She looked out at what remained of their only plan. She hoped the inhabitants of the Eye were all safe, that the damage had occurred when the markets were empty. But she feared that was not the case. On their journey through the wildlands, they’d encountered a funeral pyre, and the stench of burned flesh was one she would never be able to forget. And though the damage here did not appear recent, a nauseating scent clung to the carcass of the market.

She turned away, slamming her eyes shut, and biting hard on her lip to keep from being sick. She should have realized that the Eye would be compromised. After all, she had found it by following Cassius there. She had not expected him to destroy it, for he seemed to have a use for it once upon a time. But obviously, she knew even less about the Prince of Locke than she had believed.

She did not know what to do next, where to go, or whom to trust. Before she could respond to Kiran’s question, the barrier overhead suddenly dropped away. Roar took a gasping breath as she was assaulted by the dark, seething soul that churned high overhead. Its presence felt thick, like oil, even through her shields, and the singed feeling from before was nothing compared to the way her eyes and nose burned now. Tight bumps pulled up on her skin in reaction to the enormous power in the air. Then the light blazed bright and fierce, blocking out the entire palace it hovered over. She clapped her hands over her ears as the wind shrieked, and she bent her elbows to her knees, using all her strength to block out the soul that was lashing out in every direction above. She struggled to breathe under the battery of rage it unleashed, and she swore she could feel oily tendrils of its power trying to catch hold of her, to find refuge in her.

Then with a deafening roar of thunder and a blinding explosion of light, the night died and went quiet for a final time.

Slowly, Roar straightened, rolling her stiff shoulders back. She cast her eyes from the palace dome, to the scorched road, to her trusting friends.

What now?

She wished she knew.

Meeting at dawn.

Z

—a note that was burned after reading

4

Aurora could not sleep, which was why as dawn approached she was on the roof of the inn where they had taken refuge the night before. Everyone had been so weary that they had all gone straight to bed. Aurora had tried to do the same, glad to finally have a real bed again. But no matter how she tossed, she could not stop her brain from turning over thoughts about her mother and Kiran and Cassius and the Stormlord, and how all of this was going to come tumbling down any moment.