Page 143 of Burning Heir

I didn’t know if he meant my forbidden one or the flames with the number of deadly creatures. We were all exhausted beyond deprivation. How was this—right? To send us into the woods after the bid.

I nodded at Damien graciously—then another ripper came for us, and I slashed through the iridescent body, speckling light radiating from the see-through figure. If fear hadn’t held me, I would have called it beautiful. Two more—a third came from the trails. Sweat dripped from my chin. Exhaustion claimed my will to move as my knees buckled.

I craned toward Saani and the two lifeless bodies that bellowed below, a mask of stillness peeled over their fear-stricken faces. A ripper had gotten to them, tearing skin from the bone. I couldn’t watch—not without nearly hurling my breakfast up. Damien raised two daggers above his head and slashed right through both, leaving a peeled-back cheekbone of a student.

It tried to rip their skin off.

Saani was killing us off.

A figure appeared from the woods. I raised my dagger as Klaus stood before me.

Klaus. It… resembled him.

“Severyn, you need to find him. Find him. Find him. Find him.” His lips were delayed, puffed, and unnatural. His body slumped over as if submerged in water. “Find him now. Find him.”

A pruned finger reached for me.

A ripper had torn his skin off. I stood there numb, gripping the dagger as it came toward me.

Klaus. What had those beasts done to him? A ripper… found his body andworehim as an iridescent glimmer shone through his dull skin.

Kill it. Kill it. Kill him. It wasn’t my brother.

His thrashing arms heaved forward. He smelled decayed and rotted. This wasn’t Klaus. I knew it wasn’t. Damien raised a dagger, and I scorched his hand back.

“No, don’t kill him,” I snapped.

Damien’s features twisted. “That’s not him, Severyn! A ripper claimed his body when he died. It’s not him, Sev. He is dead.”

The figure slashed into my arm, and I stifled my cry, “I need to be the one who does it.”

Damien stared wildly at the dagger clenched in my fist. “Severyn, do it. Kill it.”

I pierced the dagger through his heart.

A stream of clear fluid emptied from his body. His tears leaked a silvered brine. I tore my dagger out. He staggered back, clutching his ribs.

“Sev,” Klaus cried. “Why did you—hurt me? Why did you claim my dragon? Why?Why?”

“It’s mimicking him, Sev. Don’t believe it.” Damien slid the knife across his throat.

But not before the beast, compelling my brother, sputtered, “Archer is in danger.”

I ran.

My legs barely held me up as I flew through the Summer forests. My eyes dampened with tears as trees and vines escaped my sight. Saani yelled for me, but I didn’t care. Boots and hisses chased after me. I swung my dagger at the lunging claws.

Archer needed me. Archer was in danger. I got to the trail, and Damien rushed behind me, reaching for my shoulder.

“Severyn, what are you doing?”

“It’s Archer. I haven’t felt him all day. I’m leaving for Demetria.”

“You’ll be expelled and sent to Malvoria the second you step off this academy,” he warned, pulling me back. “Don’t risk your future for him.”

I clenched my jaw. “I don’t care. I’ll be dead if I don’t find him.”

I thought Damien had just understood how powerful our bond was. He staggered back. “Emerich!” he yelled, caving his mouth with his hands.

---