Page 327 of Burn of the Everflame

His features turned to stone. “Diem . . .”

“We have to split up. I need you to go to Sorae. I need you to free her, then find a way to deal with Xipherus. And I need you to do it fast.” I slid my sword from its sheath and looked out at the battlefield. “I’m going out there.”

He shook his head. “I’ll go, but you stay here. Let the third wave do its work. The rest of your army can advance while we hold off the Merosians.”

“And who’s going to hold off him? Shields won’t last forever, and the godstone mixture Teller made is melting off. If I keep waiting to confront Ophiucae, there might not be anyone left to save.” My voice softened. “It’s time, Luther. We have to end this.”

Muscles ticked along his jaw. “Together,” he growled—an order, but also a question.

I swallowed hard. “Together.”

A promise.

One that my soul would burn to ash to keep.

Luther squeezed Lily against him. “Don’t be scared, Lil. Teller’s right. You’re strong. As strong as your Queen, and just as perfect.” He laid a kiss atop her head. “Do as she commands.”

Her crying grew harder, and Luther’s face was carved with guilt as he gently pulled away. He shot a heavy look at Teller. “Take care of her.”

Teller moved to put an arm around Lily, but she ducked away and ran for the forest. He watched her go as her cries faded, then his gaze dropped to his feet. “Luther, I’d like a moment with my sister, please. Alone.”

Luther turned to me and gripped his hands beneath my jaw, pulling me in for a fierce, message-sending kiss that smoldered with everything I knew he wanted to say but that the urgency of war wouldn’t allow.

“Will you at least take someone with you?” he asked me. “Someone who can shield you if⁠—”

“Ophiucae doesn’t want me dead. He wants me to help him destroy what can’t be saved to protect what can. So that’s what I’m going to give him.” My hand rose to his heart and lingered there for a moment before I pushed him away. “Go to Sorae. Soon, I’ll need you both.”

He drew the Sword of Corbois, pale blue light pulsing from his palm and infusing the steel with its glow. He pressed his fist to his chest in salute, then ran for Sorae.

“Get back to the forest,” I said to Teller. “If Ophiucae sees you, after what you did to him in Sophos . . .”

Teller gave a half-hearted smirk. “I got him good that day, didn’t I?” He glanced out toward Ophiucae’s distant, glowing silhouette. “Think I could trick him again?”

“He’d kill you the minute he saw you.”

“I could beg his forgiveness. Offer to help persuade you to join him.”

“He has Umbros magic, Tel. He can sense when people lie.” I grabbed his shoulder. “You’ve already helped so much. We might all be dead without that godstone mixture. Let me and Luther take it from here.”

He studied my face. “This is goodbye, isn’t it?”

I bit down hard, chewing on words I wanted to say and words I desperately didn’t. All I could stomach was a quiet “I don’t know.”

Teller huffed a laugh. “You should have spent less time training with Father and more time learning from Mother. Maybe then you wouldn’t be so gods-awful at lying.”

Something bubbled out of me that was both laugh and sob. “Maybe I should learn from you. You’ve got everyone convinced you’re such a good guy. Only I know what a terror you really are.”

He grinned, and I grinned back, though both our eyes were glistening.

“You think Mother will be alright?” he asked.

“I don’t know,” I said again, this time without deception. After our father’s death, our mother had forced her shattered heart to keep beating for the two of us. I wasn’t sure she could survive another loss.

He glanced at the sky. “You think Father will be there waiting?”

“I hope so,” I whispered, voice breaking.

Teller smiled. “Me too.”