Page 311 of Heat of the Everflame

The Montios Descended clutched their furs tighter around their shoulders and walked away in a single file line led by the little girl, their tattered hems snagging along the rough terrain.

We followed until they paused at a cliff that disappeared into a deep ravine. Two of them raised their palms, and shards of glittering crystals solidified from the snowy air into bricks that curved into a spiral bridge winding into the darkness below. Pebbles from the mountainside rattled down its path and wedged into the ice to give the slippery floor a safer grit. The group parted, one half taking the lead and the other pinning us in from behind.

“Are you sure about this?” I whispered to Luther. “The Montios King could execute us, too.”

“I don’t think they want to hurt you. I’ve had a suspicion about something since Umbros, and if I’m right...” He didn’t finish, but the look he gave me was bright with hopeful implication.

I cringed as ice creaked beneath my feet. I peered over the edge, my stomach somersaulting at the deadly drop below.

The world began spinning around me. My legs went liquid, and with the shackles still on my ankles, I lost my balance and pitched forward. My body hit the railing, and the ice snapped beneath my weight.

Luther’s arms were around me in an instant. He hauled me back against his chest, his hammering heartbeat nearly drowning out his snarled shouts at the Montios Descended to reinforce the bridge walls.

“I’ve got you,” he murmured over and over through heavy, shaking breaths.

“Are you alright, Your Majesty?” the little girl called out.

My face flushed hot with embarrassment. I forced myself to pull away from Luther, even though being held in his arms wasthe safest I’d felt since leaving Lumnos. “Lost my footing, that’s all,” I called back.

The girl smiled knowingly. “The height takes some getting used to. It helps if you don’t look down.”

I battled the urge to crawl into a hole and hide.

“Let me carry you the rest of the way,” Luther said, reaching for me.

“Don’t even think about it.” I swatted at him in an effort to recover my lost dignity. “I’m not a princess who needs a shining knight to whisk her off her feet.”

He persisted, his arm winding around my waist and tucking me into his hip. I glared up in protest, but he was slightly pale and his hands weren’t quite steady—perhaps I’d come closer to danger than I thought.

“I’m a bit more dark prince than shining knight,” he said. “But you’re right, you’re no princess. You’re a queen.” He leaned close and whispered. “MyQueen.”

His warm breath tickled the curve of my neck and sent energy pulsing through me. “Too bad,” I hummed. “A queen needs a king, not a prince.”

The corner of his lips hooked up at my teasing lilt. “Well, I was supposedto be a king,” he said dryly, “and then some beautiful upstart showed up and stole my crown.”

A loud laugh burst out of me, causing a few of the Descended to glance back with alarmed stares. I bit back my smile. “Who knows, my dark Prince, maybe you’ll become a king someday yet.”

The words came out before I could overthink them. What they might imply—what I might be offering. My heart squirmed under the burn of his probing eyes.

“I don’t think so,” he said after a long pause. “I’m not letting you die on my watch.”

I started to correct him, then paused as my eyes caught on my mother. Her posture was taut, her biting glare locked on the place where Luther’s hand had drifted high on my ribs.

I flushed and pushed him away, then immediately scolded myself for doing it. I had to tell my mother the truth—just as soon as we weren’t in the midst of some new mortal peril.

Thankfully, Luther hadn’t seemed to notice. His attention was on an archway that had appeared in the sheer rock face. Another ice bridge grew at its base, its winding path merging seamlessly into ours.

“Why is the child the only one who talks?” I whispered to Luther.

“Montios Descended are extremely reclusive. Once their magic comes in, they don’t speak to outsiders. Some of them never speak again at all.”

“Oh, they’re going tohateme.” I groaned, and the sound was amplified by the miles of barren stone, drawing a wave of frowns. I shot Luther a pointed look that screamed:See?

At the end of the walkway, we stepped into a tunnel of carved stone. My relief at being on solid ground vanished the moment I looked back to see the bridge crumble and plummet out of sight, destroying our only way out.

“Your companions may stay here,” the girl said to me. She gestured to a room off the main corridor appointed with comfortable chairs and a roaring fireplace. “We’ll have warm food and tea brought while they wait.”

I stiffened. “I’m not leaving them behind.”

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