Page 73 of Trial of Bronze and Blood
Wordlessly, the woman offers her hand, which Dru takes without a thought, entranced beyond her control once again. The flames spiral up into the air as she approaches them, the sparks wholly contained within the confines of their magic.
Once the other women notice her, they leave the inferno and flock to her side. Thirteen sets of hands gently brush her dress, her exposed skin, her hair, buzzing around her like a swarm of bees. But it comforts her rather than alarms her. Like she belongs among them.
The high priestess whispers in her ear. “What does your heart seek?”
“I seek nothing,” she finds her mouth saying.
“Perhaps,” she coos. “Or perhaps it is something—or someone—that seeks your heart.”
Dru squeezes her eyes shut, thinking only of Marcus, of his hands on her, his lips unbearably close to touching hers.
When she opens them again, she’s poised directly in front of the fire. Heat drenches the air around her, making it difficult to breathe again.
“Spegnere,” the woman orders.
At her command, the fire retreats. No cinders orcharred wood have been left in its wake—nothing but an obsidian grate remains. And beneath that grate…
Dru falls to her knees again to peer inside.
A yellow eye stares up at her from the abyss. Smoke huffs out from its nostrils, a low growl building in its throat. Smoke pricks at her nose and invades her chest. She gasps—she knows this creature. Steeped in the lore of Anziano, this ancient beast can fly and breathe fire, with talons that can cut through the obsidian it forges, and a tail that can crush stone—the same creatures whose likeness stands guard inside the temple.
“Viverna,” Dru whispers.
The humming stops and the women cry out in perfect harmony?—
As liquid fire reignites from its snout.
Dru instinctually throws her hands out to protect her face, scrambling back on the sand. She doesn’t put enough distance between herself and the dragon before the flames engulf her hands and licks up her forearms. She screams, the deep pain of her burning flesh nearly rendering her unconscious. The searing agony goes numb just as quickly, her skin bubbling like boiling water.Oh stellae, the smell.
Two pairs of hands catch her before she can hit the ground.
“Heal her now so we can take her to the praetor,” the first woman orders. “He’ll know what to do.”
All Dru manages is a whimper, caught deep in her throat.
The high priestess smiles down at her. “All will be well.”
Then Dru’s world goes black.
CHAPTER TWENTY
MARCUS
The knock at his door doesn’t wake Marcus. That would require being asleep in the first place.
Sleep has eluded him from the moment he arrived back at the palace. He can’t stop thinking about how Dru left him standing in that alleyway, about the deep hurt in her warm brown eyes branded there by his words and his actions. How his own soldiers interrupted something he’s dreamed of happening for nearly a decade. How they treated her like one of their whores, who they have no qualms regarding as possessions to use and discard.
And then expected him to feel the same.
Once the men settled into their next brothel, he bought them all a round of wine, then managed to slip away without their notice. He also paid the woman of the house handsomely to keep his presence there quiet. No matter how brief and uneventful it was, he has to protect Cato’s image.
Any other time, he’d have told those men to fuck off. But those particular guards have taken advantage of other women before and would’ve done the same to Dru if he hadn’t agreed to go with them. He wouldn’t have let them anywhere near her, of course, and even ifthey bested him, she would’ve slit their throats before they could reach for her.
But while he’s praetor to the king and could’ve easily ordered them away, he also can’t afford to have his own soldiers mistrust him at such a crucial time. Not when this great an enemy has infiltrated the country. Better to let them believe he’s one of them than to start strife over it.
Now, he can’t help worrying about her, wondering if she found her way back to the palace or not. And for good reason.
This being the night before the first trial means the Tredici will be conducting their ceremony over the sacred Viverna, Anziano’s greatest secret. Despite his concerns with the visiting Phaedrans, the high priestess assured Marcus their ritual would be impossible to find unless theywantit to be found, and he can’t imagine Dru, an outsider, being invited.
