Page 299 of Heat of the Everflame

Sorae’s panic burst across the bond. Her right wing dropped, and we banked hard an instant before a bolt grazed its feathered tip.

“Your father really is trying to kill us,” I yelled to Luther, the three of us clutching each other in a fight to stay upright.

But as my eyes scoured the horde, there was no sign of Remis—or Alixe. Near the front, the Fortos commander I’d confronted in Mortal City sat on horseback, shouting orders to the army soldiers and Royal Guard alike.

“Archers ready,” he bellowed.

“Shield up,” I told Luther as I sent a wordless order to Sorae. Her jaws yawed open with a plume of blue flame to send the soldiers scattering.

“Launch,” the commander said.

A throng of arrows emerged from the ground. Luther’s hand shot toward them, his shimmering blue dome sparking into place just in time to send them bouncing back to the soil below.

She’s coming, Tel, I thought to myself as the balcony came near. My brother was so close, the honey-brown of his eyes almost visible in the moonlight.Mother is finally coming ho—

A soft whistle flew past my head.

“Archers on the roof,” Luther shouted. His shield rose back into place, but not quick enough.

Agony burst through my shoulder. Instinctively I reached for the pain—and my hand brushed against the end of an arrow’s shaft.

“Diem’s hit,” my mother cried out.

Sorae’s head reared back with a snarl as she sensed my pain. She pulled up and soared for the clouds, leaving Teller behind and the palace growing smaller at our backs.

Luther called out my name, his voice frantic. I felt his broad hand grip my arm, then the hot-cold tingle of his magic absorbing.

I shoved him away. “Save your magic. We’ll need it on the next pass.”

“There can’tbea next pass,” he growled. “It’s time to retreat. We’re too outnumbered.”

“Can’t we land somewhere else?” my mother asked. “I know ten different ways to sneak into the palace.”

I could almost hear the crunch of Luther’s teeth grinding. “You got in because I allowed it,” he bit back as she scoffed. “Alixe will not be so permissive, nor will the army. And Sorae is too large to miss—they’ll spot her wherever she lands.”

“What do you suggest we do instead?” she snapped. “If we cannot land, wherecanwe go?”

“Montios.”

“Montios?” I whipped around. “How is that any safer?”

“It isn’t. But the Montios Descended dislike weapons. They prefer to use magic. That gives you an advantage if we’re attacked. If we can find a place there to hide...”

There was something in his expression as he held my gaze. Something loaded, like there was more he wanted to say, but he didn’t dare bring the words to life. I wondered if it was because of my mother—if there was something he didn’t trust her to know.

I glanced down at the soldiers’ lines. With my magic, I could easily take them. Without it, the odds felt nearly insurmountable—unless I was willing to unleash Sorae in all her fury and paint my own realm in dragonfyre and blood.

A chill swept through me. The darkness I’d embraced in battle still loitered, waiting just below the surface to see what I would do.

“Look,” Luther said. “By the entrance.”

At the grandiose doors of the palace foyer, Alixe and Remis were surrounded by a thick pack of Fortos soldiers. Remis looked uncharacteristically flustered, shouting at the soldiers, who were shoving him against the palace walls. Beside him, Alixe was oddly pale. Her eyes kept darting to an area hidden by boxy hedges.

She looked up, and our gazes met. She slowly shook her head and mouthed a single word:Go.

I shoved away the massive pit sinking in my stomach and snapped off the protruding tail of the arrow, tossing it aside.

“Again,” I ordered. “Shield up.”

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