Page 97 of Heat of the Everflame

“Let me take her, cousin,” Taran said gently.

Luther tensed and gripped me closer. My heart squeezed—I understood all too well. When he finally relented and placed me into Taran’s arms, I whimpered out a quiet protest of my own.

Alixe coaxed Luther into letting her take his arm over her shoulder, and together, the four of us hobbled through the rain until a painful surge snapped across our skin to mark the border. As the flames on my body slowly faded, Taran scowled down at me, a harbinger of the fight I knew was coming the moment I wasn’t knocking on death’s door.

“Thank you,” I whispered, smiling.

He rolled his eyes, though he held me a little closer.

“Fucking Ignios,” he muttered.

Part Two

Chapter

Twenty-Two

Umbros, Realm of Mind and Secret, was everything and nothing I imagined.

Rain-soaked and exhausted, we shuffled through the long tunnel that descended into the beating heart of Umbros City and took our first look at the famed city of shadows.

The entire capital had been built underground, carved into the realm’s sky-high canyons of matte black rock. Cast into perpetual evening, its residents could thrive on the sins of the night no matter the hour.

Growing up, mortal gossip had painted it as a den of depravity, a place where nothing was sacred and everything was for sale. You could buy drugs, sex, weapons, poisons, a murder, a spouse—or a murderous spouse. If you had the money, it was yours for the taking.

The main square was a cavernous hall extending a mile in every direction—including up. Several levels of carved archways were stacked along the walls, and with tunnels splintering off as far as the eye could see, I suspected this was only the beginning of what hid in Umbros’s shadows.

Although there was darkness, it was also a place oflife. The mammoth, bustling central market was packed with merchantsselling every creation I’d ever imagined and even more I hadn’t. The air was rich with a medley of smells—roasted meats, heady incense, fragrant spices, intoxicating perfumes—and fluttering with textiles that painted the room in vibrant colors. A steady buzz in the air hummed with voices, punctuated by the pluck of stringed instruments and warbling singers. Crowds of raucous spectators ringed sandy fighting pits, and caged beasts chirped, snarled, and hissed at passersby.

Most shockingly for me, eyes of every color were woven seamlessly throughout the throng. There was no segregation, no poor village where mortals were shoved to be subjugated and unseen. Vendors and consumers alike were a melange of mortal and Descended, man and woman, local and foreign, and everything in between.

“Is that Lumnos light?” Taran asked, gaping up with jaw slung low. A web of spotlights springing from the ceiling littered the hall in tiny blue speckles.

Alixe nodded. “Descended who pay tithes to the Queen are permitted to use their magic. Looks like she put some of them to work.”

“Keep your heads down,” Luther warned. “We can’t afford to attract any attention.”

“Where are we going?” I gritted out. Though my wounds had healed enough for me to walk without coughing up blood, I was still badly injured.

“I have a contact here who can arrange passage,” he said. “I’ll need time to find them.”

“I’m coming with you,” I insisted. Alixe and Taran exchanged a tense glance, and I hurried on. “I know it’s a risk, but I—”

Luther took my hand. “Agreed.”

I couldn’t tell which of the three of us looked more shocked.

“Alixe, Taran, we’ll meet you by the fighting pits when we’re finished.” His features hardened. “If you’re caught, you know what to do. Remember the oath of the Royal Guard.”

They both nodded solemnly. I frowned.

Luther’s eyes narrowed on Alixe. “You do still remember that oath, I hope.”

She bristled. “I do.”

“Good.” He pulled me away, tucking me under his arm as we were swallowed up into the market.

“What’s the oath of the Royal Guard?” I asked.

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