Page 25 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury (House of Embers #1)

Umara kept shooting flames long after the man died. Screams rang in my ears, but I couldn’t focus on them. No. Instead, my attention was fixed on Umara, and the fury that violently coursed through the bond. “Umara, you have to stop!”

Pain. Worry. A fear that went so deep, it struck me down to the bone and paralyzed me. But it wasn’t my fear. It was Umara’s. “Umara!” Her emotions were like a tsunami, and I was helpless against the tide.

“Get her under control!” Kieran barked.

I tore my gaze away from Umara’s roars and spotted Nimue helping escort the crowd away.

When did they get here? But I didn’t have time to focus on that or the fact that two people had just tried to kill me.

Umara was completely overwhelmed with her rage.

If she kept going, a civilian might get killed.

“Umara!” I shouted again. She ignored me and kept firing at the pile of ash.

Dammit. I’d have to try harder. My heart hammered.

I grabbed her face and forced her gaze to meet mine.

Fog clouded her eyes, but it cleared as soon as I touched her.

The tsunami of emotions receded to the ocean, no longer trapping me in place.

“I’m okay. You protected me. I’m okay. ”

Umara breathed heavily, smoke filling my vision, but her eyes never left my face. Her flames stopped, and she tilted her head so that our foreheads pressed against each other. I kept my hands on her face and stroked her scales. “I’m okay. Thank you, Umara. You saved me. I’m okay.”

“Get inside,” Kieran snapped. Umara growled at him, but Kieran didn’t back down. “There could be more people. She needs to stay safe.”

Umara chuffed smoke but pulled away.

“Hurry.” Kieran scanned the crowd. “Nimue.”

“On it.” Nimue grabbed my arm and tugged me inside, her expression pinched. “We’re in deep shit. That was too public.”

My stomach flipped. Now that I had time to process… Holy Family, she was right. “Someone tried to kill me at the bar yesterday.”

Nimue stilled, and then swirled on me, her nostrils flaring. “Do you have a death wish? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because…” Words failed me. I should have told her. I trusted her—at least more than anyone else here. Why didn’t I tell her? My mouth dried. “I’m sorry.”

Nimue exhaled. “Don’t do it again. I should’ve been more cautious. We knew you’d have a target on your back, but this…” We’d gotten too comfortable thinking the nobles would back down once Umara claimed me.

Everyone was seated in the common room by the time we entered.

From the pinched expressions on Gareth’s and Ben’s faces, they’d been told what happened.

It wasn’t like Umara’s roar was quiet. Aurelia didn’t look shocked.

Was she behind the attack? Or maybe her family.

I almost asked her, but it’d be stupid to let her know I suspected her.

If she was behind this, my question would be her cue to be even sneakier.

How the hell can I survive here when everyone wants me dead?

“What happened?” Gareth demanded.

“Two men attacked me. Umara torched them.” I looked down at my shoulder. The cut twinged the moment I looked at it. Gareth jumped from his seat and began healing it.

“It’s a wonder it took someone this long to attack.” Aurelia smirked. “A commoner and a thief?” She snorted. “No noble or peasant would accept that. Let alone Andova. Though of course another street rat decided to take the shot.”

“It doesn’t make sense for commoners to attack me.” I clenched my jaw. “Someone hired them.”

“Why do you think so?” Gareth asked.

I scoffed. “They attacked in the middle of the day in an open space. It was a suicide mission. Only someone desperate would take that sort of job. I bet someone promised them a good amount of money for their families.” There were rumors about the underground market…

about people who preyed on those desperate souls.

I’d seen the look in the first man’s eyes.

He knew he didn’t stand a chance. His only hope had been to take me out with him .

“No one is foolish enough to do that.” Aurelia rolled her eyes. “Those men were delusional. They probably thought by taking you out, one of them stood a chance of claiming Umara.”

“Someone hired them,” I insisted.

“I bet it was Andova.” Nimue frowned. “They didn’t want to send their men, so they found some poor suckers to do it.”

“I don’t think so. Not unless they live here.” But looking at everyone else, I knew they doubted me. I wanted to scream. Nobles were so fucking out of touch. They couldn’t understand what it was like to struggle to survive, to be forced to forfeit your life so your family stood a chance.

Gareth tilted his head. “Why do you think that?”

“Because you have to live here to know who’s that desperate. A plan like this—if it got out, it’d be a surefire trip to the gallows. It has to be someone from here who ordered the hit.”

“You mean a noble?” Aurelia asked coolly. “Which House are you accusing?”

She wanted me to condemn myself. I wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.

“I’m just saying, I don’t think it’s Andova.

” I’d been so blind, thinking that the nobles would be forced to accept me now that the bond was completed.

But they were too greedy. They’d rather the country be at a disadvantage than give a nameless commoner power.

“We’ll investigate it,” Gareth said.

I didn’t sleep a wink that night. Or the night after that. It was still early, but their investigation proved nothing. As I expected. I knew the slums better than they did, but they were too privileged to consider that just maybe, I knew my shit better than they did.

I thought after the attack, we’d stay indoors. I was wrong. Dead wrong.

“Get. Up,” Kieran barked. He hovered over me from where I lay on the ground. We’d flown to Petralis today, and Kieran had pushed us all to hell and back during training.

My muscles ached because of the demon standing over me.

I wiped the sweat from my temples. Thank the Mother I’d had the sense to braid my hair today, so it stayed out of the way.

“You're trying to finish the job, aren’t you?” When we first left, I’d been glad to get out of the castle.

That changed fast. It was like the man was trying to break me.

Kieran didn’t laugh. His expression hardened even further. Damn. You’d think I’d pissed in his oatmeal. “I won’t allow your weakness to be your undoing. Not when I can train it out of you. Can’t you see how important you are?”

On the surface, the words sounded sweet, but he only said it because he was a manipulative asshole who wanted to use me for everything that I was worth.

I scowled and forced my screaming muscles to stand.

I hated that he was right. My attackers had gotten the jump on me. If it wasn't for Umara, I’d be dead.

“Everyone—twenty laps. If someone walks, we add another lap.” No one groaned. We learned from that mistake—a punishment of short interval runs until Ben actually threw up. The Family, Kieran had a stick so far up his ass, it must’ve hurt him when he ran along with us.

But at least I’m not last place. Ben lagged behind.

Nimue finished first. “Gods have mercy on us,” she panted.

“There are no gods here. Only that demon,” Ben muttered as he chugged his canteen.

“If you have time to sit around and talk, then clearly we haven’t worked hard enough.

” Kieran sauntered over to us, a sadistic grin on his face.

I hated this man with every fiber of my being.

How the hell was he not exhausted? He’d ran the laps with us, did the strength training with us, and the dragon training maneuvers.

The Mother curse him. No. The Father curse him.

Or gods, even the Child. The Child could be sadistic when they wanted to be.

Training dragged on. We did more strength training drills, then sparring matches with dulled weapons. By the time I went against Kieran, I was exhausted and barely able to stand. It took him under a minute to swipe my feet out from under me and pin me to the mat.

“Are you even trying?” he snarled. “The others are giving it their all. I can’t say the same about you.”

“You’re pushing her too far,” Gareth said.

I could’ve cried with relief when he stepped between us and helped me up.

“She’s not used to training as hard as the rest of us.

She’ll get stronger with time, but you can’t brute force it, even if you are worried.

And besides, this time you’ll be there to protect her. ”

I looked up at Kieran’s stormy eyes. His jaw flexed, and he lowered his knife. “Assassins won’t give her time.”

“Then you’ll have to stay by her side in the meantime to protect her. Let us handle the majority of the investigation.”

And here I thought Gareth would be my savior. Didn’t he realize he was dooming me by setting this demon on me? Asshole. I should’ve known behind Gareth’s smile lingered something sinister. No one could be that nice.

Kieran exhaled. “You’re right. None of you are performing as well as you should. We’ll return for a break, but we will be training after dinner in the gymnasium.”

This time, we did groan, and blessedly, he ignored it.

“Perhaps we could relax in the bathing chambers,” Gareth suggested, and I didn’t trust the twinkle in his eyes one bit.

“Sounds lovely.” Ben grinned. “I can’t wait to show off.”

Gareth wrinkled his nose. “With bathing suits. Consider it team bonding, something we desperately need. Especially if we want to be a united front against future assassins.” He wasn’t even trying to be subtle with his manipulation.

But what surprised me was when Kieran nodded. “Very well. We’ll do the bathing chambers, have dinner, rest, and then train. And tomorrow, we can look forward to it again—those who aren’t excused, that is.”

Someone please just kill me.