“Do you have any explanation for this?”

  Vash stroked his forehead, rubbing so hard, folds of skin squeezed together. He turned his furious gaze from the sea to Admiral Breaker, who glared back. Osiris watched the exchange with mild amusement.

  “I did what you told me,” the soldier replied, gritting his teeth. “But you didn’t mention anything about this traitor being strong enough to get past the Anti-Seven! How could I have possibly prepared for that?”

  Vash blinked, unwilling to show his astonishment yet unable to answer. A chill morning wind brushed up from the sea, throwing their cloaks into a flurry. Breaker kicked a clump of sand, pointing back to the fortress.

  “The man didn’t leave a trace. We should have been warned he was so powerful. He even changed the weather to cover his tracks!”

  “What do you mean?” Osiris asked with piqued interest.

  “Who are you?” he demanded with a sneer.

  “I’d control that tongue, Admiral,” Vash said. “You are addressing a man greater than the king.”

  Breaker looked back and forth between Vash and Osiris, red-faced with fury and astonishment. He mumbled, “He changed the weather. Made fog come up from the ocean and cover everything in sight. But it weren’t natural. It was like smoke, nearly black as the night itself.”

  “Ah,” Osiris said with a knowing smile. “Now I see.”

  “What is it?” Vash asked.

  “Our humbled soldier here just described the Mists of Separation, a very old magic and a signature technique of my former master’s.”

  “Lord Kyba? So, he helped them escape?”

  “Undoubtedly. He has been dead for eight days now, but he must have helped your young quarry before then. How amusing. It appears destiny is not on your side, Nathanial Vash.”

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  “Kyba, dead? So, the passing of the age has already occurred?”

  “It’s the logical conclusion.”

  Vash scowled, rubbing his face in deep deliberation. “These events of late are truly frustrating. I believe I’m starting to become angry.” His eyes narrowed. “I have no choice but to follow them.”

  “What are you saying?” Breaker said, appalled. “You can’t cross into non-Carnel territory on a whim. Without papers? The treaty forbids it. Do you have any idea—”

  “You’re dismissed, Admiral.”

  He seemed ready to argue, but looking back at Osiris, he flapped his hand instead and trudged away.

  Vash turned to look back out over the Strait of the Final Word, aggravated beyond description. Every effort he employed in the last month, from resurrecting Lord Osiris to setting loose Marshall Kalem, was done to prevent at all costs the single event that transpired anyway. Despite immeasurable odds, Champlain still managed to escape Carnel with the Moon Eye Child. Now, he had no resources at his disposal, no network of information, no soldiers but Osiris to command. Even so, the decision was already made.

  He would have the Moon Eyes, no matter the cost.

  “Your pursuit of power is blinding you.”

  Vash whirled to face Osiris. “What are you talking about?”

  The Rinx Lord folded his arms. “It’s more evident than the color of the sky. Your eyes tell the whole pathetic story. You have abandoned reason, unwilling to accept failure.”

  “That’s rich, coming from you,” he spat. “You pursued power your whole life seeking revenge against your father’s killer. Then when you realized you would never get your vengeance, you tried to destroy the whole world instead. Or did you not die by the edge of your own brother’s sword for that very reason?”

  “Lust for power indeed marked my youth. And I was a fool. But no desire for power controlled me in the end.”

  “Spare me the life lessons. If I am making poor decisions, I am content in knowing I have a Rinx at my beck and call to make up for them.” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Now, these men need help reestablishing the fortifications, including reforming the seals of the Grenadine, which you should be familiar with. Go help Breaker. We make for Port Isis tonight.”

  That familiar look came over Osiris, a slight smile of belittlement mixed with severe warning, but Vash didn’t back down. His servant soon turned and made for the bridge.

  Vash exhaled, having held it in dread. He was playing with fire, and he knew it. But Osiris of Orion was the one blinded, ignorant of the true reason he desired Charlotte Goodsteel’s eyes, and he consoled himself with that knowledge.

  He clenched a fist. The New Moon. An ultimate force capable of destroying any magic its gaze fell upon. Ironically, a power Osiris sought for years while he was alive, never knowing it could be granted to human beings. But Vash would show him the truth. Once the Moon Eyes were his, he would show Osiris just what he never knew and then send him back to the grave with it.

  He only needed her eyes. Then nothing, not even Micah Champlain, would be able to stand in his way.