Page 147 of Heat of the Everflame

Alixe cracked her knuckles as Taran tied back his hair and glared, all three of them ignoring me.

Zalaric shot me a stunned look, and I shrugged.

As the gryvern approached, a door opened, and a flood of Centenaries marched in. Some were still in their caped armor, but others were in flowing, sheer robes that put their bodies on display. Several carried trays of fruits, nuts, and cheeses, while others carried goblets and jugs of wine.

Perhaps the Umbros Queen was planning to have a feast over our executions.

“Don’t fight back,” Zalaric warned. “She’s ruthless about protecting her reputation. Don’t insult or threaten her, Diem. Be quiet and polite and—”

Taran groaned. “We’re all gonna die.”

The Umbros gryvern landed on the balcony with a floor-rattling thud. It was larger than Sorae, with sleek, feminine lines and a graceful gait. Its wings and fur were a dark caramel hue, while its scales glittered like godstone. Its eyes fixed on me, two slitted pupils shrinking and growing as it studied me with wary curiosity.

I didn’t see the Umbros Queen at first, her body blocked by the gryvern’s wing.

But I felt her.

Her power was incredible. The intensity of her aura rivaled even Luther’s. It exploded through the room with a force that could only have been intentional and coated the air so thickly I seemed to inhale it with every breath, pulling it—pullingher—into my lungs, into my blood.

Two Centenaries ran forward. One dropped to all fours at the gryvern’s side. The other extended their arm, and a delicate hand with nails sharpened to points settled into their outstretched palm. A slender leg swung into view and set a high-heeled foot onto the other Centenary’s back, using him asa stepstool. She glided smoothly to the ground and sauntered, hips swaying, into the room.

Her beauty overwhelmed me as much as her power. She was sex in human form, a buffet of curves to satisfy the most insatiable lust. Long lashes brushed against high, rosy cheekbones, her pillowy lips swollen with a just-kissed flush. Ebony hair flowed unbound over her shoulders, curling at the dip of her ample hips. Despite her advanced age, her skin was flawless—and her tiny dress left a great deal of it to see.

Zalaric dropped to his knees and turned his gaze to the floor. The Centenaries did the same, but my three companions—bless their loyal, courageous hearts—remained standing.

“Well, that isn’t very polite,” she chided.

Behind her, the gryvern snapped its jaws.

“Kneel,” Zalaric whispered frantically.

“Listen to your friend,” Symond warned. “Kneel, or I’ll do it for you.”

“He’s not our friend,” Taran grumbled.

Luther rolled back his shoulders. “Force us if you must, but I only bend my knee willingly to Blessed Mother Lumnos and my Queen. And you, madam, are neither.”

Her scarlet lips curved into a smile.

The Queen strode toward me. The Corbois closed their ranks, shifting until their shoulders touched in an imposing wall of muscle. She paced slowly in front of them, back and forth, trailing a finger in a line across their chests.

“And if I told you that if you did not kneel, I would make you toss yourselves over the balcony and bash your lovely heads open on the canyon floor? What then?”

My stomach dropped.

“Then we will die with honor,” Alixe said.

Taran smirked. “I’ve always wondered what it felt like to fly.”

The room fell silent and lethally still.

Then, abruptly, the Queen began to laugh. She placed a hand on her chest. “Blessed Kindred, how faithful you all are. Lucky for you, I have a great deal of respect for loyalty to one’s Crown.”

Still chuckling, she turned and strolled toward her throne. “Fair enough,” she called out over her shoulder. “Unwilling it is.”

She snapped her fingers and the three Corbois slammed to the marble floor in forced supplication, knees bent and foreheads scraping the ground.

I sucked in a breath and shifted to face her. It was now just the two of us standing—two Queens, towering over their subjects. Would she try to make me kneel, too?Couldshe?

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