Page 344 of Heat of the Everflame

“He’s less than a day’s ride from my city. Believe me, I’m acutely aware of the risk.” Their frown carved deeper. “Give me two days. There’s plenty to read in my archives while you wait.”

I shot upright. “You’ll give me access to your books?”

Their eyes twinkled with the triumph of knowing we each had something the other wanted. They smoothed down their jacket, then motioned for me to follow as they glided toward the door. When it opened, a wave of power crashed against my skin.

Doriel and I froze.

Luther rose from where he’d been waiting in the hallway and bowed. “My Queen.” An unspoken question lay in his tone:Did it work?

“My Prince,” I crooned back. “It seems we’ll be staying a few days while Doriel makes their decision.”

Doriel eyed him uneasily. “You have your magic back?”

Luther’s expression was the perfect mix of coyness and warning. “Perhaps I do, perhaps I don’t. Until you coronate my Queen and repair the Forging spell, I guess you’ll never know.”

Doriel gave us both irritated scowls. “You two could learn something about diplomacy from your Regent. Not everything needs to be a threat.”

I rolled my eyes. “My Regent has to use diplomacy. He isn’t scary enough to be a threat.”

“He forced you to come begging for my help.” They turned their nose up and strode away. “Seems he’s a bigger threat than you give him credit for.”

Those words were truer than I wanted to admit.

Luther and I followed Doriel to a cavernous reading room covered in bookshelves and lamp-lit tables. Towering stained glass windows painted rainbow swaths across rows of silent readers hunched over thick books and ancient-looking documents.

Doriel beckoned to a teenage boy behind a counter, who scurried to our side. “Stuart, Diem here is the new Crown of Lumnos. She’ll be staying with us for a few days. I’ll have my staff prepare her rooms. In the meantime, will you escort her wherever she’d like to go? She’s not yet coronated—” Doriel smiled icily at me. “—but I’ll grant her Crown-level access to our archives.”

“Of course,” Stuart gushed, then turned to me. “It would be my pleasure, Di—uh, I mean, Your Maj—uh... Quee—hmm...”

“Call me Diem,” I said, my expression warming as I noticed the boy’s brown irises. “And this is my Prince, Luther Corbois.”

Luther offered his hand in greeting, but the boy ignored it and continued to gaze at me, moony-eyed and enamored. “Hello, Diem. Where can I take you?”

Luther growled a possessive warning. I had to bite back a grin as I subtly nudged his side. “Why don’t you start by showing us your favorite places?”

“I would love to,” he gasped, sounding like it was the greatest honor he’d ever received. He held out his elbow, shivering with glee when I looped my arm in his. Luther grumbled at being relegated to trail behind us.

“Tell me about yourself, Stuart,” I urged him.

“I’m originally from Meros. My mother is a researcher here, and my father and I were permitted to join her. Doriel arranged a job for me in the library.”

My eyebrows rose. “You call your Crown by their first name?”

“Oh, yes. Doriel insists. They said the only thing titles do is encourage an inflated ego.”

I shot Luther a pointed grin over my shoulder. His answering glare was positivelyscathing.

“My mother’s invitation to research was for ten years, and we’ve been here almost nine,” Stuart went on. “We’re all hoping Doriel gives us a permanent offer to stay.”

My stomach dropped. If what Henri had told me about this place was true, thatpermanent offermight be a death sentence in disguise.

“But wouldn’t it be nice to return home to Meros?” I pushed encouragingly. “I bet your friends there miss you terribly.”

“Oh, I barely remember it. This is my home now. Besides, everyone in Meros thinks we’re dead.” He laughed to himself. “We’d have to go somewhere else. Umbros, maybe. Or Lumnos.” He beamed at me. “You could be my Queen.”

Luther growled again.

I frowned. “Why do they think you’re dead?”

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