Page 321 of Heat of the Everflame

There was also the issue of the mortals. I had come to kill this Descended man, but I prayed the Guardians who joined him could be persuaded to change their course. If I had any hope of that, I’d need their leader at my side.

I frowned at a speckle of movement in the clouds, barely visible through the web of blackened limbs. “Is that a bird?”

He squinted. “If so, it’s the biggest bird I’ve ever seen.” He pulled our horses to a stop. “Are you sure Sorae is still in Lumnos?”

I reached out across the bond and winced at the frantic helplessness that pulsed back in return. I couldfeelthe chains around Sorae’s body, leashing her to the ground, and the muzzle clamped down on her jaws to keep her dragonfyre contained. I was as furious at Remis as I was at myself for not calling her back the second the army soldiers had left.

“I’m sure,” I sighed.

My mother’s horse joined ours. “What’s going on?”

“It’s a gryvern,” Luther said. “It isn’t going anywhere. It’s just flying in a circle.”

“Maybe the Crowns realized the man leading the attacks is here,” I said. “They could be looking for him like we are.”

He frowned deeply. “Or they’re looking for you. Either way, let’s stay out of sight. We don’t need the Crowns thinking you’re connected to him.”

My hand rose to my throat, where the ten-pointed star still glowed beneath my skin. I’d tried healing it away, but the more I pushed my magic toward it, the brighter it grew.

I caught my mother staring at it, her features pinched. “I’ve seen that symbol before, but I can’t remember where.”

“Were the Guardians working with him before you went to Coeurîle?” I asked.

She shook her head firmly. “No. I would never have allowed the kind of attacks you described.”

“You had no problem planning the attack that killed the Montios King,” Luther mumbled.

“That death was never supposed to happen,” she snapped at him. “The bombs were only meant to make the Crowns flee so the Guardians could take the Temple.”

She looked so genuinely regretful, I was tempted to believe her, but every time I looked at her, I pictured her driving a blade into my sire’s heart. When it came to what she was capable of, I didn’t know what to think.

“Intentional or not, that death didhappen,” Luther said. “Many died, and Diem was hurt. And you made mean accomplice for helping you.”

Her remorse twisted into a scowl. “You had no problem being an accomplice all the times King Ulther shed a mortal’s blood.”

His jaw ticked. “I saved as many as I could. Which you well know—you helped me do it.”

“Please stop,” I murmured.

She jabbed a finger at him. “You still stood at Ulther’s side knowing what he’d done.”

His eyes flashed with his unraveling temper. “I was the only voice in his ear holding him back. Would you rather I had walked away?”

“You could have stopped him permanently and taken his Crown.”

“Diemwould have taken the Crown, and if she’d done so while you were still poisoning her with flameroot, she might not have survived the Ch—”

“Stop!” I shouted.

They both stiffened.

“I have enough to deal with without you two at each other’s throats. Whatever issues you have with each other, it’s time to let them go. We’re on the same side now, remember?”

My mother huffed. Luther shut down, retreating behind his blank facade.

“Seeing the two most important people in my life hate each other hurts me more than you can imagine.” I shot them both hard looks as I grabbed my reins. “If that’s not enough to make you work things out, then go back to Montios. I’ve got a war to fight, and I’d rather do it alone than like this.”

I prodded my horse forward before they could respond. I was one snide comment away from breaking, and galloping into a battlefield of murderous rebels and a crazed Descended was looking more appealing than one more minute here.

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