Frozen Tides (Falling Kingdoms 4)

“Still seasick?” Milo asked.

“What does it look like?”

Milo laughed. “I’ll take that as a yes. I can’t believe you’ve never been to sea before.”

“Believe it. Now go away and leave me to die.”

“Don’t worry, it won’t be much longer now. I can see land from here.”

Felix managed to raise his bloodshot eyes to see that, far in the distance, across miles upon miles of churning, open sea—

His stomach flopped and gurgled.

—was the edge of land.

“Praise the goddess,” Felix groaned. “I think I might stay in Kraeshia forever.”

“I imagine we’ll soon find out exactly why the king decided to come here,” Milo said.

o;Think healing thoughts,” Lys suggested.

“I’ll try my best.”

The witch began to smear the healing mud over his shoulder. Even the slightest touch was painful, but the mud felt cool against his burning skin.

“More,” he said.

“Yes, you’re definitely going to need all of it,” she agreed.

This was very different from when Phaedra had healed Jonas with the grape seeds. Olivia’s magic gave him a cool and pleasant sensation, whereas Phaedra’s had felt like lava had been poured down his throat, only to go shooting through every limb.

“This feels so nice and soothing,” he said. “Is that what it’s supposed to feel like?”

“Soothing?” Olivia frowned. “I don’t think that—”

Jonas lurched up and cried out in pain. It was as if a soldier had grabbed hold of his arm and tore it right out of its socket before setting it on fire and throwing it to the wolves. He flailed, desperately trying to wipe the burning mud off his skin.

“Hold him down,” Olivia barked at Lysandra. “We can’t remove any of it yet.”

Lys immediately did as the witch ordered. They each took an arm and held Jonas down against the tabletop while he writhed in agony.

“She’s trying to kill me!” he exclaimed. “Lys—Lys, stop her!”

“Hang on,” Lys whispered. “Please, just hang on a little longer.”

He felt the mud sink deeper into his skin, burning through every layer, eating right down to his muscle and bone. It sliced through his shoulder like the razor-sharp bite of a demon.

But then, as suddenly as it came on, the pain vanished completely. He felt his body grow slack again in the girls’ grips, and all he could hear was the sound of his own ragged gasps.

“It’s done,” Olivia said, letting out a long, relieved sigh. “See? That wasn’t so bad, was it?”

Bad? It was worse than bad. It was torture.

The witch disappeared into the back of the shop. Lys grabbed a cloth and shakily wiped at Jonas’s shoulder.

“It worked,” she said, clearly amazed. “She didn’t just help you . . . she actually healed you.”

Jonas managed to push himself up to sitting. He took the cloth from Lys, wiping the remaining mud away from his shoulder, revealing an unblemished patch of smooth skin. No wound, no infection.