Page 170 of The Iron Flower

“Lukas will be summoning me later,” I tell her.

She gives a tense nod. “Elloren, everything’s changed out there. The entire power structure of the Western Realm has shifted overnight.”

I can feel it, too, this new, terrifying world pressing down on us. “I know.”

“I’ve found out as much as I’ve been able to,” she says. “The Gardnerians have given the Verpacian Council two choices—peaceful annexation or military action.”

We’re silent for a fraught moment.

“The Verpacians will cave,” I say, giving her a dark look. “There’s no fighting the Gardnerians now.”

Tierney returns my jaded expression, her body stiffening as if braced for a blow. “The Verpacian Council has called an emergency session. They’re meeting right now.”

My skin crawls with gooseflesh. I know what this means for Tierney and her family. What this will mean for everyone I care about.

“Do you think they have their Black Witch?” I whisper. “Could Fallon have wrought this somehow? Lukas told me that he might have been wrong about Fallon and her level of power.”

Tierney’s brow furrows. “Fallon’s abilities are said to be increasing, but this is a stunning level of power at work. And Lupines are immune to wand magic.” She shakes her head. “This is beyond anything the Realm has ever seen, Elloren.”

Disquiet worms through me as I hold her grim stare.

“I was told that Vogel’s coming,” Tierney says.

I inwardly recoil from the name, remembering the dark tree that shudders into my vision whenever I’m around the Vogel, overcome by the sense of something shadowed about to envelop us all.

“He’s to meet with the Vu Trin,” she says. “To negotiate what will happen to Jarod and Diana. Both sides want them—”

“To create an army of shapeshifters,” I finish for her. “That’s what both Lachlan Grey and Kam Vin accused each other of wanting.”

Tierney nods, biting nervously at her lip. “Yes. I don’t think the Gardnerians want to kill them.”

“No,” I agree bitingly. “They just want to enslave them.”

“Vogel is pulling the Fourth Division soldiers in to guard the North Tower,” she tells me. “They’ll be here by nightfall.” She gives me a weighted look. “You’ll need to press your advantage with Lukas when he arrives. And not just to help Diana and Jarod and to get your brothers out of prison. If Verpacia falls to the Gardnerians, Lukas will become a major power here.”

She doggedly holds my stare, the unspoken hanging in the air between us.

No, I inwardly protest.I cannot fast to him. Esptecially not now. Not after what the Gardnerians have done.

“Have you seen Yvan?” I ask, an edge of cornered defiance in my tone.

Tierney’s gaze narrows in, as if she’s reading the conflict suddenly raging inside me. “He’s guarding the kitchen workers.”

“Did he get Ariel and Wynter to safety? They can’t be here, Tierney. If the Gardnerians take over Verpacia, they’ll round up all the Icarals and throw them in prison.”

“They’re safe,” she assures me. “Yvan brought them to Cael and Rhys, and they’ve left Verpacia. Cael has an ancestral home in the extreme north of the Alfsigr lands. He’s taking them there.”

Relief shudders through me.Thank the Ancient One. At least they got out.

Tierney eyes me sidelong. “Yvan’s a bit desperate to get back to you. He found me. Asked me where you were. But it’s not safe for him to seek you out right now.”

“No,” I say bitterly. “Not with my new guard.”

Tierney’s even stare doesn’t budge. “I think he’s in love with you.”

Longing for Yvan flashes through me. “I know,” I tell her, pained.And I’m falling for him, too.

“You need to let him go, Elloren.” Her voice is firm, but not without compassion. “He needs to go east. And you need to stay here and secure an alliance with Lukas Grey.” She takes in my stricken look and softens slightly. “I’m sorry, Elloren. But they’re going to fast you anyway—”

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