Voices. I can hear voices. Am I dead?

Mixed with the voices is the gentle push of waves against the shore, waves that tickle my legs and my stomach. The salty, cold substance fills my lungs and I cough it up onto the beach. Sticky sand covers my entire back along with seaweed that at some point, wrapped around my body.

The sun is high, and that means one thing. I've been unconscious for half a day and there's no telling where the ocean took me. The storm is gone and all that's left is clear blue skies and the occasional, puffy white cloud.

I'm alive. But where is my family?

I prop myself up onto my elbows and they sink into the sand. I'm not alone. And on my wrist...I look down to see a metal bracelet wrapped around my sand crusted skin. I try to yank it off but it won't budge.

"Don't try, it won't work."

I let out a yelp and skitter to the side, shoving away from that hate-filled voice. Standing next to me, a few feet away is the prince of Esaria. His hands are stuffed into the pockets of his black pants and he cocks his head to the side when he looks at me. I swallow.

Up close, he's even more frightening. The dark strands of his hair are wispy across his forehead but pushed back enough to reveal those dark brows and silver eyes scanning every inch of my face. When the breeze catches his hair, it reveals black gouges in his ears—the family tradition. I want to rip them out and make him bleed.

"What do you want with me?" I demand.

The smirk on his face is unsettling. I search for that strong power deep within my bones but there is nothing. I throw open the door to my power, not caring what escapes, and am met by silence. Titanium, then. The prince put a titanium band on my wrist but didn't bother to pull me from the shore. Typical prince.

Every part of my body aches, including the burn mark on my arm; now clean from the saltwater. How long did the ocean toss me around?

"My father demands to have a word with you. Your king," he says, not at all kindly.

Even with my lungs burning, I scoff. "There isn't a single chance I'm going anywhere with you. You're a sick bastard for tearing my home apart and for separating me from my family. You killed the people I care about and I will never bow down to you." The fury almost makes me vomit but I hold it down as he stares at me, our eyes locked together.

There is no amusement on his face and I know I didn't break through at all with my threat. "Get up," he demands.

I tilt up my chin and squint against the sun. "No."

"I said get up, you coward." He jerks his chin at me and I don't move.

With a click of my tongue, I say, "Make me."

His nostrils flare and he stomps over to where I lay, kicking up sand with his boots. The prince grabs onto the back of my shirt and hoists up, making sure I choke on the collar until I'm fully standing and stumbling. The cold, twisted personality of his doesn't help me stand as I regain my ground, legs wobbling, and take in the world for the first time since waking.

Down the beach, a prison wagon waits for me along with a small group of guards. I don't bother looking for familiar faces, there will be none of those here.

Now that I'm standing, the prince towers over me by a head. He's not much shorter than Bren, perhaps an inch, but the threat he poses is still very dangerous.

Bren. Did they make it out alive or did the prince track them down, too? I don't bother asking as he glares at me, his frown so deep on his face I would think it's stuck that way.

"Come," he orders. He takes one step forward but stops when he notices I'm not following. The prince twists to look at me and underneath the collar of his tunic, dark tendrils of ink stare back at me. Three shark spikes stop at the base of his throat and swim down until the fabric covers the rest. Another family tradition.

"What do you plan to do with me?" I try to stand up straighter but a sharp pain shoots through my body. While the ocean tossed me around, I must have slammed into a few rocks along the way.

"I told you, the king will share everything with you."

"I'm not going until I know something."

The prince tips his head back towards the sky and sighs. "Fine, you want to know something? My name is Renit. Happy? You know something." He reaches a large hand forward to grab my wrist but I yank it back. The muscles in his jaw tighten.

"Renit what? What is your last name?" I ask.

He chuckles. "You know very well what my last name is." Although his eyes are bright as stars, darkness shadows them. As quickly as a whip, he reaches forward and closes a hand around my wrist.

I pull back, attempting to dig my heels into the sand. "No!" I shout. "I'm not going with you!" He doesn't care.

Rent's nails dig into my wrist as I kick, hit, tug, and yank but nothing works. He drags me across the beach with no effort and every guard standing around watches our approach. I scream for someone, anyone, but no one comes. The village is likely ruined, there's nothing left of my home.

Renit pulls me against him and orders the guards to clasp chains on my wrists and ankles. I kick and hit but nothing stops them or Renit as his arm digs into my abdomen, my ribs, until his embrace is tight enough to break bones. Eventually, the shackles wrap around me and I can do nothing as Renit now has a proper leash.

He drops me back against the sand unexpectedly and I crash against the ground, only far enough for the chains in his hand to yank me back. The guards snicker at my pain but Renit stares down at me with no hint of emotion on his face. He's as cold as someone without a heart. Dead inside.

"You'll pay for this," I growl.

The laughter that leaves his throat isn't pleasant. He yanks me back up and opens the back of the prison wagon. With a small hoist as I scream and thrash, he throws me inside and I crash into something soft. A body.

As the door slams, I jump back, startled—until I see the person I crashed into. It's not a stranger at all. Staring at me with wide eyes is all three parts of my family. My mother, my father...and Celestine. At the sight of my family, I can't stop the tears from flowing, nor can I yank myself away as my mother gently pulls me into her side, whispering reassurance against my forehead as she rocks my crumbling body.