Page 137 of By the Flames of Her Fury

Vessel. The word struck a chord in me. That was another one of the symbols we’d seen in the crypt. These people were nothing but disposable vessels for the Elders to drain and discard.

The Elders had tricked me. I promised to help them, all while they were hiding the most vile, unforgivable secret. I didn’t realize my hands were shaking until Starke touched my elbow, and I flinched away. He immediately dropped his hand.

“They must be stopped, Vera,” Sloane said. “They almost massacred the entire kingdom trying to find someone powerful enough to sustain their life, but it wasn’t enough. And now they’re desperate. If you raise Pyraeth, they won’t stop. They’ll go through every single person in every single land if that’s what it takes to keep themselves alive.”

“They’ll find the Veridian Empire,” I whispered.

Sloane nodded. “They’ll kill all of your people for a drop of their power. It will never end.”

“Unless you end it,” Dom finished.

Silence rang through the air, but it wasn’t quiet. It beat against my temple like a gong. I raked my fingers through my hair, pulling several strands out with a tug.

I didn’t know why it was so unthinkable that the Elders would do something this sickening. Hadn’t I learned long ago that people in power only wanted more power? More magic, more money, more life, and that they’d do anything to attain it?

What was the point in trying to help, in trying to find the goodness within myself, if it was all for this? To be used in an endless cycle of abuse and violence and power-hungry tyrants. I put my faith in the three Elders, disregarded the worries of the man I loved most in this world, only to be manipulated. Again. How did I know who to trust when I couldn’t even trust my own instincts?

You know who you can trust, I thought. The one person who’s always stood at your side, even when you didn’t stand by him.

“Before I do anything, I have to get Everett,” I said firmly. “If they—if they try to siphon his life—” I cut myself off with a sharp inhale.

Tessa squeezed my shoulder. “We’ll stop them before anything happens, Vera.”

“But how are you going to find him?” Starke cut in. “He could be anywhere on this island.”

Tessa snapped her fingers. “There was a spell that Milo—our Alchemist back home—did last year to find Scarven. It conjured an image of him in real time so we could see where he was. Vera, can you do something like that?”

“I don’t know many spells,” I admitted. Alchemy was my weakest of the six magics. I only knew bits and pieces of the basics.

“Alchemist?” Dom asked with a tilt of his head.

“Oh, right. You people probably call it something different,” Tessa said. “In our empire, Alchemists can do spells and stuff.”

“So, a mage,” Sloane said. “That’s Dom’s dominant type of magic; maybe he can help.”

Dom nodded. “Do you remember what your mage did? The exact words he spoke?”

Tessa’s forehead pinched, her eyes moving back and forth as if searching through her memory. “He used a bunch of herbs, then lit them on fire and said the spell. It sounded like vad—no, vid…Vidio?” Her eyes shut for a second, then shot open. “Vidia! That was it.”

“Is that all?” I asked. “He just lit the herbs on fire?”

Her face fell. “And…he had something that belonged to the person we were trying to find.”

My stomach sank. “I don’t have anything of Everett’s. But if I stride back to the palace, I can go through his room⁠—”

“Absolutely not,” Starke cut in. “We can’t let you go back, V.”

I whirled on him, palms warming. “Excuse me?”

He threw his hands in the air. “They’ll be waiting for you. You’d be walking into a trap.”

“I don’t care what they do to me. I have to find him.” Sparks flew from the tips of my fingers. “And when I do, I’ll make them regret every moment of their infinite existence for touching him.”

Heat swelled in the room, thick enough to make Dom dab the sweat from his forehead. “He has a point. Going back to the palace could be dangerous.” At the look on my face, Dom flinched and conceded. “But perhaps if you know exactly what to look for, you can be quick. Magic is flexible. Any item that belongs to him, or even one that used to. Clothing, or a weapon, or⁠—”

“Wait.” My eyes widened. I couldn’t believe I forgot. I yanked my bag open and pulled out the first letter my fingers touched. “Everett wrote this, so it was technically his at one point. Would that work?”

Dom shrugged. “I don’t see why not.”