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Pain exploded behind her eyes as she swayed. Dante pulled her closer.

She grimaced as she took a deep breath. “I can hear the Anki. They are calling for the O’hurani.”

Dante held onto her as she used all her willpower not to cover her ears. It wouldn’t make a difference. The voices were coming from within her mind. “They are clamoring to be heard.”

“Can they sense you?”

Rieka paused. How could she describe it to Dante? The connection was more vibrant than anything she had ever known. It burned with the fires of a thousand dying suns that threatened to consume everything in its path. Pure power convulsed through her veins, tempting her, but it would surely consume her and spit her out once it was done. Addictive as a drug, and each time she had access to it, she could feel it changing her, taking a little more of her humanity. Just as she could hear them—they were privy to her most intimate thoughts when the connection was open, like now. The connection was almost as strong as the pull Dante had on her. “Yes. But they haven’t found the O’hurani.”

“We have a chance of finding him first.”

We. Rieka should be worried about how they were going to survive, instead of how the word sent butterflies through her.

Lucien lifted something from the coffin. A dusty black sword. Rieka’s heart skipped a beat as Dante stopped moving. Vandana’s sword. It looked just like the blade in her visions but aged by time. Lucien held something else in his other hand. A crown. The tiny details were intricate and magnificent. The crown’s palisades were short sharp stakes that were interwoven with pale flowers and delicate stems. It looked flawlessly preserved, as if it was only created yesterday. Lucien held it up, locking eyes with her as the crown turned to dust in his hand.

“A kingdom of broken dreams and ash…how fitting, Mother,” Lucien said.

Each word pierced Rieka like a knife. It threatened to break her into a thousand pieces if Dante hadn’t been holding her up.

Lucien blew the rest of the ash left on his palm over the cracked coffin. He picked up the silver pendant and closed his eyes.

“We need to move,” Dante whispered as he pulled her along the bridge.

“No, wait . . .”

A giant jagged piece of rock dropped from the ceiling, landing just in front of them. Debris exploded all around them. Rieka choked back a gasp as Dante grabbed her. Lucien was gone with the sword. And the pendant.

The bracelet had finally stopped glowing, the metal cool against her skin as the voices quieted. All that was left was a decrepit tomb that had aged in front of her eyes until it was nothing more than a husk of its former glory. Only ashes and dust.

“Wildfire.”

It was time to say goodbye to the past. She took one last look at the tomb and grabbed Dante’s hand. “Come on.”

DantepulledRiekacloser,savoring every moment. Rieka Sinha was his world, and he would destroy anyone who stood in his way. He had never been interested in playing the hero, and he wasn’t about to start. The wayfarers and serpopards were quickly regaining consciousness and beginning to move. Whatever spell Lucien had cast over them was faltering, leaving him and the others to fend for themselves.

“We need to get out of here now,” Talik interrupted as he sidestepped a falling boulder as the ground continued to vibrate. An angry expression crossed his features. “This place will not last much longer, and I really don’t want to deal with them.”

“Traitor.” Idris shouted. His thick neck strained, as bloody tears dripped from his eyes.

Khalida’s golden eyes glowed with an animalistic gleam, reminiscent of hunting wolves. She dragged her sword slowly across Idris’s throat, careful not to disfigure him. A single drop of blood streamed down his neck. “One could say the same to you.”

Idris spat at Khalida.

Talik pulled Idris back, the blaster aimed directly at his head.

“Rieka decides his fate,” Dante reminded them softly, ignoring the look of annoyance in Talik’s eyes. He looked over to Rieka.

“He lives for now.” Hesitation laced her tone, and she shook her head.

“There is a path—it goes upward and should keep us safe,” Chaucer interrupted. He slid between two large boulders, quietly landing near them. “It opens up after a hundred feet but should protect us from the debris. We will be able to find a way back to the surface.”

“I thought you had disappeared,” Talik accused. His black eyes flashed with malice.

“I’m not a traitor.” Pain flickered across Chaucer’s face as he stared at Dante before he looked at Rieka. “I swearkhatyaon Rieka’s life.”

Talik and Khalida straightened at the ancient term.

Khatya.Chaucer had just promised to protect Rieka at all costs. Dante stared at Chaucer; this was not a move he would have predicted. But he understood exactly what the Atlantean meant.