She was too distracted by the display overhead to notice immediately what was wrong. She felt the sting at her nostrils first, and blamed it on the lightning overhead. She had experienced the same singeing sensation in the remnant camp a few days prior and also in the Sangsorra desert when she had been right in the center of that skyfire storm. A phantom pang lanced through her lungs at the thought of that day, and she put a hand to her chest as if she could soothe the storm that beat beneath it. But the skyfire was too far away for it to be the cause. The Stormling barrier was thick and powerful, and even when she tried, she could only detect the dull presence of the soul inside the storm. She tore her eyes away from the silver lights overhead, black spots dancing in her vision as she attempted to focus on the street in front of her, where the other hunters had all gone still.

For a moment, she thought it was just the play of darkness over the street that made it look so ominous. But as more light shimmered overhead, she began to make sense of the blackened, hollow husks and the stench that forced her to blink watery eyes. The entire rest of the street appeared as if it had already undergone a skyfire storm. The scent of char hung in the air, and the streets were littered with burned boards from collapsed buildings. When she opened her mouth to speak, she tasted ash on the wind, and the words dried in her throat. The buildings that had hidden the Eye were decimated, nothing left but rotted stairs and tumbled walls. She could see the area that used to house the black market; even the remains of a few stalls were identifiable in the ruins.

None of the other surrounding streets were destroyed. It did not look as if anyone had even tried to clean up whatever happened here. It was as though the entire area had been scorched by a skyfire storm, then left behind as if … as if in warning.

Like the one Casimir had given the remnants a few days ago.

Kiran’s eyes were dark, his brows set in a grim line as their gazes met. She saw his worry, and the way he tried to hide it beneath his taut jaw and clenched fists. She knew he would rather be anywhere else but here, under the dominion of the family that had destroyed his. But he didn’t say that, didn’t tell her that it was stupid to come here.

Instead he asked, “What now?”