Page 30 of Heat of the Everflame

I closed my eyes and pushed my consciousness outside my own body, then sharpened my focus onto the space above my head.

I felt...something. It wasn’t like anything I’d experienced before. It didn’t feel like its own living thing, the way the godhood did, nor was it a connection to something else, like my bond with Sorae.

This felt like a glowing ember escaped from its hearth, a twinkling star plucked from the midnight sky and entrusted to me for safekeeping. Its energy felt entirelyother—something that did not belong to me and would one day return to the source from which it came.

I could sense instinctively that I had no real control over it. I could not change it or destroy it or give it away. I could only hold it—on my head or in my heart.

So I tugged it down, deep into my soul. A warm sensation followed its path through my head and neck until it nestled in a pocket of my chest, a pair of flames flickering in the void.

“Did it work?” I asked.

I opened my eyes, surprised to see only darkness. I blinked a few times until my vision adjusted and focused in on Brecke’s face.

Wariness crept onto his shadowed features as he took a slow step back. “Does this mean the flameroot wore off?”

“I’ll answer that if you tell me what we’re doing.”

“I’m helping you escape.”

A ball of guilt knotted in my belly. “Is this Henri’s doing? Did he come to break me out?”

“No,” Brecke said simply. “And I’d appreciate it if you never tell him I had any part in this.”

I shuffled my feet. I wanted to escape—I’dbeggedfor it—but Cordellia had not yet heard back from the Crowns on her offer to trade me for my mother. Leaving now could seal her fate.

“Your turn,” Brecke said. “Is your magic back?”

“No,” I admitted. “It’s still gone. The flameroot doesn’t affect the Crown, I guess.”

“Why not?”

“Well, again, the Crowns were just about to tell me how everything works whensomebodydecided to detonate a bunch of bombs, and now—”

“Forget I asked. Let’s go, we don’t have much time before someone notices you’re missing.”

We continued slinking through the forest, the sound of rolling waves growing louder. When the trees gave way to a sandy beach, Brecke held out an arm to hold me back. He craned his neck, peering through the night in search of something.

I nervously drummed my fingers on my thigh. “Brecke, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe I should go back. Cordellia said—”

“There,” he whispered, pointing.

Further down the beach, a cloaked figure crouched alongside a small sailing dinghy. Brecke let out a soft whistle that sounded like birdsong, and the figure turned our direction. A second later, the same whistle came echoing back.

Brecke stepped onto the beach and gestured for me to follow. As we neared the boat, the moon cast its silvery light on the figure’s face. I froze in place.

“Cordellia?” I asked, glancing between the two of them. “What’s going on?”

“A response from Fortos arrived this morning,” she said. “They rejected any trade for your return. I believe their exact words were ‘Do with her what you will. All those who are guilty will face their consequences in due course.’”

I clenched my jaw. “In other words,go ahead and kill her so we don’t have to do it ourselves.”

She nodded. “Now that they know your mother is a Guardian, they must suspect you were involved in the attack on the island.”

I looked out over the inky waters of the Sacred Sea. The lights of the army warships surrounding Coeurîle bobbed in the distance, barely visible on the horizon.

“What does this mean for rescuing my mother?” I asked. “Vance said you’re not willing to give the island up in exchange for her.”

“He’s right. It’s too valuable to sacrifice for any one person, even your mother.”

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