Page 76 of Spark of the Everflame

I bristled. “There’s more than one way to be strong. You don’t need magic to be a leader or to help people.”

“You need it to defeat your enemies,” he argued.

My lips curled into a smile.We’ll see about that.

“You know Lorris, you’re a really good older brother, taking care of Evanie like this.”

He sat up, back stiffening. “Family is important. It’s everything.” His voice was rote, the words sounding memorized rather than heartfelt.

“Still... you’re her only family here now.”

“I told you, our parents are very important. Someone likeyoucouldn’t possibly understand.”

“I only meant—”

“Is that all?” He jerked away and stood up. “I’m important as well, you know. I don’t have time to babysit little girls. I presume you can handle the rest on your own?”

My heart clenched at the hurt that struck his sister’s face. “Yes, of course, but I’m sure Evanie would love it if you—”

“You can wait for me in the parlor when you’re finished.” Without another word, he stalked out of the room and slammed the door behind him.

I could only stare for a long moment, rendered speechless by his turbulent emotions.

“He’s always like that.” Evanie’s soft voice broke my daze. When I turned back to her, she rolled her eyes rather adorably. “Momma says he’s moody.”

I leaned in close to her and smirked. “Boys—what a mess, aren’t they?”

She grinned and nodded. I wiped my hands clean, then took one of the candies and unwrapped it from its crinkly paper coating. She snatched it from my hand and popped it into her mouth before I could even make the offer.

“Evanie, your brother said a woman gave you those flowers—that was yesterday? Do you remember what she looked like?”

She chewed on her lip. “She told me not to tell anyone.”

A nagging suspicion twisted my gut. I’d gone to Henri’s home three days ago, and the following evening he’d told me the healers’ center would receive an inquiry from an important Descended about a sick daughter. If this girl was only infected yesterday...

“The woman’s eyes,” I said, “do you remember what color they were?”

She screwed up her face, not understanding the question. It occurred to me that a child this young might have only ever seen blue eyes, particularly if her parents kept her away from any mortal servants who worked for them.

“Were they blue, like your parents and your brother? Or did they look like this color?” I gestured to my cognac-hued leather breeches and taupe satchel.

Come to think of it, practically everything I owned was some forlorn shade of dingy brown. For a mortal in a world where standing out too much could get you killed, color was as much a luxury as an existential threat.

She hesitated, then pointed to my pants. “Like that, I think. They were dark.” She beamed. “Like chocolate!”

My suspicion turned to fury.

I walked to a nearby desk and scratched out a quick note to her parents explaining my diagnosis and instructions for her care, then set the jar of cream and a few more lozenges on top.

“It was nice to meet you, Evanie. If you’re not feeling better by tomorrow morning, have your mother send for me again, alright?”

She nodded and sank back into the puddle of pillows arranged behind her. I gently tucked the blankets to her chin and stroked her hair, humming softly until her eyelids drooped and finally closed.

Careful not to wake her, I snuck out of her room and eased the door shut, creeping down the empty corridor until I came to the office I’d passed by earlier. It was now abandoned, the glittering tumblers lying empty on a lacquered side table. The room oozed of vanilla and tobacco and the musty aroma of old books, messy piles of which were strewn across the nearby desk.

A growing part of me wanted to leave this place without ever looking back. With what I now suspected the Guardians of doing to that little girl, I was no longer sure I wanted any part of their ruthless activities.

But I knew Henri’s heart as well as I knew my own. He would never condone such a thing, and he would certainly never rope me into it, especially unwitting. And the man who ran this family was no doubt a vicious creature doing terrible things of his own. I might never get a chance to stop him again.

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