Page 271 of Heat of the Everflame

“They mentioned a fire,” she whispered.

I winced. “That’s just the story we told.”

“Story?”

“He was stabbed.” My throat worked. “Murdered.”

Her body deflated. She clutched the bars, her forehead sinking against them.

“After the attack on the island?” Her voice was barely audible. “Because of me?”

“No. Before. Because of me.” I couldn’t look at her. “Whoever killed him left messages for me.”

“What kind of messages?”

Memories of the blood-smeared walls of my family home flashed through my head.

“Mortal lover. Half-breed.”

Rebel scum, I thought, though I held that detail back. This was my guilt to bear, not hers.

The anguish on my mother’s face slowly sagged away, replaced by a hardened wrath. She seemed to have aged ten years in that one moment, the slaughter of her beloved stealing the final traces of hopeful youth. “Do you know who it was?”

“I have suspicions, but no proof. There were plenty of Descended with a motive. I had few allies then.” I shifted uneasily. “I have few alliesnow.”

“You must go to the Guardians. They’ll help you find the killer.”

A bitter laugh escaped before I could stop it. “The Guardians have no interest in helping me. Especially not now.”

She frowned. “They will not let an attack on my family go unanswered. I am their leader.”

“And I am aDescended.”

My tone cut too sharp, and my mother balked. “You have mortal parents. A mortal brother. You were raised in Mortal City, at mortal schools. Your friends, your career... Diem, you are—”

“—a Descended,” I finished. “That’s all I am to them now.”

She dropped her hands and stepped away. Her gaze roved over me, eyebrows tugging low, expression awash with inexplicable denial. If I didn’t know better, I might have thought it hadn’t occurred to her until this very moment whatshe’d raised.

“How could you keep this from me?” I asked.

Her expression looked pained. “The man who sired you was... different. Not like any mortal or Descended I’d ever met. When you were born with brown eyes, I thought the gods had blessed us, and you had escaped it. Then your magic came in...” Her shoulders fell. “You were only ten. I wanted to give you a normal life for as long as I could.”

“My lifewasn’tnormal.” My voice grew louder. “You drugged me. You told me I was having visions—you made me think I was crazy. You hid me away.”

“They would have killed you, Diem. Every day, I lived in fear they would discover the truth.”

“And what is the truth? Who is my birth father?Whereis he? I know you lied about him dying, too.”

She recoiled a step. “That wasn’t a lie. He died the day you were born.”

I searched her face for some hint of dishonesty, but she was either Emarion’s greatest liar or she truly believed it. I didn’t know which conclusion was more likely.

“He isn’t dead,” I said. “He’s alive. And he knows about me.”

The color drained from her face. “No.No. That can’t—”

She stopped, her attention cutting over my shoulder. I looked back to see the King notably closer than where he’d stood before. He was staring at his feet, hands clasped at his back, his ear ever so subtly leaning in.

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