Page 179 of The Iron Flower

* * *

I stand with my brothers in the hallway of the North Tower. Rafe seems like he’s aged several years since I’ve last seen him, a hard line of tension etched between his brows. “We’ll come back for you,” he insists, his voice determined. “We’ll find you.”

I nod, trying to be strong as I turn to my younger brother. Trystan’s dressed as he usually is—in his perfectly pressed military apprentice uniform, somber and important-looking, his wand sheathed at his side.

“You’ve gotten so tall,” I tell him with a tremulous smile. I reach up to grasp his shoulder.

Trystan’s eyes close tight, and he shakes his head, as if fighting desperately for control. The image of the powerful Gardnerian Mage dissolves into my little brother—the skinny boy I used to carve wooden animal toys for.

Trystan’s lips are trembling, tears welling in his eyes. I pull him into an embrace as my own tears fall, and Rafe’s arms come up around us both as we all say goodbye.

* * *

Yvan’s eyes blaze with emotion as we face each other in the circular barn, a single lantern casting the deserted space in a flickering glow.

I can feel his fire power radiating off him in guttering flashes of heat.

The pages ripped fromThe Book of the Ancientsare now long weathered and worn beneath our feet. ButThe Bookhas won. There will be no dancing on its pages.

“I don’t want to leave you,” Yvan says, his voice rough with passion.

My words are tight when they come, my grief tamped down. “You can’t stay. You and your mother have to get to safety.”

Ferocity overtakes him. “We’re putting off the inevitable, Elloren. At some point, we’re going to have to fight them.”

“We can’t fight them here. It’s over, Yvan. The Western Realm has fallen.”

The edges of his eyes ignite, like the times he’s pulled in fire. Yvan looks around desperately, as if searching for a way out, a way to fight back. His eyes light on the battered leather covering ofThe Book of the Ancientsnear his feet, about a third of the holy book’s pages still clinging to the inside. His expression hardening into savagery, he grabs upThe Bookand closes his fist around the thick leather.

I jolt back asThe Bookcatches fire, the flames quickly spreading to the edge of his sleeve.

“Yvan!”

As if abruptly broken from a spell, Yvan blinks hard and looks to his burning sleeve, then at me, a flash of agony on his face. He closes his eyes and breathes deep. The flames slowly pull into him and disappear, and when he opens his eyes again, they glow a fervid gold.

He’s so excruciatingly beautiful, he takes my breath away. I try to memorize every aspect of his face so I can hold it deep inside my heart. Forever.

“When are you poisoning them?” he asks, the fire in his eyes surging.

I reach up to wipe away a tear. “Fernyllia’s doing it tonight. Tierney and I are going to eat some of the poisoned food, as well.” When he opens his mouth to protest, I add, “We have to. Or else the Gardnerians might suspect our involvement.”

I hold his heated gaze, and the silence between us deepens, filling with unsated longing.

“Your mother’s on her way,” I remind him, an ache gathering in my throat. “You need to get her out of here. There’s no more time.”

He nods stiffly, his eyes blurred with tears. When he speaks, his voice is ragged. “Goodbye, Elloren.”

For a split second, we pause, our eyes locked, and then he comes to me. I fall into the warmth of him as he wraps his arms and fire tight around me, kisses my hair and murmurs ardent Lasair that I don’t understand and don’t need to.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

POISONED

When the next day comes, I feel as if I’m underwater and can’t surface.

I hear voices, but it’s like they’re on a distant shore—muffled and strange and far away. My body is numb, and my mouth feels like it’s been stuffed up by cotton. Listening to the unintelligible voices around me, I groggily wonder if this is how we first sounded to Marina.

I try to open my eyes, but they’re crusty and pasted shut. After a few false starts, I finally succeed in pulling my lids apart. The light is blinding and knifes into my eyes.

---