Page 142 of Spark of the Everflame

“A few of the lucky ones made it out, yes, but the King of Ignios doesn’t trust the Umbros Queen. He didn’t want the Ignios mortals giving up any information to her on his defenses. He had his guards flush them out into the dunes, and...” The murderous rage that flashed in his eyes sent a chill down my spine. “His guards stood there for a week while the mortals cooked to death under the sun. They begged for their lives, and he wouldn’t even use his fire magic to give them a quick death. He called it punishment for the Blood War.”

“No,” I whispered, shaking my head at the monstrous cruelty.

“Even that’s a kinder end than what the mortals of Sophos get. Do you know what happens to the mortals who get ‘invited’ to research at their institutes?”

“Are you saying they don’t get to study?”

“They do. For a while.” His voice soured. “Have you ever met a mortal who has studied in Sophos? Have you ever even heard of a mortal returning to their realm after visiting?”

I frowned. “Well, no, but—”

“Because they never do. There’s always some reason—an illness, or a tragic accident, or their families at home die a mysterious death so they have no reason to go back. No mortal who goes in to Sophos ever comes out.”

“Why would they do that? If they don’t want mortals there, why invite them in the first place?”

He chewed on the inside of his cheek and studied my face, seeming to debate how much to reveal. “When the mortals have outlived their usefulness doing the research, they...becomethe research.”

A sickening lump formed in my gut. “I don’t understand.”

“The Descended experiment on them. They put them in cages and run tests on them. Sometimes with medicine, and sometimes with magic or weapons.”

I fought to claw air into my lungs. The thought of Teller going there—how thrilled he would have been to receive an invitation. How proud I would have been that he was among the brilliant chosen few.

Gods, I had been praying for it foryears.

How could it be possible that so much evil was occurring yet I knew so little of it? This morning at the palace—I’d sympathized with Luther, even with the King. I’dpitiedthem. Held their hands. Had I truly been so blind? Had I not seen the face of evil staring right at me?

I pulled away and pressed the heels of my palms into my eyes as I paced. My head was churning, my stomach reeling. “I need some time to think. It’s been a long day.”

“You’re telling me,” he scoffed. “I spent all day trying to convince the Guardians not to put a knife in your back before you could betray us. I told them you were only trying to do your job as a healer, but they’re not happy.”

“I’m not exactly thrilled with them, either,” I mumbled.

“You need to take this seriously, Diem. I don’t need to remind you they can be very dangerous if provoked.”

“So the Guardians are coming after me now?”

He hesitated. “They’re going to want some kind of assurance you’re not going to reveal anything.”

“Well, I’m not. You tell Vance and hisBrothersthat I have no interest in anyone else dying because of me. Everything I learned there—consider it forgotten.”

“It’s not that simple. Your word alone might not be enough.”

I cocked my head, gaze narrowing. “What are you saying, Henri?”

He opened his mouth and paused, his darkened expression once again betraying that there was some truth he didn’t want to reveal. “Just lie low for now, alright? Stay away from the Descended. Don’t go into Lumnos City, and whatever you do, don’t go near the palace.”

I waved him off. “Fine. I have no reason to ever go back there again anyway.”

A faint twinge of sadness stung at my chest.

We stood in silence for several painful minutes, each avoiding the other’s eyes, slowly boiling alive in the uncomfortable heat of all that had happened between us these past months.

The childhood love we’d once shared had been simple and pure. We’d chased each other in the forests, picked wild berries and swam naked in the sea, teased each other and imagined the great journeys we might take together one day. I wanted more than anything to get back to that effortless joy, but the harder I reached for it, the further it seemed to float away, a shrinking point on the sunset horizon.

If I didn’t have being a healer, and I didn’t have Henri, what was left of me? Who would I become?

“Henri, what if...” I swallowed once, then twice. “What if we left Mortal City? We could start over somewhere fresh, far away from this mess.”

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