Frozen Tides (Falling Kingdoms #4)(115)

Lucia had wanted to watch the world burn.

And now, because of Kyan, it would.

“No,” she said softly.

“Sorry? What did you say?”

“I said no.”

“No? No to what? Do you feel ill? Do you need to rest before we begin?”

She looked up into his amber eyes. “I won’t help you do this, Kyan.”

Kyan frowned, his brow furrowing and his eyes glowing hot. “But you promised.”

“Yes, I promised to help you reclaim your freedom, reunite you with your family, to go so far as to kill someone I considered an enemy to get you what you desired most. But this . . . destroying everything and everyone.” She shook her head, gesturing to the mountains and barren forest around her. “I’ll be no part of this.”

“The world is tragically flawed, little sorceress. Even in our short time together we’ve seen countless examples of this—men and women obsessed with their own little lives, their greed, their lust, their vanity, every weakness compounding on the next.”

“Mortals are weak—that’s what makes them mortals. But they’re also strong, resilient during crises that test their faith or threaten the people and things they love. There’s no such thing as perfection, Kyan.”

“There will be once I carry out my plan. I will create perfection in this world.”

“You aren’t meant to create it. You aren’t meant to destroy it. You’re only meant to sustain it.”

His expression had turned from plaintive to downright unpleasant. “You would dare judge me—you, a mortal child who’s barely even tasted life?”

It was rare for her to feel this certain about anything. Even rarer that she’d take a stand when another opposed her.

She had changed.

“It’s over, Kyan. I’ve made my decision. And now, I’m leaving. Of course you don’t have to come with me; you can stay here as long as you like.”

With a small nod, she turned from him and began to walk away.

But only a short moment later, she felt the rising heat behind her.

“If you think I’ll let you walk away from this so easily,” he said, “you’re stupider than I thought. You still don’t realize exactly what I am, do you?”

Slowly, she turned to look at him.

Fire rolled over his skin, burning away his clothing, until he blazed from head to toe. His eyes burned blue within the sea of amber flames.

“Yes, I know what you are,” she said, her throat tight. “You are the god of fire.”

“Yes. But you have no concept of what that truly means. Allow me to educate you.”

With narrowed eyes locked directly on her, he began to grow in size. Twice, three times . . . four times as tall and wide as his usual stature.

He towered above her, a monster created from fire.

A monster who was fire itself.

The fire Kindred in his truest form.

As she trembled at the sight of him, Lucia fought to stand her ground, to not cower before this creature she had dared defy.

She had come so very close to helping him destroy the world. And now she needed to get as far away from him as possible so she could have the chance to save it.

He lowered his blazing face to hers, coming close enough to singe her hair. “I am eternal. I am fire. And you will do as I say, or you will burn.”

“Is this who you really are?” she asked, breathless. “Have you been lying to me all this time? Using me like all the others have? I thought we were family.”

He roared, and more flames rose up all around Lucia. Her cloak caught fire, so she shrugged it off, quickly stepping away from it.

“You won’t kill me!” she yelled at him. “If you kill me, your dream of destruction and re-creation is over.”

“I can do plenty of damage without you.”

“Not nearly as much as you need to.”

“Do you really think you’re so special? That you’re the only one blessed with these gifts? I will wait until a new sorceress is born, and she will help me. As you like to remind me, I have time to wait. You, though, are fragile—even more fragile than Eva was.”

With that, a gigantic blast of his fire hit her full on. She squeezed her eyes shut and raised her arms, as if that pathetic effort might shield her from his elemental rage. She screamed, expecting the whole of her body to be consumed by burning pain as her flesh melted from her bones.

But she felt nothing.

Tentatively, she opened her eyes.

A whirlwind of fire swirled violently around her, but didn’t touch her. It had been stopped by a barrier of violet light, surrounding her like a cool, glowing halo.

She looked down at her ring, the amethyst now blazing like a tiny violet sun on her finger, its light bright enough to blind.

She saw the fire Kindred standing just beyond the blocked wall of flames. “What have you done?” he demanded.

The ring—this had been the key all along. It held far more secrets, more power, than she’d ever imagined. This is what had allowed Eva to safely handle the Kindred in their crystal forms, while all other Watchers, like Valoria and Cleiona, were corrupted by them. For Lucia, the ring brought balance to the eternal conflict brought by being a sorceress trapped within a mortal shell.

And today this ring had protected her—and the life growing inside her—from the wrath of an immortal god.