Page 125 of Only Flames Remain

Emrys, Valerian, Rensford, and the king were close on my heels as I left the remainder of them standing at the water’s edge.

“Sorin, we need to think about this. We can’t act in haste.” It was Rensford’s voice on my heels.

I whirled on him, wings already beating steadily at my back. “Did you hear her? She is locked in a prison cell! War will find us, no matter the path I choose now.”

“We understand your anger. It is entirely justified. But don’t be baited into doing something stupid. In this moment, we need to decipher what to do with the information that has been given to us. It is wise to remember—dead men pay no debts,” Emrys said.

My eyes were wild as my gaze bounced between all of them. “I already know what I am going to do.”

I turned once more, but Emrys gripped my shoulder. “It doesn’t need to be an all-out slaughter, Sorin. This is your magic talking. The bond is clouding your judgment. We don’t know enough about it. This could be a trap!”

“I know plenty,” I seethed through heaving breaths. “Live by the wing, die by the sword. I have made my choice, and I will not be taken down by a measly Ashbourne prince.”

A sharp pain in my side forced my eyes closed, and my hand flew over the wound to grasp it. I knew what I would find there if I rucked my tunic up.

The mage’s curse was back in all its terrible glory.

“We can take her back while leaving the royals alone,” Valerian suggested.

My little brother, so naïve.

Raw anger pulsed through me, unlike anything I had ever felt before. I was alight with fury, too far gone to bite it back and hear reason. A fresh swell of rage shot through me at the thought of letting her captors live. Of not doling out one final punishment.

My gaze narrowed, fists clenching at my sides.

“Sure, leaving them alone is one option.” I was trembling, my dragon form begging to surface as my nails turned into claws, biting into the flesh of my palms. The tang of fresh blood coated the air. “Do you know what another option is?” I asked.

Only silence answered me.

“Burning it all to the ground.”

CHAPTER 38

Aveline

The last thing I remembered was lying on the cot, the ship rocking softly beneath me as I cried myself to sleep. Everything had gone awry in the last forty-eight hours, and I yearned to go back in time. To never take Queen Dyata up on her offer.

Maybe if I had never met Sorin…things would be different.

But deep down, I knew that wasn’t true.

Sorin and I were fated. Our destiny was written in the stars, designed by the old gods long before either of us was even born. There was no escaping the fates.

I woke in another narrow cot, though this one was far less plush. It groaned beneath me as I sat up.

I was in a cell.

Godsdammit.

How could Kallias allow this to happen? I could feel the poison deep in my veins, my magic entirely suppressed from consciousness. He or his men had to have dosed me again.

Wasn’t this why my mother had vowed to protect me? So that others wouldn’t use my magic for their gain? I shook my head, a fresh tear spilling forth to paint my cheek. I was so frustrated. Mere months ago, I would have been overjoyed to be presented with everything I had once dreamed of.

I could have Kallias.

King Faris and Queen Dyata would bless our union, and I could rule Myros at his side.

But now…the taste of everything I had once wanted was bitter on my tongue.