Page 8 of Heat of the Everflame

He sneered. “Lady, there’s nothing I believe more.”

“We both know there are good and bad mortals. Why can’t there be good and bad Descended, too?”

He glared at me in a way that said he knew I was making sense and it pissed him off. “If you were raised like us, how can you defend them?”

“I can’t. The shit they’ve put us through—” His eyes narrowed accusingly, and I rolled mine. “—fine, putthemortalsthrough... it’s unforgivable. But no matter how this war goes, we still have to live together when it ends. We can’t do that if we refuse to see any good in each other.”

I offered him a hopeful smile. His curled upper lip softened into more of a bark than a bite. There were cogs churning in his head, slogging through a toxic muck of earned prejudice I knew all too well.

As he worked his jaw, chewing on my words, my eyes drifted over his shoulder. Nestled in a circle of dense brush that obscured it almost entirely from view, I caught a glimpse of something that sent fear crackling down my veins.

Explosives. The favorite tool of the mortal rebels. Stacks upon stacks of them in an array of sizes and materials. Enough to level an entire town—or a Descended palace.

I took in a sharp breath, and the man followed my stare to the hoard of homemade bombs. His features gnarled into a scowl as any ground I might have earned with him eroded away.

“Planning your attack on us already?” He yanked me forward again. “Mother Dell might be willing to work with some of you, but that don’t mean I have to trust you. I know what you are. Save your pretty words for some other fool.”

We stalked along in silence until we reached a thinly forested area with tents scattered throughout. Chained to the trunk of a small tree was a woman on her knees, her hands similarly shackled, a glowing Crown of foliage and continuously blooming flowers hovering over her head.

“Arboros?” I gasped.

Her emerald eyes locked with mine and widened. “Lumnos!”

I turned my shocked expression on my escort. “You captured the Queen of the realm you’re hiding in? Are all of you out ofyour gods-damned minds?”

He didn’t respond, staring doggedly ahead as we approached her.

“Thank the Kindred you’re alive,” she said breathlessly. “I thought you’d been killed in the explosion.”

The man began to secure my shackles to a chain woven around the base of the tree, and I felt a burst of relief that she and I would be close enough to talk—and for me to learn what had happened on the island.

My heart skipped a beat. If she had seen the attack, perhaps she had seen Luther get away safely. The question rose up in my throat and hung there, trapped in place by the terrifying prospect of discovering the answer.

“Are you hurt?” I asked instead.

Though the moss-lined cape I’d last seen her in now hung in singed tatters over her shoulders, she looked otherwise unscathed. She shook her head and climbed to her feet. “Did you see any of the others?”

“No—I thought I was the only one.”

I frowned, thinking back over Cordellia and Vance’s words. Why had they spoken as if I was the Guardians’ only bargaining chip? If they already had the Arboros Queen to exchange for my mother’s freedom, why keep me from returning to Lumnos?

Unless they didn’t plan to let the Arboros Queen live that long.

“You’re up next,” the man barked at her. He waved over a few more Guardians to join him. They boxed us in against the base of the tree, several with knives out, another swinging a wooden club.

“What are you going to do with her?” I demanded, my hackles rising.

“Choosing to protectthem, eh?” He snorted. “Just like I thought. Get out of the way, lady. She’s coming with us.”

I shimmied in front of her as much as the chains would allow, using myself as a shield. “Not until you swear she’ll be brought back unharmed.”

“I don’t answer to you, half-breed. We’re in charge here, and we’ll do whatever we want.”

I returned his scowl. “You sound just like the Descended.”

A furious red flushed across his face. He jerked his chin at the others. “Grab her.”

The Guardians launched forward. Before I could react, strong hands clamped around my arms and waist and dragged me out of the way. The lock on the Arboros Queen’s chains clicked open, her panicked pleas for help sending my heart sprinting.

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