Page 65 of A Kiss of Flame

‘He’s going to kill her,’ Laurence said. ‘They say he’s already torturing her and when he’s finished… and the knights can’t get inside.’

Where was Anselm? Finn wondered. He’d know a way. He’d spoken about secret passages and?—

The currents in the ground beneath him twisted and bucked, trying to wrench themselves free. Shadows and light, tangling together, torn from their paths and redirected by sheer force of will. And rage. Blind rage. Such fear.

It might have been Elodie, or the Aurum itself.

What happened when someone tortured the Chosen of the Aurum so close to its heart?

Then again, it wasn’t only the light he was feeling. The Nox was there too and the shadows were rising. Everything was twisted and confused, as if someone had grabbed both powers and tangled them together. It all felt wrong.

Wren would be feeling this too, all the wild rage, grief and loss. It would funnel up inside her and if it came out…

Wren wouldn’t let anything happen to Elodie. And she had been with Anselm.

He could feel her, her scent tangling around him, her voice calling him. And he wasn’t entirely sure if it was Wren, the Aurum or the Nox, or something else entirely. It was power. And it was dangerous.

Now he knew where she was. All he had to do was follow those currents rippling through the ether.

‘Stay inside,’ he told the boy.

‘I can help you, guard your back. They’re going to kill her. There isn’t much time.’

Just what he needed. A boy in tow. And yet he felt a surge of relief that at least someone in his light-forsaken family had some sort of priorities. It didn’t matter to him that she was the queen of Asteroth or anything else.

He grabbed Laurence and pulled him into an embrace, kissing the top of his head. ‘You go to your mother right now and protect her. She’s… she’s exhausted and won’t be able to help herself if anything happens. Lock the gates after me and tell Gaius to double the guards. Tell him he’s right and everyone should get out as quickly as they can once this is over. Understand? I charge you as…’ He couldn’t remember the honours and knighthoods of Sidonia. He’d never learned them. They had never mattered and he had not cared. ‘As my cousin,’ he finished. ‘As a member of the line of Sidon. Will you obey me in this?’

The boy stepped back, face shining with gratitude and faith and something Finn didn’t even want to consider. ‘Yes, Prince Finnian.’

Light, Finn hated that title.

Outside, the city was in chaos. The noise was already deafening, armed men everywhere, and every knight in Pelias converging on the area.

There had to be a way in. Finn could feel the current of shadows pulling him onwards, faster and faster, the urgency of it roaring through his mind. The light Wren had planted in him burned now, brighter and brighter. He had to find her. He had to protect her.

Probably from herself.

Screams filled the air, people crying out for their queen or venting their anger, and he heard the gates breaking before he reached them. There was a blast of something powered by a scream, something made of rage and terror. He felt it shake the air and the earth and forced himself to run.

The knights charged through the breach as he reached the broken gates, pressing the advantage. It felt like an earthquake shook the city. Lost in a whirl of darkness which suddenly rose from the stones and descended with the fall of night, Finn ran, sprinting through the chaos of the attack. He caught sight of Roland leading the charge and then lost him as he raced inside the courtyard himself, sword drawn. Sassone’s guards fled or fell before the Knights of the Aurum.

But the river of shadows beneath them was still there, surging like rapids, driving him on. The light in him grew even brighter, like its own beacon, reaching out for her in return.

‘Finn!’

It was Wren, her voice frantic. Finn plunged towards her without a moment’s hesitation, heedless of danger.

CHAPTER 35

FINN

Wren ran towards him, right across the open courtyard, flung herself into his arms. Tears silvered her face and she trembled. Finn pulled her into the lee of the west wall, as a group of armed men tore past them.

Anselm and Olivier joined them, covered in sweat and blood, their eyes too wide.

‘What are you doing here?’ Finn snarled at them all, knowing the answer before he asked. He couldn’t help himself.

‘She brought the gates down,’ Olivier supplied, as if that was some kind of excuse. ‘When they tried to burn the queen. She just—’ He glanced at Wren with a newfound respect in his eyes. ‘She wielded light… and shadow. As one. I’ve never seen anything like it.’