A Shadow in the Ember (Flesh and Fire 1)

“Oh,” I whispered, feeling my cheeks warm and having no idea why. I glanced toward the southern area of the Rise where a guard shouted an order to open the gate. Nektas and Ector both knew Ash’s father and appeared close to the Primal, yet neither knew why his father had made the deal. “Did either of you think this kind of deal was something that Eythos would’ve made?”

Ector didn’t answer for a long moment. “Eythos loved Mycella, even more so after she was killed. He would’ve never remarried, but…” A heavy sigh shuttled through him as he squinted. “To be honest, Eythos was very clever. He was always planning ahead. He had a reason.”

But what could that reason be—one that made sense?

“You know,” Ector said, glancing at me. “I also watched you.” He winced as my brows flew up. “That sounds creepier than I intended. What I meant is that I would sometimes join Lathan when he kept an eye on you. That’s how I knew what you looked like to find you when Ash gave me the dagger.”

“I…I hadn’t known that.” I let out a long breath. “And I really don’t know how to feel about that—about anyone watching me when I had no idea.”

“Yeah.” Ector idly scratched his jaw. “Well, I guess it doesn’t help to know that we had good intentions.”

“It does,” I told him. “And it doesn’t—”

A shout from the other side of the courtyard snapped us around. Another yell was heard. I stilled. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know, but that’s coming from the southern gate.” Ector started forward and then cursed. “Can I trust you to stay here?”

“Sure.”

His eyes narrowed. “I have a feeling I’m going to regret this, but stay here,” he ordered. “I’ll be right back.”

I nodded dutifully as Reaver craned his neck in the direction of the commotion. “I will be right here.”

With one last look of warning, Ector turned and jogged off, disappearing around one of the palace’s swirling turrets.

Kneeling, I pulled Jadis off Reaver. “Sorry,” I said, extending my other arm toward Reaver as she trilled sharply. “But you two are coming with me.”

Reaver’s head snapped back to mine, and his bright crimson eyes narrowed.

“I have a feeling you listen to orders about as well as I do,” I said. “But I’m hoping you come along with me. I want to be nosy and see what’s going on. Don’t you?”

He glanced toward the southern front and then nodded as Jadis climbed my left arm. I rose, hoping she held on as I turned. Reaver got a bit of a running start and then lifted into the air, flying beside where Jadis had perched herself. With him there, Jadis calmed, stretching her neck to rest her little head beside Reaver’s talons. We rounded the west side of the palace, and I kept close to the walls, passing several guards on the ground, who sent long looks in my direction. This was the first time I’d been around most of them as I’d only ever seen the bulk of them on the Rise. As far as I knew, none of them entered the palace.

Up ahead, the southern gates were closing. A group had gathered before them around a wagon, and I immediately found Ector in the crowd. He leaned into the back of the wagon. Beside him was Rhahar.

“We found her about a mile from Mount Rhee. Orphine spotted her,” Rhahar said while I crept forward, peering between those gathered. A sharp swirl of tingles spread out from my chest, causing my breath to catch. The answering, throbbing warmth caused me to stop. There was a bundled shape in the back of the wagon.

Rhahar ran a hand over his closely cropped hair. “We were closer to her than the Healers. I had Orphine go for help, but…you can see for yourself. It doesn’t look good.”

Ector’s shoulders stiffened as he reached into the wagon. “No. It doesn’t.” He leaned in, gathering the bundle in his arms. He turned, looking past me, and then his gaze shot back. “Of course, you didn’t listen.”

I started to answer, but then I saw the woman wrapped in a blanket—first, the thin, limp arm and then the delicate blood-smeared fingers and broken nails.

Good gods.

Bile climbed up my throat as the warmth in my chest pulsed once more. Her face was a mass of swollen, blood-streaked skin—flesh split open over the cheeks and forehead. The lips were torn, the nose pushed to an angle, obviously broken. “Who…who is that?”

“Gemma,” Ector bit out through a clenched jaw.

I was frozen in sickening horror. Ector strode past me, a muscle flexing in his jaw as he crossed under one of the staircases. I turned to see Aios step out into the courtyard. She jerked to a stop, clasping a hand over her throat. “Is that…?” Her gaze shot to Rhahar. “Was it Shades?”