Page 47

Valen swallowed, and the green diluted to almost nothing. “Forgive me, son, but I am in mourning. You betrayed me.”

“Yes,” Draven admitted. “I let her go.”

Valen’s colors spiraled to red as fury overtook his features. There was no point in asking why he did it. The damage was done. “Then the next decade of war is on your hands! This was supposed to end with the Wraith’s defeat. With you!”

Draven’s own vision turned crimson. “It still can.”

He charged toward his father.

“You cannot convince me you came here without purpose.” Rigid from the pain, Draven glanced up, focusing back on Brialis, on the here and now. “You’re fighting Amalia’s battles for her, all because that little death licker convinced you to. Because her grandmother convinced you to turn on us so long ago.” She inched toward him, lowering her voice. “I know you know where she is. Where she took my son.”

I let her go. I let her go, and she lived, and the Wraith… it reincarnated. Brialis’ words rushed past him as he struggled to grasp what it all meant.

This new Evelian was aligned with the Gnaw. The Gnaw was responsible for waking up Draven.

But the Wraith wasn’t amidst the party that awoke him. Were they working in tandem? Using the kidnapping of Brialis’ son as a distraction to get to Draven?

The machine continued to gouge deeper into his chest. The pain sent him into a quiet panic as a new fire ignited within him to make it out of this alive.

He grasped at the cold arm of the machine to push it off of him, but it only pushed back, its strength rivaling that of the Serpent’s.

He looked to Brialis—to her aura—her emotions now clear to him.

Fear and curiosity each had their own set of powers to govern their influence, but like all of the Flares, each bonded pair shared a blessing. While the Serpent ruled over fear, it, like its counterpart, could see the entire spectrum of emotion and manipulate it.

That was why she initially kept her composure so well.

He didn’t need brute strength to get out of here.

Draven met his sister’s eye, drawing up as much integrity as he could manage from somewhere deep in the cavity where his heart once was. “What would it take? To get back in your good graces?”

The Serpent took Draven’s willingness to cooperate as far as it would go, and he let it lead him. It twisted a silent hold on her anger, calming it with a whisper.

Only Brialis’ eyes softened, her face still contorted with rage. “Let him go.”

He nodded, voice carefully sincere. “I can do that. I know where he is.”

Brialis watched him, and she slowly lifted her hand away from the machine. It eased back, pulling itself terribly slowly from Draven’s flesh.

He sucked in a breath between his teeth. “I can bring him back.”

“No!” Brialis shrieked. The Serpent’s hold on her anger coiled tighter, but she fought it, face twisting in anguish. “Don’t. Don’t…” She stepped away from Draven as if it was the last thing she wanted to do. She turned, covered her ears, and screamed into the dark.

“Kill!”

Purple flashed across the machines’ once blank visors. With great effort and a lot of help from the Serpent, he shoved the one closest to him back. It was barely more than a step, but it was enough for Draven to dive away. The second machine launched his way. A slash of fiery pain dug into his chest as he was flung off course, rolling across the room and landing at the base of the dais.

Ribbons of fabric hung loose from his coat, and blood trickled from his abdomen as he clambered backward up the steps, eyes darting between the machines, but they did not approach. His back bumped into something cool and smooth.

Valen’s Coffer.

Draven pulled himself up, leaning against the chamber and sucking down long, dry breaths.

In unison, the machines tilted their metallic heads, releasing that low stream of ticks.

He glanced into his father’s tomb, imagining his soul reflecting back to him. Through the obscured glass, he tried to remember Valen’s face full of life. His hands gripping his shoulder, his smiles when they were warm, his voice strong. “Breathe, Draven. Breathe.”

He did because of Valen. They all did. The man who gave him life. Who gave up his own energy for each of his children. Who stood up for what he believed was best for Eizreth.