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Kaira’s chuckle bubbles through the mist like rain falling onto a water-deprived meadow, the sound so startling it makes Herinor cringe all over again. This time, I don’t miss the blush creeping all the way to his nose.

“You’re all fucking bastards,” Clio clarifies, turning on her heels and marching ahead into the no-longer-depths of a mostly vanished forest.

We follow without question, even when I really want to know if she’ll escort us the whole way to the Flame residence. Recienne might have sent us in alone to prove our good intentions for this alliance, but Clio seems to be dead-set on keeping us company anyway.

Whirls of ashes dance around scorched tree trunks in magical bleakness, guiding my attention to the myriads of pathways that could once have led to my freedom. Our footsteps are the only sound, though. Not one bird flutters in the sky; not one rodent scurries between the occasional pillar of steam rising from the ground.

The path is wide enough for three of us to walk next to each other, but Myron grabs my hand, pulling me to a halt at the back of the group while the others march on at a slow and steady pace. They could shift and fly. Clio could site-hop. Apparently, screening the wasteland for any sign oflife is more important than speed, so they stick to walking lest they miss a footprint, a broken twig, a fiber of fabric, a feather, or anything that would hint at where to find our target. We’re on a mission after all.

Brushing a thumb across the back of my palm, Myron turns toward me, ocean-blue eyes capturing mine with ease. I don’t want to stare at him like a complete fool, but when it comes to this male, apparently I have no sense of shame. Because I’m shamelessly ogling his beautiful features, the way his leathers stretch over the expanse of his shoulders?—

“I’ve never lied to you,” he interrupts my train of thought before I can catch fire the way the forest did not too long ago.

“Because you can’t lie,” I repeat Kaira’s earlier point.

With a swift tug on my hand, I’m chest to chest with the Crow King, the pommel of his sword pressing against my spine where his sword hand is resting on the small of my back. Midnight lashes frame the endless waters of his gaze, and I’m tempted to lose myself in there. “Because I’d never lie to you, even if I could. You’re my mate, my queen, the beginning and end of my world. If I have no kingdom in this realm, you’ll be my kingdom instead.” My breath catches as he lowers his face a few inches, his scent of earth and moss and the salt of the coastal brine climbing into my nose, making my entire being listen. “If there’s nothing left for me in this world but you, I’ll have all I need. I’ll thank the gods and be a happy male.”

I no longer know where the others are. I thought I heard them a few paces ahead, but the world has gone silent behind Myron’s shield; the wind has ebbed, the taste of the destruction the wildfire left around us swept away by Myron’sbreath on my tongue as he leans in so close I can feel the warmth of his lips in the slightest of touches.

“You’remine, Ayna.”

His words race through me like a string of fire itself, only to be soothed by the brush of his tongue against mine as I inhale his kiss.

“And I’myours.” He kisses me deep and slow, my skin tingling from where his mouth molds over mine to where he’s securing my hand against his heart. “Together,Ayna… Together,we’re eternal.”

I’m about to wrap myself around his body when Royad’s shout of warning shoves me right out of the dreamy state Myron seems to be so perfect at sending me into with nothing more than a glance, a touch, a single kiss.

Cursing the gods, the Guardians, and all other beings who might have an impact on this realm with their godly acts, I detach from Myron, who has already raised his sword, a shield of silver power shimmering around us like a wall of solid, gleaming air.

“If I asked you to hide, would you at least consider it?” His frown is proof of how well he’s been holding back his protective side, allowing me to decide whether I want to face whatever gruesomeness is awaiting us where the others disappeared behind a cluster of dead trees.

“Consider, yes. Actually hide—” Shaking my head so wildly my hair threatens to pull free from my braid, I inform Myron there is no way in this world I’ll stand by and watch him risk his life while I remain tucked away somewhere supposedly safe.

I get it, though. The impulse to protect him is a relentless hum in my chest, ready to push me over the limits just to see him spared from harm. It’s enough to jerk me into motion.

Myron follows me toward the others, his footsteps so much quieter than mine as we sneak up on the copse of dead trees they disappeared behind. In my veins, a thrum of power rises, welling like a wild ocean as fear grips me tighter with every pace. Shadows are moving by the trees, but I can’t make out what they are. I count the absence of winged fairies as a plus. At least, it isn’t Ephegos’s traitor crows.

At least that’s what I hope. No matter how well we fight, we’re a small group, and Ephegos has the traitors and Erina’s soldiers at his disposal. Not to speak of the magic-sedating weapon. If he found us, we’re fucked.

The sizzle of Myron’s shield grazes my hand as I reach forward with my blade to shove aside a branch. The charred thing crumbles at my touch, dropping to the ground in a pile of black ashes.

It’s then that I spot them a few paces behind the trees, slender silver blades sheathed at their hips and hands raised in front of their chests, palms outward as if in defense. It’s not the desire for peace that drives them to perform that gesture, though. Sparks of orange flame rain down from their fingers, searching their way across the scorched ground right to the side where Kaira and the Crows are standing.

Flattening myself against the trunk of a dead tree, I pull Myron with me, out of sight from the Flames. If we’re lucky, they haven’t noticed us, and we can sneak up on them from the other side.

Our luck won’t go as far.

Just when Myron’s weight leans into me behind the tree, back against my chest so we both fit into the slender hideout, someone screams, and all hell breaks loose.

Ayna

A gustof heat sears my throat, making my lungs spasm as a wall of fire hits our tree. Kaira’s scream is replaced with my dry one a second before Myron’s magic blasts the tree behind us apart. Burning splinters of wood fly through the air like in an explosion of lightning and fire, and part of me understands what happened in the Crow palace all those months ago, how they thought something went wrong with the combination of Flame magic and Crow power. Itisthe combination that tore Myron’s home to rubble.

“Don’t fight, and you’ll keep your lives.” One of the Flames steps out of the perfectly straight line they’reforming, his leather armor fitted and his hair cascading down over his shoulders like flames of their own.

“Arebar—” The sound of Kaira’s voice brings instant relief. The name she’s speaking, however, brings terror.

Arebar crosses half the distance between the line of Fire Fairies and my friends, his gaze directed at Kaira. “It’s been a while, child.”