rc through the smoke-choked darkness of the stairwell landing. Time seemed to slow. Lucian saw Duke Cassian's eyes widen in genuine

Not flames, but a blinding, spitting fountain of white-hot magnesium sparks showered over the silk sleeve of his

a clatter, frantically beating at his arm as the sparks clung and burned. The two

e other stood gaping at Cassian. Lucian lunged, not at the thugs, but straight for the heavy wooden door Seraphina had identified earlier – the one Cassian

m the inside. Panic threatened to rise. Behind him, Cassian's screams turned into

phina who stood frozen near the young guard, her hand still outstretched from the throw,

he door, turning back, his dagger r

soot-streaked face, but he saw the thug charging the Princess. He didn't think. He threw himself

thrown off balance. He crashed heavily against the stone w

f between her and the recovering thug. Cassian was still cursing, trying to rip the smoldering, sparking r

pointing frantically past Lu

mong the large, old-fashioned keys, he spotted a smaller, blackened iron key. Hope surged. He spun back to the cellar door, sho

a shudder and a cloud of dust, it scraped inward, revealing

rds the opening. He turned, dagger ready, exp

angry, blistering mess on his forearm. He glared at Lucian and Seraphina with pure, unadulterated malice. "You think this ch

his club and charged. Lucian braced, knowing he couldn't turn his ba

d thug near the stairs. Before Lucian or anyone else could react, she bent down, her hand flashing out.

dwarfed by the weapon, but her eyes burned with fierce determina

, NO!" Luc

at Lucian, Seraphina stepped *into* the swing. Not away. She brought her own stolen club up in a de

heer force, the club nearly wrenched from her grasp. But she held on. She'd defle

is free hand, reinforced by the heavy metal guard of his dagger hilt. It connected solidly with the thug's jaw. There was

kle of the distant fire, and the dying hiss of the flare on the floor. The young guard stared, open-mo

something else. She'd fought. Not just defended herself. She'd stepped i

you, nephew... you side with the enemy against your own blood. Remember this night." He spat on the dusty floor. "Guards will swarm this place soon. You're

fool! Move!" He grabbed the man's arm, hauling him roughly towards the stairs leading furt

d dropped the club. It clattered loudly on the stone. She was leaning heavily against the wall

sked, his voice rough bu

es met his, wide and shadowed, reflecting the fading red glow of the f

the shoulder, snapping him out of

Highness," the

an stated flatl

ious thug, the dropped weapons, the scorch mark on th

shed coldly. "And the Princess. You are my witne

lowed him to support her. Lucian snatched up the fallen flare casing – evidence – and shoved it into

arth, old stone, and decaying wood. Lucian fumbled for a moment, then remembe

" he co

t pierced the gloom, illuminating rough stone walls slick with moisture, a low ceiling, and a narrow pas

ered, stepping into the

eps faltering. Lucian scanned the shadows, every sense straining, listening for pursuit, for ambush

roar of the fire was muffled, replaced by the dripping of water somewhere in the darkness. Lucian chose turns

mined it in the lantern light. Ancient, sturdy. He glanced back at Rylan and Seraphina. She looked ready to collapse. He c

hissing as pain lanced through him. He looked down. The dark blue wool of his uniform jacket was soaked through with something much darker near his ribs. Blood. He'd been so pumped with adrenaline,

mbling the step towards Lucian. Her hand, cold and trembling, reached out, hovering near the wound, not quite touching it. Her gaze

e whispered, her

le face, highlighting the bruise on her shoulder, the tear in her gown. She l

flare? Grab the club?" He gestured weakly towards his side, though he mean

eariness. She opened her mouth, perhaps to answer, perhaps to say something else entirely. Then her eyes rolled back. Her kn

e knelt beside her, Rylan holding her shoulders. Her skin was clammy, her

ghness," Rylan murmured, his

The cellar's oppressive darkness pressed in. Cassian was still out there. The fire raged above. Guards could be

and of dark hair from her unnaturally pale forehead. The answers, he realized with a chilling certainty, wer