When he got his hands on the girl, he’d do what he should have done twelve years ago—end her and do away with the brother and sister, too. This chapter in the history of Heart would finally be over.

You’re on the right track.

A voice popped into Rion’s head, and he shot up in his seat.

Herric.

After all these years.

“What?” Rion asked into the empty space, hardly daring to believe he’d returned.

Heart cannot be claimed as long as its heir lives.

Rion narrowed his eyes. “Where have you been?”

Below. I am the Lord of the Underworld.

His breath hitched at those words. Was this what had happened to Herric?

“How? I don’t understand.”

I pushed too far. I continued to dig and dig until, one day, it became too much. I was trapped, forced to remain here at the bottom of the world amongst the souls of the dead, where I rule without challenge.

“How did you become the lord?” Rion asked, and Herric chuckled.

What a very predictable question.

Rion pressed his lips together in annoyance at the condescension in Herric’s tone.

I am the only living being on this plane. I claimed this crown when I lost my own. My nephew Elias had already been named Primary and took over in my stead, burying the truth about me.

“He’s the one inside the Torch?”

He is.

“How are you speaking to me then?”

There are many things I can do, Rion. Things your mind cannot even begin to comprehend. But I grow tired of this place. It is dead. I want to feel sunlight on my face. The wind in my hair. I want to see the aurora lights in the sky. It’s been so long.

“And what do you want from me?” Rion asked as a warning pricked up the back of his neck. Why was Herric contacting him now?

Find me the ark of Heart. You’ve read my journals—do you understand what they are?

“How am I supposed to do that? The arks are all hidden. Or gone.”

Use the Primary.

“There is no Primary,” Rion said, though at that moment, he realized that probably wasn’t true.

There is. The magic of Heart still lives deep in the earth.

“Where do I look?” Rion asked as thoughts cycled through his head. The prisoner was dead, or so he presumed, which meant the Primary might be someone else. The brother was of Woodlands magic, and the sister had no power of which to speak. Perhaps he’d have to hunt through the settlements searching for the Primary. The old magic of Heart had always followed through the female line.

That is what you must discover.

“What if I could find the ark without the heir?”

It’s possible. However, I still require the Primary to use it.

“Use it how?”