Before I could finish my thought, the ground began to swelter. The once-verdant grass quickly yellowed and then withered on itself, as smoke began to seep through the earth to coat the air in an acrid scent. All around us, Evers began coughing and covering their eyes, but Rorik and Seville didn’t move. Tension climbed through Rorik’s shoulders and up to his jaw, and he flexed his hands by his sides as he glared at Zeverin, who stormed toward us, his feet leaving smoldering coal-black footprints in his wake. He was a living, breathing flame, and a harsh heat radiated from his body. Kara trailed behind him, her gaze shifting between him and Seville.
“You insolent, insignificant mistake,” Zeverin snarled at Rorik. “How dare you come into my house and orchestrate this?”
He extended his hand to Kara, and she set an empty perfume vial in his palm. Panic clawed at my throat. How?
Zeverin’s glare cut to Seville. “I should have expected you to be just as vile.”
“Are you suggesting I used that on you?” Seville lifted her chin, her expression revealing nothing. “That’s a bold accusation, Lord Embergrave.”
His eyes sparked with magic, and he snapped his fingers. Kara stepped beside him wordlessly. And then suddenly, her form wavered like that of a mirage rising above a hot desert. Gone was the woman with storm-gray eyes and a slender build, and in her place was our brunette attendant. The one who’d served us breakfast while we met with the Waterstones. The one who’d watched as we exited the garden the day before and brought tea for us. We’d been careful with our conversations, but how many other pieces of information had she been collecting without our knowledge?
Fury filled Seville’s stare, and her lips peeled back in a grimace. But Rorik took a step forward, his power swelling within his hands and revitalizing the torched ground beneath us. Fresh grass defied the steaming soil, and tiny white flowers began to bloom around patches of clover.
“So, she didn’t want to sleep with you. Is your ego so wounded that you’d burn your estate to the ground?” Rorik spat. Murmurs rippled through the crowd. I doubted anyone here had ever defied Zeverin.
“I think your intentions were far more nefarious than you let on.” Sparks ignited in Zeverin’s palms. “That’s the beauty of Kara’s power. You never really know what face she’s wearing—or what she hears.” The flames in his hands turned electric blue as he focused on her.
“I just wasn’t feeling your hospitality.” Seville’s glamour fell away as she called on her power, adding to the spread of healthy earth beneath her brother’s feet. As her fangs protruded over her bottom lip, her mosaic, glass-like wings snapped angrily behind her. “I think it’s time we take our leave.”
“How very foolish of you.” Zeverin slammed his hands together, and the blue fire between his palms became a snarling mess of hungry flames that lapped at his fingers. With one swift movement, he knelt to the earth and buried his hands in the ashen ground. A saccharine smile claimed his lips as he marked us for prey with his heady, taunting stare.
“You were never going to leave here to begin with. If you had stayed willingly”—he inclined his chin toward Seville—“it would’ve been easier, of course. But the plan was always to keep both of you. I thought I made my intentions clear when I had Kara brand your land.” He pinned me with a wild stare. Zeverin’s glamour fell away, and while I’d thought him regal during the opening feast, he was nothing but a nightmare now. Every single tooth in his mouth was needle sharp, his stare a thing of pure malice. His feathered wings snapped angrily behind him.
My heart thundered in my ears as I took a small step back. I’d witnessed an Ever fight before, even participated in it. But this—this was different. I could feel the swell of Zeverin’s power surging through the ground and coating the air. He may not have been the first Ever to grace our world, but there was no doubt in my mind that he was a direct descendant of Rebellyn. And he was significantly older and more powerful than Orin had been.
Rorik, though, only laughed. Pieces of his glamour fell away as he stretched his neck from side to side. First his twin black horns pushed through his hairline. Then his black-and-gold wings. His fangs. His nails. The golden exoskeleton across his skin.
“I think I’m going to enjoy this,” Rorik said, his voice lethal.
Zeverin’s eyes lit with challenge. “Let’s see how pitiful you truly are.”
Just then, a resounding crack resonated through the air as a yawning chasm began to zigzag in a wide circle around the lawns. Bubbling lava filled the gaping wound in the earth and devoured tables and food as they tumbled beneath the shifting ground. Evers screamed as they backed away from the quickly widening moat of boiling heat, clambering together in the middle to avoid Zeverin’s wrath and the brawl that was about to unfold between him and Rorik.
“Seville, get Edira out of here,” Rorik snarled.
She hesitated, her gaze snapping from Rorik to Zeverin, then reached for my wrist. That solitary second was enough for Kara to react, and she lunged toward Seville. With a heavy thud, Kara slammed into Seville and took her straight to the ground. A mirage bloomed to life, encompassing them both, and the two of them disappeared. Zeverin acted at the same moment, his ire solely focused on his son. Roaring flames coalesced in his palms and then shifted to long whips that he gripped with both hands. He snapped one at Rorik’s feet, setting the already desiccated grass aflame, and Rorik leaped backward to avoid getting burned.
Run, Edira!he shouted down our bond.Run while they’re distracted!
My head whipped around. The moat of lava had cut us off from the road and was too wide to cross. Only Evers with wings dared to take to the sky and evacuate, leaving the rest of us woefully stranded. Beads of sweat dripped from the base of my neck down my spine. Earsplitting howling like that of two large cats fighting sounded from somewhere to my left, and I heard the distinct thump of a fist connecting with flesh. Even if I couldn’t see Seville and Kara, I could never mistake the sound of Seville’s murderous hiss. Taking off in the opposite direction, I made a beeline for the moat.
“Get back here!” Zeverin roared. His whip cracked through the air and snared my leg. The flames ate away at the silken fabric of my pants in seconds, and searing heat lassoed my calf. I shrieked as I fell to the ground, tears gathering in the corners of my eyes. All around me the parched grass went up in flames. We’d be trapped in a wildfire within minutes if this didn’t end. Rorik screamed wordlessly as he lunged for Zeverin. With one hand, he summoned barbed black vines that shot up from the earth and constricted Zeverin’s limbs. Blood oozed from the multitude of cuts lining his body, and his whips went limp. Scooting free, I winced as the swollen, shiny flesh of my leg caught on a rock.
Problem for later.I jerked my head back around, trying in vain to find an escape route. I scanned the lawns, pausing for a moment when I spied the ancestor tree. One way or another, we’d get what we came for. That, at least, I could do.
“You cannot defeat me,” Zeverin said, and laughed. His body went up in flames, and the vines dusted to nothing. Rorik circled him slowly, keeping his attention focused on him and off me. They snarled at each other, their powers ebbing and flowing as they both tried to find openings. Gingerly, I eased myself onto my feet and edged toward the tree. A pained cry threatened to spill from my lips, but I bit my tongue hard and held it in. One step. Another. The tree loomed before me, its arms shifting and swaying in harsh, disjointed twitches. I wondered if it sensed me coming. I wondered if it knew.
A high-pitched scream rent the air, and I looked back to see Seville and Kara tumble out of the mirage. Seville had fashioned a wooden thorn and run it through Kara’s side. Blood wept from the wound and pooled across her clothing. But Seville was far from uninjured. Gashes lined her own arms and legs, and her cheek was split from her jaw to her temple. Her frantic eyes scoured the area until they landed on me.
And then Zeverin struck. He re-formed his whips and sent them both toward Seville. Her howl crested above the battle as two snakelike flames wrapped her thighs and burned away at her clothes. The biting odor of burned flesh singed the air. The withered grass surrounding her and Kara lit within seconds. Adrenaline raced through me, chasing away my pain, and I made a move to run toward her. But her gaze locked with mine for a beat. She shook her head once.
Go.She didn’t have to say it for me to know what she wanted.
Rorik charged Zeverin and drove his elongated nails into his rib cage, spearing him like meat and lifting him upward. Rivers of red flowed over his hands and down his forearms. His father’s blood.
“You’ll never touch her again,” he snarled.
“They are bothmine,” Zeverin screamed. He brought his palms to Rorik’s wrists and coaxed fire to life between his fingers. Rorik hissed as he retracted his hands from Zeverin’s chest. Hungry flames devoured the lawns, and more Evers were shrieking and begging Zeverin to stop. He heard none of their pleas.
