Page 29 of Greed of Giants

“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “It spoke in riddles, said a choice would have to be made before we woke Numen, the water giant.” He looked at me through a screen of rising smoke. “It might be friend or foe, a servant of the Guardians or the Unmaking. Or something else entirely.”

The fire crackled between us and I found myself staring into the flames, thinking about everything that had led me there. The ruins. The sealed chamber. The words I’d spoken without understanding their weight. I’d wanted to prove myself, to vindicate my research, to show the House of Scholars they’d been wrong to dismiss me.

Now I was bound to an ancient prince, hunted by things that shouldn’t exist and walking toward a destination I barely understood. And I couldn’t even touch Killian without being burned.

“Where are we going now?” I asked.

“To the Verdant Maw to free Theron, my earthen brother. He will guard the gates there against the Unmaking.”

“And what of the Guardians there?” I asked. If there were Guardians, they’d be everywhere, ready to stop us.

“I am fire,” Killian said, voice low, dangerous. Smokecurled from his shoulders like wings. “Their wards will burn.”

The casual certainty of it should have frightened me. Instead, I felt something else, a dark thrill at the power in his voice, the promise of destruction. My grandmother’s bad behavior coming back to haunt me.

“Wards?” I asked.

“That’s why I lit the fires. Harlan had wards that prevented me from accessing the shore.”

I stared at him. “Why would Harlan offer us a ride if. . .if he didn’t want you to leave?”

Killian tilted his head. “I don’t think he figured it out until it was too late.”

I stood, testing the weight against my leg. It hurt, but I still limped over to the fire, sitting on a nearby log. “I assume he doesn’t know about the Unmaking.”

Killian straightened. “No one should know. It was a secret held close. To avoid fear. Panic.”

“But if the world knew, they could prepare.”

Killian shook his head. “Prepare to fight against the unfightable? My people had magic, and you say that magic isn’t used, or known in this time.”

“No one has magic.”

“Then it will be pointless.”

“But if trouble is coming, if there is danger, we have to let people know.”

“I don’t disagree, but who will believe you?”

I went quiet. No one believedme. My words meant nothing. Even if I went to the House of Scholars now, what would they say to me? Hope fizzled and died.

14

Killian

Golden light bathed the forest, warm and heavy with the scent of mud and dew-damp grass. I’d slept on the hard ground without moving. The moment I’d closed my eyes, my body breathed a sigh of relief, grateful to rest, to rejuvenate after two days of being awake and expending magic. I’d forgotten the toll magic took, how the fire that sat at the very core of my being also sapped my energy.

Now I rose, listening to the call of the wild as it hummed in the uncultured, untamed forest. A low, ancient note beneath the birdsong and the wind moving through the canopy overhead. Perhaps mortals walked here, but they hadn’t taken the land and broken it to their will.

The fire from last night was nothing but ash, and Ilaris leaned against Jasper, who’d likely served as her pillow through the night. Those dark eyes fixed on me, watching as I stood and gathered the bags. It was only then I wondered about the wisdom of sleeping without guard,and what else might be in the forest, what else might wish us harm. This was a world I didn’t know.

“Killian,” Ilaris said, wincing. “I’m not sure how long I can walk.”

I eyed her bruised leg, wrapped, and felt something akin to guilt. “Jasper will carry you.”

“Jasper?” She narrowed her eyes, working through her confusion. “He carried me yesterday?”

I nodded. “He can change his size as needed, even though he’s young and still growing. Right now he can only shift up to the size of a horse, but soon, he’ll be much larger. He might grow wings too.”