My head snapped toward him, eyes widening.
Nash chuckled. “Yeah. After our… moment in your hut, he pulled me aside. Slammed me into a stone wall, actually. We almost ended up in a fight. But I stopped myself,” Nash went on. “Because he didn’t threaten me to stay away from you, Fitzroy. He threatened me not to hurt you.”
He studied me for a beat. I stared at him, heart pounding.
“Said you were the most magnificent person he’s ever met. And I better remind you of it every damn day. He said to let you be yourself, to walk your own way. To never be one step ahead or behind, but always beside you. Even on the days you say you hate me.” A small breath left his lungs, barely audible. “Shayde said you’d make me the luckiest man alive if I loved you like that.”
A familiar tingle of awe from River surged across my skin. Her ears flicked, and she glanced back at me with a knowing look before facing forward again. I sat frozen in the saddle, unable to think, let alone speak.
“So,” Nash said, “why are you using me to avoid him?”
My stomach twisted with guilt. “I’m not sure.”
We crested a hill, and the full sweep of our legion stretched behind us. My father, astride his silver wolf, turned to face the soldiers of the Hollow. Colonel Barrett rode up beside him, pulling him aside for a private word.
“I’m in your corner, Fitzroy,” Nash said quietly. “As long as he doesn’t hit me. I’ve seen that man fight—and I have no desire to be on the receiving end of it.”
A sharp pain shot through my chest like an arrow loosed at close range. I lurched forward, nearly toppling from the saddle. My lungs seized, refusing to take in air. A strangled cough tore from my throat as I clutched at River’s fur, barely hanging on.
Nash dismounted in a flash, his hands steadying me as he guided me upright. “Breathe,” he said low, urgent. “Come on, Fitzroy—breathe.”
I forced a shaky inhale just as my father turned. A ripple passed through the ranks—every eye fixed on me. The wind howled with tension, as if the earth itself waited for an answer. I ran a hand over the back of my neck, closed my eyes, and reached inward—channeling themarekem.
Then it hit me.
My eyes snapped open. The weight of it settled like a stone in my chest. I found my father in the crowd and steadied my voice.
“The Shadow Glade is burning.”
Chapter 59
What was once the most beautiful place I knew was now engulfed in flames.
The Shadow Glade’s protective wards had held just long enough to mask the destruction from us fire elementals. One moment, we were soaring beneath a clear blue sky. The next, we were swallowed by smoke.
Lakota nearly crash-landed into a burning dwelling.
We touched down in the center of a wide street, his wings arched high to avoid bringing more ruin to what was left. I slid down his leg and hit the ground in a roll, coming to a stop against a charred wall.
Tears streamed down my cheeks—not from emotion, but from the sting of smoke. I lifted my forearm to my mouth, trying to block out the air, but the burn had already seeped into my lungs.
“This is natural fire,” Lakota warned as he lifted into the smoke-choked sky.
Which meant one thing—fire elementals weren’t immune.
A window beside me shattered with a violent crack, shards exploding outward. I threw up my arms and channeled the air element, sending a gust to scatter the debris before it could slice into me.
Rhodes and Shayde dropped from the sky, landing with flawless motion. They sprinted toward me without hesitation, each grabbing an arm to pull me from the open. Then we ran—shoulders brushing, boots pounding scorched stone—as the Glade burned around us.
Water elementals fought to douse the flames, their efforts valiant but futile against the spreading inferno. Earth elementals heaped soil over the fire, trying desperately to smother it. But it wasn’t enough.
There were no Tyrian soldiers in sight. No battle.
Someone—somehow—had gotten past the Shadow Glade’s wards. And they hadn’t come to conquer.
They came to burn.
Doryan burst through the smoke, coughing and wild-eyed. “The fire started at the library!” he shouted.
