Page 148 of By the Flames of Her Fury

When I got closer, I saw blackened veins pulsing beneath Sloane’s skin, slowly turning it to ash. Her flesh cracked, and her eyes were glassy and dim. Unseeing.

I didn’t even know this woman, but she gave her life to rescue me. My chest tightened. I reached out and gently shut her eyes. “Thank you, Sloane,” I whispered. She would never know how thankful I was.

Silent tears slipped from Tessa’s nose. Vera set Sloane down and wiped at her own eyes, leaving more ash coating her cheeks. “We have to go.” Her voice trembled. “The fire isn’t slowing down.”

Sure enough, the sound of roaring flames wasn’t far behind. I helped Vera to her feet and kept a hand at her back as we ran. The air was heavy with grief. The ability to keep going while Sloane’s body was left behind weighed on us.

Another shock hit me when we rounded the next corner. Ahead stood Captain Starke battling two armored guards. His sword sparked against one of theirs as he blocked them, then whirled to jab his dagger at another.

“There they are!” one of the guards shouted, pointing at us. “We can’t let them leave!”

Vera took off at a run, shooting a whip of lightning at one of Starke’s attackers. It wrapped around his neck, and she yanked him to the ground. Tessa sprang through the air in her regular-sized jaguar form and tackled the other one. His blade glinted as he stabbed her in the flank. Tessa yowled and pried off the top of his armor with her claws. Her teeth sank into his neck. Blood spewed from the wound, and he went still.

The one on the ground scrambled upright. Starke lunged and caught him by the throat, ripping off his helmet. The guard took one look at his fallen comrade, then back at us.

A disembodied voice rang out, as if coming from the stone itself. Arcadia’s words vibrated through the space. “Take him.”

My muscles clenched, preparing for the guard to come after me.

Instead, he grabbed Starke’s arm and vanished in thin air.

71

Everett

Once we were outside the wards of the catacombs, Vera used her striding magic to get us back to where she and Tessa had come from. It looked like an underground bunker, with stone surrounding us on all sides and bunk beds built into the wall itself. People milled about the space, carrying small plates of food or piles of notes back and forth in the tunnel system.

“What is this place?” I asked Vera and Tessa.

“A shelter, kind of,” Vera said, voice haggard. “Sloane found me in my room at the palace after you were taken. Said she was there to spy on the High Elders, and then she brought us here to help find you. It’s their base.”

My mind struggled to put all the pieces together. “A shelter for who? Who are these people?”

Vera shared a look with Tessa. Vera looked more tired than I’d ever seen her. Her skin was pale, and her golden eyes had lost their spark. Losing Sloane and then Starke’s disappearance had done a number on her. It took Tessa and me both to convince her not to go looking for him in the caves—that was exactly what the Elders wanted: to keep her in their grip.

“Come here,” Vera said quietly, and she pulled against the wall, away from the strangers walking around. Tessa stayed behind to talk with one of the rebels.

“Look, you were right not to trust the Elders,” Vera said. “I’m so sorry, I should’ve listened to you from the beginning.”

My gut churned. Flashes of that altar and the painful, golden light burst across my mind. “What have they been doing, Vera? I know it’s something horrible, but I still don’t understand.”

Her brow furrowed. “Remember those bodies in the catacombs, where I found you?” She picked anxiously at the hem of her shirt. “Those are all bodies of dead Pyraethis. People the High Elders killed in a ritual, just like—just like the one they tried to do to you.”

I blinked slowly. Their cracked skin, the darkness beneath their flesh, faces frozen in anguish. They had all once been in my place. That could have so easily been me.

“What did they do to them?” I asked hoarsely.

“They drained their life force,” she said.

“What? Why would they do that?”

“To take it for themselves. It’s a ritual that helps them live longer,” Vera explained. “The Elders want to be immortal. The rebels told us how the Elders are actually the firstborn children of the original demithes, and when their parents died, they became obsessed with eternal life. They’ve lived for centuries by siphoning life force from others.”

“Even from their own people?” I asked, mouth agape. Vera nodded with a wince. “So they’re murdering them.” Sourness coated my stomach, filling me with both sorrow and rage. I looked around at the Pyraethis walking through the tunnels. “Are they safe down here?”

“As safe as they can be. Everyone who’s left has used their magic to keep themselves hidden.”

My gaze sharpened on her. “What do you mean, everyone who’s left?”