Page 62 of By the Flames of Her Fury

Tessa snorted. “How can we, when you remind us every five seconds?”

Vera ignored them both, her eyes still trained on me. “You should find someone to take you back to the empire.”

My nostrils flared. “Give me one good reason.”

“Because that’s your home, Everett.”

“It’s your home, too,” I argued. “That’s where you belong.” With me, I wanted to add.

“That may be where you belong, but not me,” she snapped. “Not anymore.”

The words landed like a stone in my gut. Her forehead pinched before she schooled her features, bringing that armor back into place. The defensive posture, the sharp lines of her face, warding off anything that would make her feel.

But the one thing she could never change was those eyes. Eyes that bared her soul open to me like a scroll. She wasn’t unbreakable. She was scared. She was alone.

“I’m not leaving you, Vera,” I said. “It’s always been you and me.”

Her jaw twitched. “Everett, I⁠—”

“What are you so afraid of?” I moved closer, and her defiant gaze dragged from my lips to my eyes. “That maybe I won’t let you walk away this time?”

She held my stare. “I’m not afraid.”

“Good,” I murmured. I closed the last inch of space between us, and her amber scent wrapped around me. “Then say yes. We won’t stop until he’s on his knees.”

She inhaled, her chest expanding and brushing mine. I couldn’t stop my eyes from flicking to her lips and back up again. Resistance crackled between us like lightning. For a moment, I forgot anyone else was in the room.

She didn’t say a word, but with a slow, precise movement, she nodded her head. My lips curved into a victorious grin, and I leaned in without thinking.

Starke’s voice ruptured our bubble. “V, you can’t be serious.”

She blinked rapidly, then backed away from me and turned to him. The motion stung like a cold knife scraping down my chest.

“You told me you’d help me fight,” she said to Starke. “Everett can, too. He wants the same thing I do.”

Starke’s icy blue eyes found mine. They measured me, tested me, weighed me. Fates, his feelings for her were so obvious. I wondered if he saw the same thing I did when I looked at him. A man in love with the woman between us.

His jaw ticked, but he gave her a single nod. “Fine. I guess we should tell them everything. I’ll go get Odessa.” With one last look back at us, Starke strode from the room, and the door shut with a click.

“You two don’t have to come with us,” I said to Tessa and Kieran. Kieran stood with his arms crossed, as put-together as ever even after the night we had. Tessa dropped into the nearest chair and put her feet up on the side table.

“Who are you kidding, Ev?” Tessa scoffed, twisting a strand of her black braids around a finger. “Things are finally getting good.”

“I believe what she means to say is that we’re not going to leave you unaccompanied with these people,” Kieran said. “We have our duties to the empress, of course, but we can always fulfill those once we’ve found Mortep. Our duty is first and foremost to one another.” He inclined his head toward Vera. “To both of you. Through flame and ash.”

Vera’s face paled at the Ashen Order’s motto. She glanced between all of us, opening her mouth and then closing it. Finally, she cleared her throat. “Thank you,” she said, voice softer than I expected, then looked away. I started to move toward her when the door opened.

Starke walked back in with another young woman at his side. “Everyone, this is Odessa Velyn. She’s a close friend and historian for our harbormaster.”

The rest of us introduced ourselves. Odessa pushed a pair of wide spectacles up her nose and nodded at us. A mass of dark brown curls was held back by a leather strap, but a few strands came loose and framed her face. A pencil was stuck behind her ear, and a couple of books were tucked under her arm. She held out her hand to shake mine and sent the books tumbling to the ground.

“Oh, I—I’m so sorry,” she said with a grimace, bending low to retrieve them.

To my surprise, Kieran stepped around me and crouched to the ground. “Allow me.” He set both books back in her outstretched arms, his hand lingering on hers for a heartbeat too long. Her cheeks darkened as they both rose, and she quickly looked away. Kieran stood there, transfixed, still gazing at her until I coughed.

“I brought the map you asked for, Starke,” Odessa said, pulling a weathered piece of parchment from one of the books.

“What map?” I asked.