re covered in blood! Was that
kragen injured?”
    “T-t-ate,” she managed.
    Why was he just standing there? She wanted to
scream at him to go after her cousin. The kragen was getting away!
They might still be able to help her if they hurried.
    When he continued to stand there clutching
her arms and checking her over as though she was the injured one,
anger replaced her shock. She shoved him away and focused on the
quickly retreating kragen.
    “What’s the fastest bird?” she asked.
    “What?” Quincy shook his head in bafflement.
“Are you okay?”
    “The fastest bird, Quincy!” she demanded.
    “Well—the peregrine falcon,” he replied.
    “Too small. Something bigger. At least a
five-foot wingspan.”
    “Sophia, what—?”
    “Quincy!”
    “Damn it.” He thought quickly. “The harpy
eagle,” he said.
    Nodding, she ran for the edge of the cliff
and jumped.
     
    Caleb followed Tiege at a sprint, the rest of
his family right behind him. Although he had no way of knowing
whether Tiege knew where he was going, as