Page 11 of Heir

A second later, Aiz flew back, slamming into the stone wall. The air around her transformed into flaming needles, stabbing at her skin. She screamed, clawing at her face so frantically she didn’t hear Tiral until he was in front of her. He hauled Aiz up by her hair and leaned close, his breath hot against her ear.

“I never let my guard down, Snipe.”

She cringed, let him think for one instant that she was afraid.

Then she spat in his face.

His hand loosened enough for her to tear free and knee him between the legs. He doubled over with a groan. Aiz reached for the wind again, but this time, she didn’t try to control it. Instead, she fed her wrath into it, and it exploded out of her.

The wind howled, knocking Tiral flat, tearing his bed to splinters, ripping his desk in half, and shredding the hearth to rubble. The window that faced the mountains shattered. A spark jumped, erupting into flame on a settee. Aiz shrieked in joy.Yes!Sheknewshe could control the power that lived within her. She had always known. Now, finally, it was at her fingertips.

In a moment, it was over. Aiz fell to her knees, so drained she thought her skin would shrivel away.

Get up.Already, she heard distant shouts of alarm. She dragged herself through the debris toward the secret passageway. She could still escape. Warn Sister Noa to empty the cloister so Tiral couldn’t hurt anyone.

Her hands shook as she reached for the door’s latch. It wouldn’tbudge. She tried again, screaming in frustration, even as someone banged on Tiral’s door.

“Commander Tiral? Commander!”

A surge of heat. The fire had spread to the remnants of Tiral’s bed and fed greedily upon the wood.

“Mother Div, help me.” Aiz choked on the smoke. “Help me, please.” Tears of dismay streamed down her face. There was no way out. She’d die here. And though Aiz had told herself that she was ready to leave this earth as long as she took Tiral with her, now she found herself thinking of Cero. Of everything unsaid between them—everything she didn’t let him say. Of Sister Noa, who would mourn her as if her own daughter had died. Of the orphans, and the stories of Mother Div that Aiz would never tell them.

The flames closed in; the smoke thickened. Aiz dropped low and her hands touched something strange and soft in the rubble.

Tiral’s book. The pattern on it reflected the spreading flames.

The beams of the room groaned and the stone under the shattered window crumbled away. Snowy air swirled around Aiz, blessedly cool.

“Thank you, Mother Div,” Aiz sobbed. “Thank you.” She crawled toward the opening, but as she did, Tiral heaved a breath. The bastard was still alive.

Which meant even if Aiz did get out of here, he’d hunt her down.

Aiz looked back at the book, the flames inches away from it. She didn’t know why it was precious to him, but perhaps she could use it as leverage. She snatched it up, wrapping it in its oilcloth cover and stuffing it in her skirt. Then she skittered toward the opening in the wall and squeezed out.

Her belly lurched as she looked to the snow-covered ground far below, to the slick rock. But this was her only choice. She dug her fingers into a timber and began to descend.

The wind tore at her, too wild to control, an enemy determined tobring her down. It seemed to be mocking her. Laughing, screaming her name.Aiiiiz.

The rock beneath her left foot crumbled, and suddenly her leg was dangling in open air. She pawed at the wall, but it was smooth as glass, without so much as a crack in which she could wedge the edge of her shoe.Mother Div, help me. Please.Aiz’s arms ached at the weight of holding herself up. Her fingers grew numb.

Then her foot slipped.Better to die like this than to starve or rot in prison, she thought wildly as the wind tore at her.At least it will be fast.Laughter bubbled up from her chest, shrill and brittle, transforming into a scream as she fell.

“Aiz.Aiz, damn you, wake up.”

Dragging her eyes open was, possibly, the most difficult thing Aiz had done in her life. Cero’s pale, handsome face appeared over hers, his expression angrier than she’d ever seen it.

“You are a Spires-forsaken fool,” he hissed. “What were you thinking climbing that wall? Why is the Aerie on fire?”

Aiz’s temples pounded, and she felt the back of her head. It was soaked with blood, though she didn’t feel a wound.

“Don’t touch!” Cero snapped, helping her sit up. She recognized the stark gray walls of the cloister. They were in one of the antechambers that bordered the courtyard. Through a window, Aiz spotted Sister Noa setting up the meager morning meal.

“How—how long since—”

“It’s been hours. I was waiting for you to wake before getting Noa. Didn’t want her heart to stop at the sight of you. You fell almost forty feet. It’s a miracle you’re not dead.”

“No—no.” Aiz tried to stand. “I can’t be here. He’s going to come for me—”

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