Page 208 of Burn of the Everflame

He tucked himself back into his pants. “I’m coming with you.”

I backed away. “No—I just need a minute to clear my head.” I turned to run, then paused, cringing at what I knew I had to do next. I slowly walked back to Luther and stretched up on my toes for a kiss—soft and loving, nothing like the explosive self-destruction of moments ago—and slid the other hand to his waist.

He set his forehead on mine and pressed a palm low on my back to hold me against him. “Let’s go to my room in the palace. No one will bother us. We can talk, sleep . . . or fuck, if that’s truly what you need.”

My heart yearned to agree. His bedroom was the place where I’d awoken all those months ago, on the day my life and my heart set down a path from which neither would ever return. Even after all that had changed, I was still walking through the flames, and he was still trying to save me from their burn.

My fingers closed around thrumming metal. “I’m sorry,” I breathed.

Then I turned, and I ran.

To my relief, Luther didn’t try to chase me. The forest wrapped its verdant arms around me, and after a few minutes of running, I was finally alone.

I sank against a tree, wishing I could melt into its bark and become one with the steady land. My soul was tumbling into a destructive spiral I couldn’t seem to stop. I wasn’t just cracking under the pressure, I was letting it grind me into a glittering dust, cup me in its hands, and blow me away.

My emotions sharpened to rage. Why was I punishing myself? I’d been tearing myself apart to save this world. I’d given people more second chances than they deserved, spared every life I could, no matter how rotten. What had it won me but the world’s condemnation?

If there was one thing the mortals and Descended could agree on, it was the ruthless Queen they wanted me to be. They may have wanted my sword to point in each other’s directions, but they were entirely united on how swiftly, and without mercy, my blade should swing.

The Diem they really wanted was the woman I’d become for one moment in Fortos, when I’d ordered the High General to slit his own throat. Not because it was the right thing to do, or because I had no other choice, but because I hated him, and he deserved it. Because vengeance felt good.

In that moment, I was my father’s daughter. Not the father who raised me, but the one whose blood ran in my veins. Tonight, I understood him better than I ever had.

I shoved the Meros compass that I’d stolen from Luther into my pocket and set my hand against the soil. The Forging magic stirred—I could feel Ophiucae’s presence in it, something dark and powerful that didn’t belong.

Spying on him had only ever ended in disaster for me before, but I was nothing if not persistent. I closed my eyes and let the Forging magic carry me over the sea.

He was standing in front of a fire, but it didn’t look like a campfire. Long, jagged pieces of metal pierced through the flames, and the sounds of shouting and shattering glass could be heard in the distance. On one side of his silhouette, the distinct shape of Sorrow’s Edge hung from his hand.

“Hello, daughter,” he said without turning to face me.

“Where are you?” I demanded.

“Can’t you sense it through the magic? Don’t tell me that’s yet another lesson I need to teach you.”

I looked around. The vision was hazy and ill-defined. A fog of dark shapes wove through scattered bursts of flickering orange-yellow flames. There were no trees in sight.

Ophiucae began to walk, and I was involuntarily drawn along behind him. The tip of the sword dragged at his side, scraping loudly against the ground—paved ground. Smooth and flat. Not open land, nor anything like the cobblestones of Lumnos or the dusty gravel of the Ring Road. In fact, I’d only seen ground like this once before . . .

“Sophos,” I gasped. Suddenly, the fires around him seemed far more horrific. “You’re destroying the city.”

“I promised the mortals they could, before you got in our way. Seemed only fair to bring them back. It’s very important for a leader to keep their word.”

“But the labs . . . the archives. All that history and knowledge⁠—”

“Does it matter now? There’s no one left to use it.”

“What about the mortals who live there?”

“They were given a chance to join us.”

“And the ones who said no?”

“I left it to Vance to decide their fates.”

My heart crumbled. I’d held on to a scrap of hope that some in the realm had survived, but this was absolute destruction of life and land alike.

I’d had my share of objections to Sophos City, but it had been a beacon of possibility. The mortals and Descended who lived here had done so peacefully, as neighbors and friends. Working together, they had accomplished incredible things. It had been a glimpse of what a better Emarion could be. To see it demolished by the same people I was fighting to save . . .