Frozen Tides (Falling Kingdoms 4)

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?”

o;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.”