Page 148 of Our Radiant Embers

And broke the circle that tethered the magic flowing around us.

A ripple went through the myriad of sparks that enveloped us like a swarm of fireflies. Everything seemed to stop for a beat, a silence so vast it could birth a universe. And then, suddenly, the light ebbed away like water seeping into sand. One last wave welled up and washed through the room, slammed into a column and sheared away a substantial fragment of plaster. A coil reached out to lash at Eleanor and just barely missed her eyes, leaving a deep gash on her cheek as she flinched back.

Draining away.

Only a few tendrils lingered, blue light that kept clinging to my wrist and ankles. Stay, I told it, if you want to. I noticed similar ribbons that mixed with Liam’s inherent magic—darker shades of green and traces of an orange so light it almost passed for yellow.

Everything went quiet.

We’d done it. Oh God, we’d done it.

We were alive, unharmed, together. Gale would be okay. Liam’s nightmares had not come to pass.

My knees gave out quite abruptly. I sat, pulled Liam down with me onto the cracked tiles, and rested my forehead against his temple. Breathing. Alive. The wall of fire came down as my magic flowed to us and wrapped me in her warm embrace, briefly startled at the new arrivals before she absorbed them. Glorious silence. How much time had passed? It had felt entirely inconsequential while we’d been caught up in a river of magic—could be minutes or hours.

Gale. I raised my head and found him as if on instinct. He was pale but upright, the sudden, blazing brightness that surrounded him jolting this way and that. I’d have to teach him. Christian too—he looked a second from fainting, propped up by my uncle. My father was staring at me with something like regret in his features, gone as soon as our eyes met. Eleanor’s posture conveyed stubborn pride even as the cut on her cheek oozed blood, while the girls looked scared and young.

Also, oh. Archer Summers stood in the broken circle by the entrance, Laurie and Jack behind her. Lila hovered above their heads.

“Well.” Summers’ voice was crisp. “This is mildly unexpected.”

Liam stiffened as though he expected me to pull away. I pressed our shoulders together, elbows touching, and we should get up, right? Only I couldn’t make my legs work. “Actually,” I told Summers, “I’ve been meaning to thank you for throwing Liam and me together. It’s been a revelation.”

“I see.” She considered us with just a hint of warmth. “Cassandra Hartley—will this be a problem?”

Right. A keen eye for power dynamics had been essential in her rise to the top.

“Only if her father takes issue with how she loves a weaker mage who doesn’t look what they’d consider ‘quintessentially British’,” I said.

“I can work with that.” Summers nodded briskly and took a step forward, assessing the damage to the floor and one of the columns, thick cracks running along the walls. Then her gaze skimmed over us. I realised that my bare arms showed reddish bruises from where magic had squeezed me in its iron grip. Liam’s did too, and there was a pink hue to the side of his throat that made me swallow.

He’s okay. We’re okay.

“However,” Summers continued, “your private lives are not what I came for. Do fill me in, please. Start from when you arrived here.”

“I hardly think,” Eleanor began, and Summers turned, sudden power radiating off her in waves. This was part of why she ruled over our community—not beloved, not by everyone, but respected even by those who resented the changes she’d brought.

“I did not ask you.” Summers’ voice cut through the air like a blade. “You may justify your actions later.”

My aunt’s lips parted before she pressed them tightly together. I glanced at my father who held himself quite still, face blank. Next to him, Gale staggered slightly before he caught himself.

Usually, between Liam and me, I was the one who did the talking. It was my family whose actions had got us here, though, and I didn’t know how much he wanted to reveal about himself and what he could do.

“Go ahead,” I told him softly. “I’ve got your back.”

He hesitated, eyes on me, before he turned to Archer Summers. “I’d prefer a more private setting, if you don’t mind.”

“If he intends to accuse us, it’s only fair we hear it,” Eleanor spoke up while my father shifted uncomfortably and lowered his head.

The look Summers shot her was pure disdain. “Denied.”

Eleanor brought a hand to her chest and looked as though she might protest. Then her shoulders dropped by the barest margin. She touched the gash on her cheek and stared at her bloody fingers for a second before turning away. Her voice was quiet as she drew Christian close. “All we intended was to protect our family. We meant no harm.”

“Then perhaps you should have considered your actions more carefully beforehand,” Summers said. “I expect you to remain at my disposal at a moment’s notice.”

To my surprise, it was my father who replied in a low, steady voice. “We will be.”

“Good.” Turning, Summers nodded at Liam and me. “Let’s go.”

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