Page 398 of Heat of the Everflame

Seventy-Five

“It’s true... Blessed Kindred, look at her Crown—she has four of them now.”

“We have to kill her, or she’ll kill us and take ours, too.”

“Doriel, what now? What do we do?”

“I... I don’t know...”

“Fuck this. I’m going back to my realm.”

The Crowns were shouting, arguing, clumping in groups, snapping out threats.

None of them dared to come near me.

I struggled to push upright through the drumbeat in my ears and the smothering weight on my head.

“Call the army in now, Sophos. Arrest her. Hurry, before she kills again.”

“You’rethe one who killed Umbros, you ass.”

“Sophos can’t arrest her now. She just claimed the sixth vote. She and her mother are pardoned.”

My eyes flew open.

Pardoned.

We were pardoned. We werefree.

Unless my mother or I committed another crime on this island, the Crowns couldn’t hold me. My mother and I could takeTeller and go home. We could be together as a family, mourn my father, and begin to pick up the pieces of our lives without him.

I could rule my realms in peace—and take control of the Emarion Army.

My chest shook as delirious laughter bubbled out. The other Crowns fell silent.

“You fucking traitors,” I choked out between uncontrollable giggles. “You Kindred-cursed pieces of shit.” I snorted loudly. “You absolute rancid, stinkingprunes.”

“I think all those Crowns have made her go mad,” someone murmured.

I stood and wiped the tears streaming from my eyes. “Even your own gods know you’re worthless. I got half his realm killed, and Umbrosstillthought I was a better candidate than—” I grabbed my side and doubled over into more laughter before I could finish.

“Let’s retake the vote,” Ignios insisted. “Sophos, Meros—one of you needs to change your decision.” He raised his blade, Yrselle’s blood still dripping from its edge. “Do it or else.”

“Or else what, you’ll kill us and give her afifthCrown to vote with?” Meros snapped. “Try it, and I’ll make sure she gets yourCrown next, Ignios.”

“Don’t worry, Yrselle already took care of that,” I said, tapping my wrist with a wink.

Ignios looked at my arm and frowned, his head tilting to and fro like a dog staring in a mirror. When his eyes dropped to the beads of blood on his own wrist and finally bulged in understanding, I burst out in laughter again.

He stormed to Yrselle’s corpse and grabbed her hand, squinting close at her nails—then let out a shriek. “She scratched me with fuckinggodstone!”

I grinned. “She sure knew how to give one hell of a coronation gift.” I rolled my neck to adjust to the added weightof the Umbros Crown, then grabbed my fallen blade. My eyes ticked to the cauldron above the Umbros arch, now relit with midnight flame.

Four Crowns—soon to be five, once the godstone did its work on Ignios. If I claimed one more, I would control every vote.

The temptation wasstaggering.

The bloodlust must have been screaming on my face, because even the confident Faunos Queen quietly edged away.

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