Page 272 of Heat of the Everflame

My mother’s lips pursed closed. She gave me a glare that told me she’d say no more in his presence.

I spun around to face him. “I want to question her in private.”

His back snapped straight. “Prisoners don’t ever leave their cells. You can question her here.”

“Ever?” I cocked my head. “So when you beat her and whipped her, you did it right here?”

“Sometimes,” one of the mortals muttered. “But when he questioned her, he took her away.”

“He told us she betrayed the Guardians,” another added. “He thought we’d turn on her and kill her, since the Crowns won’t let him do it. But we didn’t believe him. We know her better than that.”

Nods rippled through the cages. The mortals looked at my mother with admiration in their eyes.

The King glowered. “You’ll all pay for this later.”

Dread crept up my spine at the promise in his tone. “Why don’t we take her back to your office?” I offered. “It’s safe there, isn’t it?”

“You think I’ll let her walk outside this prison withyou?Do I look like an idiot?”

I gave him a look that saiddo you really want me to answer that?

He scowled and marched to the cage, pricking his finger on his blade to swipe across the lock. “I’ll take you to an empty cell, but she’s not leaving this prison unless it’s in a coffin.”

He held up a fist, and the stench of rot filled the room. A shared groan of pain rose as the mortals clutched their stomachs and fell to their knees. The shield I’d placed around Luther rippled like it had been struck, and my skin blinked with light and a sudden burst of energy.

“Was that necessary?” I asked archly.

“Yes. And if any of them move, I’ll give them far worse than a stomach ache.”

He threw open the cage door and stalked to my mother, then gripped her arm and dragged her back to her feet. He paused, looking at her knee. “How’d you heal so fast?”

Panic flared. “Get off her,” I shouted, running toward her. “She’s clearly still wounded. I’ll help her walk.”

The King threw a blast of his magic out to stop me. I glowed bright as it absorbed without effect.

I snatched my mother’s arm out of his grasp and threw it over my shoulder. Without missing a beat, she collapsed against me and let out a convincing whine.

“Why is your shield different?” The King jerked his chin toward Luther. “I can see it cover him, but not you.”

“Because I’m stronger than he is,” I lied. Luther smirked in confirmation. “And he’s stronger thanyou.”

The King eyed Luther, whose expression shifted from proud to ferocious.

With my pretense of help, my mother faux-hobbled out of the cage. Luther moved forward to take her other arm, and my mother jerked away, shooting him a warning glare. I glanced between them with a frown, looking to Luther for explanation. He disappeared behind his mask of indifference and turned away.

As the door to the iron gate swung closed, a mortal woman lunged forward to grab it. She slipped through the closing gap with a cry that rang of vengeance as she dove for the King’s neck.

I tried to untangle my hands from my mother to raise a shield, but I moved too slow. The King’s palm curled in, and the woman decayed before my eyes. Her flesh turned grey, then ashen, then crumbled away in rotting hunks. When nothing remained but hair and bones, her form collapsed amid a puddle of putrid mess.

My mother screamed. She lurched at the King, and I jerked her back with barely enough time to stretch my shield around her before he launched another wave of deadly magic through the room.

As promised, this blow delivered much more than discomfort. Blood leaked from mouths and noses amid excruciated shrieks. A few collapsed, and I watched in horror as not all got back up.

“Stop,” I shouted at the King in between grunts as I wrestled to hold my mother back. “You killed the one who ran. Isn’t that enough?”

“You killed them,” he shot back, slamming the cage door in an echoing clang. “You rile up my prisoners, these are the consequences. That woman would be alive if you’d never come.”

I stiffened.

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