Page 335 of Heat of the Everflame

“They don’t have to leave the island, just the Kindred’s Temple. And just long enough for the rituals. It’s a cease-fire, not a retreat.”

“If the Crowns think Diem can manipulate the rebels through you, they might be willing to leave you both alone,” Luther added. “It’s our only chance at avoiding an all-out war with them.”

She didn’t look convinced. “Isn’t a war with the Crowns your goal?”

“Eventually,” I agreed. “But I need to find allies and build an army. It will be easier to do that without an execution order hanging over my head.”

“Or maybe you need to kill the other five Crowns and take their realms, too.”

My godhood hummed eagerly at her words.

“I’m not a murderer,” I mumbled, though I wasn’t sure who I was trying to convince—her, my godhood, or myself. “And there are six left, not five.”

Her lips pursed.

“Mother,” I warned. “You promised honesty. What are you holding back?”

She blew out a sigh. “The Arboros Queen is with us—with the Guardians, I mean. She has let us operate freely in her realm for years. She helped the rebels get on and off the island the day of the attack.”

“If that’s true, they betrayed her. She was a prisoner like me. They chained her up—”

“A farce to cover up her involvement, I’m sure. She must have been hoping you would tell the other Crowns what you saw to throw off any suspicion.”

I frowned. “Why would she help the Guardians?”

My mother smiled. “You’re not the only half-mortal Crown. She and her mortal father were very close. She promised him on his deathbed she would do everything she could to help his kind.”

Luther nudged my leg. “Looks like we might have just found our first ally.”

Our horses slowed as the dark, hilly forest gave way to the rolling grasslands that marked the border of Sophos, Realm of Thought and Spark.

“Maybe we should escort you to the Guardian camp,” I said to my mother. “I don’t like you traveling alone.”

“I’m not alone.” She tipped her head to a patch of trees in the distance, where a flutter of movement caught my eye. She let out a series of short, high-pitched whistles. Moments later, the same sound echoed back.

I nodded reluctantly. “We’ll come get you as soon as it’s safe to return to Lumnos.”

“In the meantime, I’ll send warnings to all the cells about Ophiucae. I can’t keep our members from joining him, but I can at least warn them he’s got motives of his own.” Her focusshifted to Luther, her eyes thinning slightly. “I’d like a word with you before I go. In private.”

I sat up straighter, my defenses rising. “Anything you have to say to him, you can say to me.”

“It’s not whatIhave to say that I’m interested in,” she said curtly. “And if you want me to trust him, then you have to trust me, as well.”

With some effort, I managed to hold my tongue. We dismounted, and Luther threw me a lingering stare before following her out of earshot. I unapologetically watched their every movement, my teeth chewing nervously on my cheek while I scrutinized every gesture and expression.

The cautious cordiality she’d been giving him this morning had been replaced by a glare as hard as stone. I nearly lunged forward to interject when she jabbed her finger into his chest, but he kept his cool-headed calm, nodding repeatedly with his hands clasped loosely at his back.

She said something to him, then crossed her arms with an expectant look. Luther glanced over at me, staring so long I frowned in question. A slow smile grew on his face, then he turned away.

My heart pounded. Something about this moment felt so much more important than a casual chat. Luther talked for a long time—averylong time—while my mother sharply scrutinized him, her eyes jumping rapidly over his face.

It was laughably obvious now—the spy she’d been hiding inside all those years. She’d always been impossible to lie to, keenly noting details everyone else would overlook. And, though she could rival me for fearlessness and feist, she also had a nurturing warmth that could crack even the hardest heart.

If only she’d let down her guard long enough to show it to him.

I toyed anxiously with my sleeve. The one-sided conversation stretched on, and her expression didn’t shift. Luther finally stopped talking, and her gaze fell to the ground, her brows deeply creased. For a minute that felt like an hour, they stood like that—unmoving, unspeaking.

Out of nowhere, my mother launched forward. Her arms wrapped around his waist, her face buried in his chest, her petite form swallowed up by his towering, muscular build. He stiffened, his eyes shooting to me in alarm as he awkwardly patted her upper back.

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