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“You will know them,” he answered. “Bastien gave them new positions with special uniforms.”

She didn’t get a chance to ask another question because the front gates were opening and a seraph was walking towards them. He had pristine white wings, and his blonde hair brushed his brow. He paused when he saw her standing there, then his lip curled back when his gaze flicked to Razik.

“Keres and Varlis obviously failed,” he said, fire winding down his arms.

“He’s observant,” Razik said dryly.

She almost let a laugh slip out. “You are the one leading my forces?” Eliza demanded.

“I am the one leading the Fire Court armies,” the seraph replied, his fire flaring brighter.

It didn’t matter.

Eliza released a wave of flame that rose up before crashing down on the seraph.

“Let’s go,” she said, walking past the still burning male.

So excessively violent, mai dragocen, Razik purred down the bond.

Her lips did twitch then.

As they stalked along the path to the main doors, guards rushed to meet them, and she saw what Conrade had been talking about. Most of the guards were in the usual Fire Court guard attire, but some had gold tunics with fine embroidery on it rather than the standard deep red and black. One of the guards in red skidded to a halt when he realized who she was.

“General? They told us Prince Sorin was dead, and that everyone else had abandoned the Court,” he said, a mixture of shock and relief in his eyes. Two of the three guards in gold appeared to be trying to slink into the back of the group, but the third had straightened and puffed out his chest. She knew him too. Bronn.

“Eliza,” he said tightly.

“General,” she corrected with a sharp glare. “Or, if you’d rather, your Highness, as I will occupy the throne of this Court very soon.”

“You will never make it to him. We have seraphs with fire nearly as powerful as yours,” he mocked, his companions in gold getting a little braver.

“And you?” she asked, flames beginning to creep up her legs, over her knees, up to her torso. “Will those same seraphs protect you?”

Bronn glanced up, but Eliza didn’t need to. She’d already heard their rustling wings and shouted commands. Bronn looked back at her, a taunting smirk on his lips.

Until Eliza smirked back, her arms encompassed in flames now too. She looked at Razik. “You take the sky, I’ll take the ground?”

“Do I actually get to do something now?” Razik asked, arching a brow.

“Do you not want to join me in excessive violence?”

A wicked grin of his own appeared. “Always,mai dragocen.”

There was a soft flash of black light, and he was flapping his newly healed wings, a roar of challenge sounding as he went to face the seraphs. She wished she could watch him wreak havoc in the sky, but she had her own carnage to make.

She turned back to Bronn as she let her flames wind up farther into her hair, nothing but a burning female of wrath now. “Shall we?” she asked, drawing her sword.

“General, we didn’t know,” one of the guards in red started.

“I’m aware, Tobias.” He seemed relieved, until she added, “But I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this matter in a training ring when this is all over.”

He nodded, his face paling a little. They all knew whenshejoined them in a training ring, there was a reason for it. Rarely was that reason a good one.

She didn’t have time to think about any of that right now, though. Not as Bronn advanced, choosing to fight rather than try to talk her out of ending him. Honorable, but pointless.

When sword met sword, her fire rushed down her blade, wrapping around his. She paused for the briefest of moments because that had never happened before. Bronn let out a yelp and dropped his sword as if it had burned him. Which was also odd because he had fire magic and shouldn’t be able to feel the burn of flames.

Bronn’s eyes went wide in shock a moment later when she sank the still burning spirit sword into his chest.