Page 334 of Heat of the Everflame

“My magic is nearly restored,” I said. “As long asOphiucaedoesn’t follow us into Sophos, we’ll be alright.”

“And if he does, I won’t let him hurt her,” Luther added.

She nodded approvingly. “I’m going to hold you to that, Prince.”

“Please, call me Luther.”

I threw him a look, eyebrows high, but I held back my quips. Their tentative truce was more precious to me than words could say, and even my eternal love for teasing him wouldn’t get me to risk it.

It hadn’t come easily. We’d stayed up most of the night, sitting by the fire and sharing our truths. My mother toldme everything she remembered about my birth father, as well as much more about her time both in the army and in the Guardians. In return, I told her everything that had occurred since the day she’d gone missing. We cried together over the story of my father’s death, fumed together at how Vance had used me, betrayed me, then targeted me, and smiled together as I described Taran and Eleanor and the rest of my new Descended family.

To my shock, without any prompting, Luther shared his story with her, too. He told her about his mortal mother and the story of his scar, the visions Lumnos sent him and the better world he believed I was fated to lead. She interrogated him relentlessly about the evils she’d believed him guilty of, and he patiently explained the real story behind each one. Her walls began to fall as she listened in alarm at how much he’d known about the Guardians—and how much he’d done in secret to shield them from Ulther’s detection.

But it was our love story that seemed to put the last nail in her suspicion. Understanding surfaced on her face as we took her through our ups and downs, the teasing and flirting, all the ways we’d saved each other, and all the times we’d nearly said goodbye. Through it all, her eyes marked Luther’s every move—each clasp of my hand or stroke of my hair, each adoring smile and good-natured groan.

It would take time for their distrust to fully fade, and perhaps a close bond might never form, but by the end of the night, the three of us were smiling and making plans. When it was time to sleep, Luther boldly curled up beside me and pulled me into his arms, and she made no objection. For now, that was as great a gift as I could hope to have.

“Maybe Ophiucae won’t hurt me,” I said.

She and Luther exchanged a solemn glance.

“Diem,” she started slowly, “you cannot let yourself forget how dangerous he is.”

I stiffened. “I haven’t forgotten.”

“He would have killed you as a baby, had I not intervened.”

“He wanted my blood. Maybe he was only going to cut me, not kill me.”

“He’s murdering innocent people, Diem,” Luther said gently.

“I know that,” I clipped, my hands clenching on the reins. “I’ll do what has to be done.”

An awkward silence fell between us, filled only by hoofbeats on the hard-packed soil.

“I’ll do it,” Luther said. “You shouldn’t have to kill your own sire. When the time comes, let me be the one to take him down.”

I tensed. “He can absorb magic like me. And if I’m right and he doesn’t want to hurt me, I might be the only one who can get close enough to do it.”

His arms tightened around me. “I’ll find a way.”

My heart roiled with conflict.

I knew Ophiucae had to be stopped.

Permanently.Soon.

But the idea of slaying my birth father—just when I’d finally found him, before we’d even had a chance to truly meet—brought a lump to my throat. I wasn’t entirely confident I’d be able to follow through and strike the killing blow.

And if I was being really,trulyhonest, even if it was Luther wielding the knife, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to stop myself from intervening.

Though I’d made other excuses, that was the real reason we were headed into Sophos instead of returning to the Forgotten Lands to finish what I’d started. I needed time to come to terms with this new revelation and all its consequences—but I couldn’t risk more innocent lives in the interim.

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” my mother asked. “If the Crowns want you captured, why risk handing yourself over to one of them?”

“I’m not going to live as a fugitive. If the Crowns want to question me, I’ll give them their answers. And if they try to kill me, they’ll meet the same fate as the Fortos King. Besides, the Sophos Crown is in charge of the rituals. I need to convince them to call the Crowns to the island to finish my coronation.” I glanced at her. “Andyouneed to go convince the Guardians to let them.”

She scowled. “Do you know how many years we’ve been trying to capture Coeurîle? And now I’m supposed to tell my people to give it back?”

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