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Gasps rang in her ears. Lily kept her mouth shut despite desperately wanting to fight to save what little reputation she had left.

“Stand her up,” Neir ordered. Reina’s pure voice lingered over the sounds shaped by his own.

Lily’s shoulders were clasped in an unseen grip that lifted and dangled her in the air, equaling Neir’s height. He approached with a sly smile that set her skin ablaze.

“You have my deepest gratitude for tracking down that little brat for me. I’m sure it was so easy, what with the natural pull between Flares. From what I understand, it’s even stronger between a bonded pair.”

Lily clenched her teeth together. That was why he left her at the club?

“Nothing to say now? That’s too bad. I was hoping to continue our conversation from earlier.”

Her head snapped to the side, right cheek and jawbone flaming. Lily groaned and flexed her jaw, inspecting him from toe to shoulder. Death didn’t cling to him. Xavier could still be alive.

“What’d you do with him?” she demanded.

Neir snickered and slapped her again. He wasn’t going to answer. Why bother asking?

“Is this how you handle rejection?” Lily sneered as the pain died. “Wailing on a poor, defenseless lowborn?”

“Defenseless is the last word I would use to describe you.” He grabbed the back of her neck, yanking her close enough she could feel his sour breath on her face. “Although, I am a little disappointed. The emperor trembled at the thought of you, yet here you are—so effortlessly bent to my will.”

“I’m not her.”

“But you could be. And that’s enough.”

She spat in his face. He barely flinched, but raised his hand and slammed it into her other cheek. Lily’s head swam, struggling to form words between gasps of air and the taste of metal.

“Take me to Valen in pieces if you have to, but I refuse to be what he’s so afraid of.”

Neir cocked his head. “If you insist…”

The grip on her shoulders dug into her flesh with the same pressure of angry, individual fingers. A violent shove sent her reeling backwards. She rolled into the dirt, feeling her pistol dislodge from her waistband. Lily coughed up the dust her body had displaced, frantically searching, not for the weapon, but the graft.

Its second heartbeat had left her completely.

She spotted the gun just in front of her. When she reached for it, her body halted again. Neir noticed, shaking his head and knocking it to the side with the wave of his boot.

Lily rose with the flick of his hand, her body obeying his will like a marionette on invisible strings. Pressure clamped around her throat. The sound came first—a sharp, reverberating crack that raced up her arm—before the pain followed. A numbing ache spread through her limb, only to erupt into searing agony as the shock tore through her nerves. She bit down on the scream ripping its way up her throat.

He broke my wrist.

Neir’s laugh was wholeheartedly amused as he gripped her other arm. Lily gritted her teeth, bracing for the next break.

“Stop!”

Panting, she dropped her eyes to the boy. He clung to the other man’s forearm, glaring at Neir with fire despite his small stature. Neir regarded him with a twisted look in his eye that worried Lily he would lash out at him too.

Neir sighed and gestured with his head. The others closed in toward Neir, away from the gathering crowd, which had devolved into a curious panic.

“Shut them up!” he yelled.

Lily fell to the ground. She hissed through her teeth when the vibrations pulsed to her wrist. Through bouts of vertigo, she saw sentinels covered in blackened armor push the crowd back. Neir then stepped from Lily, pressing a jittery hand to his temple.

“Apologies, your highness,” he cooed at the boy. “Did I do something to upset you?”

The boy’s posture was tall, unafraid. “Leave her alone.”

Neir inched closer to the child, kneeling down with one hand resting over his leg. “I’m sorry?”