Page 47 of A Flame of the Phoenix

Zaiana ground her teeth. “Then let me join.”

“I think not. You’ll remain here. You can oversee the legion of our army moving in from the west. They should be making their way through Rhyenelle, and their current general will be stepping down soon.”

Leading a legion.Zaiana had done that before she was even Delegate of her bloodline. Being a leading general might be of high esteem in army ranks, but in her world, it was so far below where she had earned the right to be.

“I can do better than that,” Zaiana insisted.

“You’ll take over when they reach Fenher in a week.”

Just like that, Dakodas dismissed her like a child.

Zaiana’s blood was boiling, but she didn’t flinch. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Izaiah slip out through a side door, and right now, she’d only risk enraging Dakodas if she pushed for a better station.

“As you wish,” Zaiana said, bowing her head.

She despised the submission, but she wanted to stay alive.

Turning, she exchanged a look with Maverick. He knew she wasn’t pleased, but he didn’t follow her since Dakodas requested him to stay.

He hadn’t failed at all, and she had no right to the bitter thoughts that he’d likely earned a higher place in the Spirit’s plans for war.

To distract herself from the ugly resentment stirring in her, Zaiana followed Izaiah out. She kept as silent as an assassin, tracking him, until he walked down an abandoned hall.

She intended to catch him unaware, but he knew she was there. Izaiah was more observant than she gave him credit for.

His hand caught her wrist, but Zaiana twisted under their arms, bending his arm behind his back. Izaiah was also stealthier than she anticipated.

He kneeled, hooking a hand behind her nape, and Zaiana braced for the impact of being thrown over his shoulder. She groaned at the sharp pain shooting up her spine but stopped struggling at the hand around her throat.

Not because she couldn’t get out of the compromised position, but because she faltered in fascination.

“You’re not the only one with claws,” he said.

Izaiah pushed off her, and she propped herself up on her elbow, watching his skin fade from short black fur to beige skin as his five lethal talons retracted.

He folded his arms, then her ire grated as she became aware of her humiliating position on the ground.

Zaiana pushed herself to her feet. “At least I don’t use them to betray my own.”

This earned a dark stare from him.

“Have you come to find out what you owe me? After I made sure your companions stayed alive. Tynan might have managed on his own. The little darkling would have surely died without my help.”

It was what had been lingering on her mind since waking up. That, and she hoped to gauge what he was up to in staying behind here.

“Out with it then.”

Izaiah smiled, and it was a victory she wanted to carve from his face.

“I want to know how you wield a ruin.”

Zaiana’s face relaxed. He had to be joking. But his stern brow didn’t flinch.

“You know where it is, don’t you? The Light Temple Ruin your little traitor is scouring for.”

It was all the poor human Reuben knew in his new tragic existence under Marvellas’s influence. Izaiah had all but exposed that Faythe hadn’t had the chance to take it with her.

“Can you teach me or not?”

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