Page 173 of By the Flames of Her Fury

and Pyraeth shall rise from death into dawn.

I rubbed my thumb along the edge of the phoenix amulet, remembering the first time I saw it. Maybe I truly had been destined for this. Every moment, every decision, had led me here.

I stacked the three amulets on top of each other. Closing my eyes, I funneled phoenix fire into my hands. The metal became soft and malleable in my grip. With an inhale, I slammed my hands together, forging the three into one.

For a heartbeat, everything went deathly silent.

And then a powerful shockwave erupted from the amulets in a ring of golden light, flooding the cave and disappearing into the walls. I flew backward and hit the wall behind me.

A resounding crack split the air, and the earth began to shake.

84

Vera

Huge chunks of rock fell from the ceiling, nearly crushing the wraith and me. From somewhere deep inside the tunnel system, more rumblings echoed. Cracks formed in the floor and splintered through the cavern.

“We have to go,” I urged the wraith. “This place is caving in. Can you move?”

Its shadows crawled along the wall as if using it to support itself. Satisfied that it would follow, I turned toward the entrance.

And something furry landed straight on my chest.

I yelped, and the cat hissed, then jumped to the ground with her tail held high. Her limbs elongated as long, black braids replaced the fur.

I gasped. “Tessa!” I launched at her, wrapping my arms around her and squeezing tight. “I thought you were dead!”

“It’s good to see you, too, Vera,” she said with a laugh. “Let me guess—you’re the reason this cave’s about to smush us into pancakes?”

“Probably a safe assumption.”

“What about the High Elders? Mortep?”

“Dead.”

She whistled. “You’ve been busy. But did you know that⁠—”

“Everett’s a shadow wraith? Yeah, I figured that part out.” I nudged my head toward the wraith floating behind me.

“Great.” She gave me a thumbs up. “Now let’s get off this island.” Tessa grabbed my hand and pulled, but a low moan from farther in the chamber made me pause.

There was one thing I forgot.

Rocks rained down in a slew around me as I searched for him. Stirring on the ground across the cave lay Starke, blood trickling from his temple where he’d hit the wall.

“Vera, come on,” Tessa urged. “This cave is falling apart!”

I closed my eyes with a sigh, mentally kicking myself for what I was about to do. “I can’t leave him.”

Tessa followed my gaze until she saw Starke’s limp body. “You’re kidding me.” As if in agreement, the wraith behind us let out a low, ominous hiss.

“You two go ahead. I’ll catch up,” I said, making my way around cascading rocks toward Starke. To my surprise, Tessa stomped at my side, mumbling a string of curses. I hoisted Starke’s half-conscious body up and propped my shoulder under one side, and Tessa grabbed the other.

“Fates, I hate this guy,” she grunted.

We half-dragged, half-carried him to the entrance, where the wraith’s shadows coiled and uncoiled in agitation. We stumbled into the tunnel just as the cavern behind us gave a deafening crack, then half the ceiling caved in. Dust mushroomed behind us, clouding my vision.

“Left!” Tessa called as we ran. I tightened my grip on Starke. “He’s a bunch of dead weight, isn’t he?” she huffed through gritted teeth.