Page 13 of Heat of the Everflame

“No,” I lied, covering my deceit with an irritated smirk. “The Crowns were just about to tell me all their dirty little secrets when a bomb interrupted us.”

Brecke gave a halfhearted laugh and shrugged. “Ah, well. It was damaged in the attack—the initial explosion split a crack right through it. We’ve planted a ring of bombs around it so we can threaten to blow it to pieces if they try to take back the island by force.”

What he didn’t know was that the Guardians’ bombs hadn’t cracked the heartstone. It was the drops of my blood that had spilled onto its surface during the Rite of Coronation, sending a bolt of lightning into the stone, a tremor rolling through the earth, and a look of pure fear striking across the faces of the Descended Crowns.

What would the Guardians do with me if they knewthat?

“Were you there during the attack?” I asked.

“Only for part of it.”

“Did you see...” I paused to steady myself as my heart thundered in my chest. “Was there a Descended man there with long, dark hair and a scar down his face?”

Brecke frowned. “Was he one of the army soldiers?”

“No, he was my—”

I stopped short. I didn’t even really know what Luther was to me yet. I only knew that if he was gone, it would destroy me.

“He was waiting for me at the Lumnos port,” I said. “He would have run in to find me once the fighting began.”

Brecke shook his head. “After the explosions, it was chaos. There was smoke everywhere, it was impossible to see much. You were knocked out by the initial blast, and then your motherran right into the midst of it and dragged you out. She told me if I didn’t get you off the island, she’d have my ass, and I know better than to ignore a threat from Auralie Bellator. I took you to Vance, and he and I got on a boat back to Arboros.”

I leaned back against the tree, the rough bark biting into my skin through the tattered remains of my thin silk gown. My eyes rose to the midnight moon watching over me in her silent, secret way. Was Luther out there somewhere, staring at her too, wondering where I was?

The thought of it was a balm on my soul. If he was out there, he would keep my brother safe, and he would do everything he could to save my mother, if only because he knew how much it would mean to me. And if the Twenty Houses did try to take their revenge on the mortals of Lumnos, I had faith Luther would put his own life on the line to stop them, just as I would.

I might be without any true allies in this Guardian camp, but I wasn’t alone in this war. That knowledge filled me with a quiet strength that I clung to as fiercely as I could.

“I’ll visit again when I can.” Brecke rose, nudging the forgotten tray of food with the toe of his boot. “You should eat.”

My stomach growled its agreement. I hadn’t eaten since the morning of the coronation—which, for all I knew, could have been a day ago or aweekago.

Could Descended die of hunger, or would my healing abilities keep me alive indefinitely? I added that question to the painfully long list of things I should know about my own body—but didn’t, thanks to my mother.

Brecke turned to walk away, and I called out to him. “The Arboros Queen... did the Guardians kill her?”

He glanced at me over his shoulder, his expression unusually solemn. “Forget you saw her here, Diem. Forget everything you see here.”

Without another word, he turned and walked away.

His answer hardly eased my concerns, but my stomach rumbled again and drew my attention back to the tray of food. I picked up the bowl of stew and raised it to my nose, inhaling deeply.

I stilled.

Buried deep beneath the delicious aromas of roasted meat and fragrant vegetables lay a faint trace of a too-familiar smell.

Citrus and smoke.

A small sip of the gravy and a whiff of the tea confirmed my suspicions. The Guardians had drugged it all with flameroot, intending to keep me weakened and powerless indefinitely.

I mimed eating for a few minutes, mindful of spying eyes in the surrounding forest. As I moved to place the dishes back on the tray, I pretended to clumsily drop the bowl and mug, then quickly concealed the spilled food with fallen leaves.

For the first time, a genuine smile spread across my face. Let them believe I was accepting their tainted food without complaint. Soon the flameroot would wear off, and my magic would return.

And when it did, there would be hell to pay.

Chapter

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