“The next time you want to play the villain, remember me.”
Her inferno drowned his screams.
Boots thundered up the stairs. Elena turned to find Sesharian officers storming the deck, but when they saw her, when they saw what she had done, they froze.
Maya intercepted them, holding Kilith’s pod. She did not look scared. In fact, she looked rather pleased.
“Lower your guns, rustbloods, or Great Serpent preserve me, we’ll burn you down too.”
One fool stepped forward and removed his visor. Elena gasped as she recognized his thick jaw, his dark eyes, the cut in his brow that had come from a mining accident.
“Akino.” She swayed. “I—I thought you were dead.”
“And I never thought I’d see you again,” Akino said.
Maya held up the pod, a bright blue light blinking on its screen. “We need to take the bridge so I can contact Jaya.”
Elena reexamined the healer carefully. “Who are you, really?”
Maya pocketed the pod. “Arohassin. But more importantly, who areyou? Witch? Sorceress?” She paused. “Ravani?”
Elena considered, and as she did, she heard the song of her inferno, the intoxicating hiss of her flames as they chanted her one true name. She said, “I am Elena, queen of Ravence.”
CHAPTER 48
ELENA
Godhood is not a blessing. It is a sickness that feeds on your hatred and withers all the bright and essential parts of you. I want it more every day.
—from the diaries of Priestess Nomu of the Fire Order
Alarms blared as she, Maya, and three rebels sprinted down the passage.
“The bridge is this way!” Maya shouted.
Sesharians ran past, some to the armory, others to the weapons deck. They seemed to have anticipated this rebellion, as Maya shouted orders, directing a contingent to the mess, another onto the bridge. Elena was struck with the fleeting sensation of being thrust into machinations beyond her control, but she had no time to consider as pulse fire echoed ahead of them.
Maya winged left, pressing her pod against a sensor, and a door swung open.
“Hurry! In here!”
Elena rushed through. They were in a supply room with hefty boxes floating between shelves. Maya called one down.
“Wear this.” She handed them dark slate uniforms. “Seems like being a rustblood can do some good.”
Elena pulled the uniform on, wincing as the collar brushed her bruised chin. Once they changed, Maya led them out of the storeroom, past the stateroom with its tipped chairs and half-finished drinks, and to a passage.
“The bridge is just there on the right. Now, when we get in there, let me do the talking—”
“Healer!”
Elena whipped around and saw an officer, followed by three others, gaining on them. Soon, they filled the small hall. This close, even her flames wouldn’t be fast enough to catch the pulses. But if they drew nearer… She began to summon when Maya held out a hand.
“Sir.” She saluted. “We were just reporting to the bridge. The sensors cut off. There’s a fire spreading on deck—”
“Why are you armed, healer?” The officer drew closer, but he did not lower his gun.
Elena itched to burn. Heat thrummed up her veins, ash in her throat. Closer now…
