Page 62 of Heat of the Everflame

Alixe swore. “My magic’s gone. We have to go before they—”

“Found them,” a voice shouted. “They’re over here!”

She grabbed my arm and ran.

We moved at a blistering place, Alixe flying over the terrain with impossible agility while I stumbled and lurched to keep up. Even in pitch dark, her athleticism was superhuman. She leapt over roots and branches with ease, even managing to gently push or pull me to keep me on a flatter path at her side.

Our pursuers had no chance of catching up, and the footsteps behind us faded quickly—but Alixe did not. She only pushed harder, sprinting onward like they might appear again at any second.

Each thump of our boots on the soil was a grim reminder of the two precious hearts we’d left behind. The urge burned in me to scream at her to stop, to turn back, to wait for some sign of our friends, but I forced myself to hold back for fear my voice would give us away.

Eventually the terrain began to change beneath my feet. The hard-packed soil turned softer and gritty. Each footstep sank into the ground and became harder and harder to pull free. Small, scratchy granules kicked up against my skin and worked their way into my boots.

Sand.

“Alixe,” I hissed. “I think we’re almost to—”

Without warning, the forest ended. Alixe grunted in pain as we emerged into a vast, open expanse of lifeless desert and tumbled to the ground.

I crawled over to where Alixe had collapsed in the sand. “Are you hurt?”

She winced and rubbed her arms. “It’s just those damn borders. We should keep going until we find a place to hide.”

“Hide?” I surveyed the new landscape. With the exception of the forest at our backs, we were surrounded by miles and miles of infinite dunes. There were no roads, no buildings, no vegetation, no water—only desert as far as the eye could see.

Alixe frowned as she took in the same reality. She sighed, then nudged me forward. “Let’s at least get out of arrow range.”

I recoiled from her hand. “We shouldn’t have left them,” I snapped. “Taran was hurt. They needed our help, and we justabandonedthem.” My voice cracked on the final words, remembering Luther’s impassioned vow.

“Luther ordered me to get you to safety,” she insisted.

“And I ordered you to go back. You spoke to me of titles and chains of command—do I not outrank him as Queen? Is your oath to him or to me?”

She bristled at my accusation. “My oath is to keep you safe.”

I made a low, disgusted noise and turned away from her, staring back toward the stark line of trees marking the border and the pockets of black that wove between them. The memory of the Meros compass gave me a small spark of hope—wherever he was, Luther could find his way back to me.

If he survived.

“Have faith in them, Your Majesty,” Alixe said gently. “I would bet on Taran and Luther against a far more capable enemy than that.”

“Even without their magic?”

“Yes, even so.” She placed a hand on my shoulder. “We’re trained to fight without our magic when we must. They can handle this.”

My chest tightened. “But Taran...”

Alixe said nothing, though the tense squeeze of her fingers said she shared my anxious thoughts.

She turned away, gesturing for me to follow her, and I hesitated. “Perhaps we should go back into Arboros where we’re not so exposed. We can find another hollow or climb a tree and wait.”

“We’re safer on this side of the border. The mortals won’t follow us into Ignios.”

“How do you know?”

She shot a grave look over her shoulder into the woods. “Trust me.”

The wait was pure agony.

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