Page 209 of Between Despair and Hope

The girl nodded, and I watched Dewalt’s hand twitch as if he wanted to reach for her. She brushed away a tear with her thumb, nodding. “That sounds like her. I’m—I’m sorry for assuming the worst.”

“Don’t be. Please, don’t be sorry,” I said, pausing to breathe for a moment. “I’m glad I could give you her message. And I’m sorry I didn’t know how to fix it. I hoped it was a trick, but it made no sense. She was asking me to kill her. What could I do? Why would she lie about that?” I crossed my own arms over my chest, hugging myself in light of the memory. Her death had haunted me just as much as the novices. Knowing it wasn’t me who deserved peace at the moment, I did my best to comfort the woman in front of me. “She prayed for me, and I gave her the sacred words. For whatever that’s worth.”

Nor started nodding, a tear slipping down her cheek. “It’s worth so much. Thank you.” She let her arms fall to her sides, staring down at the ground for a moment. “As for Declan being my father, I just figured it out, and I’m still not sure I’m right.”

“What makes you think that?” I asked, mind racing.

Nor explained what she’d discovered, pulling out a locket to show me. It was too tiny to confirm whether or not the portrait was of Declan, but the rest of the story made sense.

“I took you to get your things a week ago. Why didn’t you tell anyone before then?” Dewalt demanded.

“I was looking for portraits of him in the library when you ran into me,” Nor’s soft voice spoke as her cheeks reddened.

“Wait. Your mother was a conduit, right?” I asked, and before she could finish her answer, I continued. “So that means Declan has elf-blood. Dryul took an elvish woman to bed?” I asked, looking more to Dewalt for an answer, his knowledge about historical matters surpassing mine.

“It does surprise me. He was obsessed with breeding strong conduits, which the elvish blood would be counterproductive in that case. Unless she was pure elf. Is Declan even that old? Perhaps it was a tryst of the heart,” he said. I knew I didn’t imagine his cheeks flushing as he turned his body to face away from Nor. There would be time for that subject later, and I filed it away. Pushing my thoughts back toward Declan and his probable daughter, I pondered what this could mean.

Disgust filled me. “The Myriad sent you to Folterra. With the other novices.”

“I thought he hadn’t gotten to me yet,” she spat. “It seems he has some limit to his depravity.”

I heard a screech, almost like a dragon, and lifted my gaze to the skies, expecting Irses or Ryo, come to harass me. They were on the opposite end of the capital, making use of the ample estate grounds. Behaving, I hoped.

“This tea is going to get cold, Emmeline,” Nana’s voice said behind me, peeking her head out the door to frown at me.

“Be right there,” I called, just as Nor’s face blanched.

“Nana, close the door right now! Close the door!” she shouted, and I whipped around.

Horror gripped me. Moving in complete silence as it climbed down from the roof onto the overhanging porch was a vile creature with long legs and arms, the body of a woman, and giant wings of a bat. Lanky blonde hair hung down in front of her face, and as she tilted her head, I realized her jaw was hung open at an awkward angle, maw twisting.

“Get inside, Nana!” I screamed, pulling my divine fire into my hands. But it was too late.

The creature pounced, reaching down and grabbing the tiny woman who’d been more mother to me than my own. She twisted her body, breaking Nana’s back as I watched my flames descend upon the beast just a second too late.

Chapter 56

Rainier

Mymotherleaptthroughthe rift behind me, grabbing onto my back to steady her. The row houses where the cafe sat were on fire, the white flames spreading from the central building. I had opened the rift in an alley across the street, not wanting to step right into the middle of an attack. One of the winged creatures spiraled to the ground behind the buildings, wings aflame. Despite my fear for her, pride surged through me. It didn’t last long before the beast I’d seen sail past the palace swooped down, about to take the place of the wounded one.

“That’s her fire, isn’t it?” Shivani asked, and I ignored her stupid question.

“Take some of my divinity.Mydivinity, not the fire. I don’t have enough to spare.”

My mother’s hand was cool on my wrist as she siphoned some of my power, the feeling not dissimilar to getting blooded by leeches. I used my own divinity to dislodge earth from the road and tossed it at the creature about to land on the roof. It dropped; I couldn’t tell if it went behind the building or in it, but fear flooded through me. I might not have hurt it enough to make a difference if it fell right on top of her. Stepping out of the alley, I counted six more creatures flying in our direction.

“Put the fire out. There’s a well nearby. I can feel it.”

“Where are you going?” my mother demanded.

“Where the fuck do you think I’m going?” I yelled, dragging her behind me as I shouldered my way through the few people screaming and running in a panic. “Get inside, go into your cellars if you can,” I bellowed just before I kicked in the flaming door of the cafe.

The rafters were aflame, and white heat licked down the walls. A beam hung down from above, and I stepped around it. Smoke was funneling out of the hole in the roof, but it was getting to be too much—and I worried the entire fucking thing was going to collapse. Cyran had created a shield, his shadows solid against the injured beast clawing at the dome around them. It hunched over it, barely able to move with all its limbs and wings. Praise the gods he’d been with Elora and that he took his promise to never hurt her again a step further, protecting her too.

It cocked its head to look at me, and a flash of recognition hit me just as it stretched a clawed limb toward me. Conjuring Emma’s fire, I hit the creature with her light, unsheathing my sword the moment my hands were free. Between the boulder I’d thrown at it and the fire, its wings were destroyed, only leaving long legs taller than I was and arms nearly just as long.

“You ssseem well, Your Majesssty,” it hissed, and I recognized the mottled face as one of the guards who Declan had used to torment me.

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