“Your fire was only in your kiss before.” Lukas’s words are rough with an obvious desire for my power, as well. “Now it’s all over you.”
We stare at each other as I struggle to keep control of the cataclysmic power that so desperately wants to fuse with his. That strains toward his lines.
Lukas closes in, his lips coming down on mine.
I gasp against his mouth as my obliterating power rushes toward his, rapidly merging with it and escalating into a wave of fiery, branching magic that forces my eyes wide and rocks me to the core.
Lukas draws back. “Put your other hand on my skin,” he says raggedly as he grabs the sides of my skirts and pulls me closer.
I slide my hand up along the side of his neck, another rampant burst of my fire rushing to meet his.
Lukas kisses me deeply, the feel of our powers merging both startling and all-consuming. On some dim level, I know we’re crossing too many dangerous lines and too fast, but the fire makes it impossible to care.
It builds, deliriously hot, a spiral of flame winding around us. Our affinity lines grab hold of each other with unrestrained force. Fire meeting fire. Branches winding. Air joining in a storming rush to fan the flames hotter. Our combined power caressing every line, impossible to resist.
Lukas pulls my body hard against his. I gasp against his kiss as everything shudders and blazes crimson. The fire is everywhere, coursing through me, coursing into him, a roar in my ears blocking out sound, and I can feel every muscle of his body tighten, feel his deep groan in my mouth. Nothing exists but our combined fire, cutting out every last thing in the world.
Overcome, I yank my hands away from his skin, the fire fading enough for us both to suddenly realize that the carriage has stopped.
We break our kiss and turn to find the carriage’s door being held open by Oralyyr, the Greys’ stern-faced Urisk servant. She’s regarding us both with a wide-eyed, stunned expression.
I freeze as the torchlit image just beyond her sears into my mind.
Just beyond Oralyyr stands High Mage Marcus Vogel, his green serpentine eyes fixed on Lukas, his dark Shadow Wand sheathed at his side.
Terror, like a hot iron, spears through me.
Vogel is flanked by Lukas’s father, a young priest, and a sizable guard of Level Five Mages. And even more soldiers beyond.
Vogel’s eyes meet mine for a split second, and the image of his dead Shadow tree crashes into my mind.
“Congratulations, Commander Grey,” Vogel says, his reptilian stare sliding back to Lukas. “It seems you’ve triggered a war.”
Lukas’s gaze flies to mine as I lean back from him, desperately trying to blink away the image of the dead tree. Lukas cautiously exits the carriage and I follow him, my heart thundering against my chest. I watch Lukas as he takes it all in—the number of soldiers, his father’s severe expression, and Vogel’s surprising presence. No one dares even a smirk at our tousled state, and I’m overcome by the sense that some evil thing’s hand is about to grab hold of me.
“We were attacked by a Kin Hoang,” Lukas tells Vogel, his gaze darting around watchfully as he explains his false version of events. Lukas pulls Chi Nam’s rune stone out of his pocket and casually holds it out for Vogel’s inspection. “I suspect she was looking for this.”
Vogel takes the glowing rune stone and turns it over in his hand before fixing his penetrating gaze back on Lukas. “Such a large sacrifice of Vu Trin for so small a prize.”
Lukas’s brow tightens in confusion. “There was only one Kin Hoang. Not an army.” His response is met only by Vogel’s withering stare. Lukas turns to his father for clarification, but Lachlan Grey only glowers back at his son with furious intensity.
The young, slender priest to Lachlan’s left sneers. His priestly tunic is finely made, and he has Lukas’s same riveting green eyes. “What are you playing at, Lukas?” he demands.
By now, Lukas has relaxed his expression into his usual impenetrable calm. He turns to me and loosely gestures toward the young priest. “Elloren, I don’t believe you’ve had the pleasure of meeting my brother, Silvern.”
Silvern ignores Lukas’s attempt at pleasantries. “You were attacked by a Kin Hoang,” he rages, “which is the equivalent of a call for all-out war on Gardneria, and this is how you behave?” He thrusts a hand out at me as if I’m the