He looked down at her, panting in his hold. Whether it was from anger or pain, he wasn’t sure. It may have been both.
“This changesnothing,” she said through her teeth.
He could tell she was trying to summon her power to use against him, but the velsinyte had drained her. “I know.”
Atlas’s voice cut through the madness. “Draevyn, you’re betraying your own godsdamn blood!”
He ignored him.
“I’ll get you as far as I can, and then you run. Do you understand? Fuckingrun. Velsinyte could be in every corner of this godsdamn city, Esmyra. And it’s clearly weakened you.”
Her lip curled back in disgust, but she didn’t say a word.
“Tell me you understand or I’m not letting you go,” he finished.
Regardless, he didn’t want to let her go.
Esmyra’s lips parted as she stared up at him, his arms and clothes soaked in her blood. “I understand.”
Draevyn turned his attention back to the door and took his first step toward it. “Good girl.” She scoffed and tried to shove out of his hold in response.
He then encased the two of them in a fiery vortex of protection as Atlas screamed in the distance, but it was drowned out by the roar of the flames. He knew his brother would never forgive him for this. A line was now drawn in the sand.
The truth was, Draevyn didn’t know whose side he would take if his hand was forced. All he knew for certain was that he refused to watch either of them die.
His breath came in ragged gasps, his heart hammering as he cradled the goddess in his arms. “Stay with me,” he whispered.
“Tits, you’re so dramatic. I’ll be…fine,” she retorted, still trying to writhe out of his grasp.
A smirk curved his lips. “There’s that Wildfire.”
The sound of armored footsteps echoed behind them, the guards coming closer as Atlas demanded they grab Esmyra at the door.
The moment he heard the command, Draevyn’s power poured out of him in a torrent of blazing heat. A wall of fire surged up from the floor to the ceiling, the flames swirling and roaring like a beast set loose.
“Drae!” Atlas roared.
His heart stuttered at his brother’s voice, knowing this must’ve felt like the ultimate betrayal. Esmyra had just killed their father—theirking—and here he was, saving her life and helping her escape the consequences.
As soon as they were before the door, the flames pulsed, bending to his will. They twisted, forming a barrier that stretched across the doorway.
Draevyn carried Esmyra through the flames, the heat licking at their skin, but he never allowed it to touch her. Never would he burn her again. He walked them through the fire as though it were a mere illusion—every step a defiance to the world trying to tear them apart.
Every breath he took, every movement he made, was a promise to her. A vow that he wouldn’t disappoint her again.
They stepped just beyond the blaze’s reach on the other side of the doorway, and with shaking hands, he lowered her to the ground. His breath was ragged, but he was desperate to get the words out before it was too late.
Esmyra’s face was pale, her lips tinged with the sickly hue of blood loss. She stared up at him, her eyes filled with confusion, suspicion—hatred, even still. But there was something deeper there too, something tangled in the emotions that churned between them.
“Go,” he rasped, his voice low and urgent. His hands shook as he took her by the shoulders, his eyes searching her face, begging her. “Please. You have to leave the castle.Now.”
She blinked at him, her expression unreadable. “Why? Why areyou helping me?” The words left her mouth bitterly. “After everything? It doesn’t make any sense.”
His hands trembled with the weight of his decision, but this was the only way. “There’s a way out,” he said, his voice rough. “I’ll hold them off. You need to get to the sea by the old docks at the edge of the castle grounds. It’s the only way they won’t catch you. The tide’s high now. If you get there, you can slip away… No one will know.”
“Everyonewill know. They just watched what you did.” Esmyra gestured to the fire blocking the doorway, separating them from the guards on the other side.
Her eyes narrowed, the suspicion still swirling in her gaze. “I don’t trust you.”
