Why were there so many people here?
Were they still loyal to my lineage or to Marcus?
The huge gates clanged shut and the spacious courtyard started to blur. Blossoms bled into ponds; pillars tumbled into the lawn.
I was trapped.
Going insane.
Burning.
“I-I need to get the hell out of here,” I choked, pressing my lips to Rook’s icy temple. “Help.Now.”
The inferno howled inside me.
Even her wintery energy wasn’t enough.
A throbbing in my chest.
A tearing in my bones.
Flames roared through my blood so abruptly, my knees threatened to buckle.
Rook locked her arm around my waist, taking some of my weight as I straddled the line of awake and passing out.
Iwantedto pass out.
At least the fire would stop.
Another wave tore through me—violent and volcanic—like magma replaced my blood. The marble pavers beneath my boots scorched black.
Someone gasped at the smoke.
Someone mumbled a scared question.
Whisper snarled, ears flat, hissing at my pain.
My heart slammed so hard, it felt like it might rupture.
Too much.
Too many.
Too hot.
So hot.
I couldn’t breathe.
I can’t breathe—
Make it stop!
Chapter Thirty-Four
PEOPLE CROWDED US FROM ALL directions.
Some old, some young, all of them in a state of shock at having Lucien home.
