Hurry.
Go east.
Go fast.
The mountains.
The caves.
Run!
Chapter Thirty-Nine
I BOLTED THE WAY HUNTED ANIMALS DO.
I sprinted for my life, too fast for my pathetic system to catch up, driven by primal instincts.
The estate was a blur of corridors and lanterns.
My bare feet didn’t make a sound as I flew through gardens and over bridges; Whisper’s silent paws tearing up the lawn beside me.
The night was cold, but I poured with sweat.
Burning alive, just like him.
Lucien.
Furnace Heart.
God, please don’t die.
The pull in my chest twisted, yanking me east, toward the dragon wall, toward the looming mountains that touched the stars and cut the moon in half.
Every step hurt. Every breath seared.
I could feel him like a second heartbeat—wild, erratic, racing toward catastrophe.
Another glimpse almost sent me skidding into a lattice screen.
His shirt ignited in a fireball, leaving his chest bare and metal disc turning molten. His jaw clenched as orange and gold roared out of him with flaming surges. The pool he sat in completely evaporated, leaving the dry rock to crack—
“Lucien!” I screamed, the vision making me fall.
I cried out as sharp pebbles tore into my knees.
Whisper surrounded me instantly, twining and whining, nudging me to get up, get up,get up.
Gasping and sobbing, I crawled and scrambled, forcing my way back to my feet.
The moment I was upright, I flew.
“Hold on. Please, hold on. I’m coming.”
I didn’t know what I would do when I found him.
Didn’t know what Icoulddo.
But whatever it took, I would do it.
