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Pelysian’s mother seemed to be waiting for me to speak. Slowly, I got to my feet.

Despite what Sabium would do to those who remained loyal to me, a smile played around my mouth. For so long, he had imagined me caged. Declawed.

“I suppose there are worse things than being a monster. Such as being leashed by one.”

Now, he knew better. I was no longer leashed by him. Had never truly been declawed.

I might not have the grimoire, but I was free. My son was free.

And now, I would ensure Sabium regretted everything he had done to me.

MADINIA

The temperature was cooler this close to the Normathe Mountains. That was a blessing as we tore through the forest in the heat of the day. But it would be a curse tonight when we were no longer moving.

I stumbled on some undergrowth, turning my ankle. I was too tired to curse. Besides, the young boy in my arms had begun to shiver. His burns must have been agonizing, but he was still in that deep, unnatural sleep.

A girl of around fifteen winters had taken the other boy, after breathlessly introducing herself to me as Narmena. Our group had been running for hours, although I could hardly call our stumbling trot a run. When we finally stopped to gulp at water from a stream, I removed my tunic, sank it in the cold water, and wrapped it around the boy.

“His name is Darnis,” Whirna whispered, pushing his hair off his face. Her hair held the same dark hue,the occasional strand lightened by the sun. Most of their features were similar too, from their sharp chins to the scattering of freckles across both their noses.

A large part of me was worried about the trauma and the travel sending Whirna into sudden labor. If that happened…

“The fire came so quickly,” she said, pressing a kiss to his brow. “I didn’t have time…”

I didn’t tell her he would be okay. But I spent several seconds brutally damning the gods for giving me the power of fire but not the power to fix burns.

I was a creature created for destruction, not healing. But that didn’t mean I couldn’t regret.

“Is everyone ready?” I asked.

Exhausted nods. No one complained. All of us were aware of what was at stake. The iron guards were coming. Some of those groups that’d fled would be found and slaughtered. It was inevitable, but my mouth flooded with rage and bitterness all the same.

I shouldn’t even be here. This shouldn’t be my problem. If not for the fucking barrier, I would have fled this continent the moment we’d escaped from Regner’s castle.

I should be in some distant land, where my greatest issue was choosing which dress to wear to dinner. I shouldn’t be feeling a young boy shiver his life away as I led a stunned, desperate group of hybrids through the forest.

This was all Prisca’s fault.

That bitch got beneath my skin. She made mecare.

Now, I would be forced to watch as these peopledied one by one. Likely, I would bleed out in this fucking forest myself.

“Madinia?”

I forced some of the rage from my face. With a wave of my hand, we continued our desperate charge toward safety.

7

Madinia

We buried Darnis in a small clearing close to a stream.

Whirna lay on the ground, clutched at the dirt, and sobbed. Most of the others were crying too. I stared at the tiny grave, throat tight, eyes burning.

Would he have lived if we’d made it to the Asric Pass? Vicer had almost certainly stationed healers there. I had simply been too slow.

The world spun dizzily around me, and I stumbled.