Chapter 38

Riding under clear, frigid skies, Jo follows behind Acker and his wife, Irina, toward a coastal destination Acker promised by midday. Wrestling with Irina’s claim that they are “equals” in Acker’s past affections, Jo admits jealousy but rejects being used again, recalling how both Acker and Kai once tried to shape her choices.

The party reaches a sprawling seaside estate with bleached stone and glass. Drawn by the sound of surf, Jo dismounts and rushes past servants toward the cove, with Irina telling the others to let her go. Jo descends eroded cliff steps to the beach, savoring the sting of cold water and the briny air that evokes her life in Alaha.

As Jo compares these waters to Maile’s gulf and reflects on Messer’s hatred of being landlocked, she considers Kai’s fixation on land and Wren’s warnings about its costs. Acker stands watch from the cliff, a silent sentinel over her volatile emotions and the sea that once confined and sustained her people.

Resentful of Acker’s mental intrusion through their Bond and recalling Kai’s warning about influence via touch, Jo recognizes how thoroughly she has shielded herself—perhaps even from her own identity. Choosing agency, she closes her eyes, ignores the Bond’s tether, and calls her magic forth.

Heat threads from her chest to her hand until light blooms in her palm, brighter than winter sun. Jo embraces this power on her own terms, signaling a shift from defensive shielding to intentional wielding as Acker looks on.