Page 36 of Only Flames Remain

I had to remind myself she wasn’t fae. She was human.

A smattering of nearly invisible freckles dotted her cheeks and nose, an intoxicating blush painting her translucent skin. I had barely spoken to her and yet she had somehow already burrowed beneath my skin. I strode toward Ren’s quarters, trying my best—and failing—to press the thoughts of the human out of my mind.

She belonged to Kallias.

I needed to remember that she was merely a bargaining chip. A beautiful one at that, but nothing more. I inhaled deeply as I entered his rooms, slamming the door shut behind me.

“Sorin?” his voice called from the adjacent study.

I pressed my black tunic down to adjust it as I strode forward. He swiveled in his chair to gaze up at me, a scroll of parchment open on the desk beneath him. A quill was raised in his hand.

He smirked up at me, a knowing glint flashing in his eyes. “Unique beauty, yes?”

I narrowed my darkened gaze on him.

“You knew she was beautiful, didn’t you,” I accused. “Are you…punishing me?”

Ren shook his head. “No, Sorin. I am not punishing you. I simply think we stand to gain from using her against Myros. Against Kallias. Seeing if she truly is a spy, placed right beneath our noses by the royals.”

I raised a brow at him. “And if it turns out that she is?” I asked, crossing my arms over my broad chest.

Ren’s expression morphed now; the lines of his face growing taut. “Then we will deal with her the same way we deal with all traitors to our kingdom and to the realm.”

Death by dragon fire.

But she was so…so…human. So delicate. So fragile.

She posed no true risk to us other than the havoc she could wreak through surveillance and manipulation. I threw myself down onto the chair beside his desk, concealing my wings entirely as not to crush them behind me as I leaned back. I scrubbed a hand down my face, frustration simmering as if it were a hot coal in my core.

“What are you doing?” I asked, nodding toward the parchment laid out on the desk before him.

“Drafting a letter for you to send to Prince Kallias, of course. King Faris and Queen Dyata may know of her true location…but I highly doubt the princeling does. He would never agree to send her to a rival kingdom when he pushes so hard against his own betrothal to Lady Astryn.”

“And you know all this…” I trailed off, motioning with my hand for him to continue.

Ren sometimes forgot I had so much on my plate these days that I hardly had time to keep up with every tidbit of gossip and politics that circulated throughout the castle. It was important that he acted as my eyes and ears.

“Vash,” he replied simply.

“We haven’t heard from Vash in weeks—” I started, but Ren slid an opened letter toward me across the desk as he returned to the parchment before him.

“A missive came in this morning. He has gathered information for us from inside the castle in Myros. You were right…he has done well as our informant.”

My eyes danced back and forth as I quickly read the message. Tensions between the pretty human and Queen Dyata had reached an all-time high. Their relationship had always been tumultuous, but it continued to deteriorate the closer she and Kallias grew. It wasn’t unlikely that she would do anything to be rid of her.

Out of sight, out of mind.

Perhaps it had been Queen Dyata who had sent her across the sea after all. Never to be seen or heard from again. Ren was right; there was no way the prince would have known about this and agreed.

The letter fell from my grip and fluttered to the floor as the door to Ren’s chambers burst open, startling me. My head snapped up as a commotion stirred in the entryway.

Ren’s face screwed up in agitation. “Does no one believe in knocking anymore?”

It was Emrys who had barged in, his hair windswept as if he had just returned from a flight. His brow was covered in sweat, his heart racing hard enough for the vein in his neck to pulse vigorously.

“Have you heard?” he asked, eyes darting back and forth between me and Ren.

“Sorry!” a small voice called from behind him, pushing him aside. “Sorry, I tried to stop him!”