Seraphina's POV
The silver flames exploded from my hands like fireworks.
"GET DOWN!" Lucian yanked me under the table as chairs and dishes went flying. My magic roared out of control, scorching the wooden floor in a perfect circle around us.
The Inquisitors stumbled back, shielding their faces from the heat.
"She's a Flamebringer!" one shouted in horror. "Commander, she's—"
"I can see what she is, you fool!" Aldric drew his sword, its blade glowing with anti-magic runes. "Take her alive! The Grand Inquisitor wants her breathing!"
Lucian's silver eyes met mine, deadly calm despite the chaos. "Listen carefully. When I say run, you sprint for the back door. Don't stop, don't look back. Understand?"
"But you—"
"I'll be right behind you." His hand moved to something hidden in his coat. "Three. Two. One. RUN!"
He threw a small glass orb at the floor. It shattered with a BANG, releasing thick purple smoke that filled the entire tavern. People screamed and stampeded for the exits.
I ran.
My legs pumped as hard as they could, dodging panicked customers and overturned tables. The flames on my hands had gone out—thank God—but I could still feel the heat simmering under my skin, ready to explode again.
Behind me, I heard Aldric roaring orders and the clash of steel. Was Lucian fighting them? Was he okay?
Don't look back. Keep running.
I burst through the kitchen door, past shocked cooks, and out into a filthy alley. A black carriage waited there, its horses stamping nervously. How had Lucian known—?
"GET IN!"
I whirled. Lucian sprinted toward me, his coat torn and a cut bleeding above his eyebrow. Behind him, five Inquisitors charged through the purple smoke.
I threw open the carriage door and scrambled inside. Lucian dove in after me, slamming the door shut.
"GO!" he shouted to the driver.
The carriage lurched forward so hard I fell against the seat. Through the window, I watched the Inquisitors grow smaller as we raced down the street, then turned a corner and disappeared.
My whole body shook. "What just happened? Why did my hands—how did I—"
"Breathe," Lucian ordered, pressing a handkerchief to his bleeding forehead. "You're safe now."
"SAFE?" I nearly screamed. "I'm wanted for murder! I just attacked Inquisitors with MAGIC I didn't even know I had! How is any of this safe?"
"Fair point." He actually smiled, like this was all some exciting game. "But you're alive, you're with me, and Aldric's men are eating our dust. I'd call that a win."
I wanted to hit him. Or cry. Or maybe both.
Instead, I looked down at my trembling hands. Normal hands. No flames. No sparks. Just scared, shaking hands that had somehow created fire out of nothing.
"This is real," I whispered. "The magic. It's really inside me."
"Yes." Lucian's voice turned serious. "And now the Inquisition knows it too. They'll hunt you twice as hard now. You can't go back to that hospital, can't blend into any crowd. You need protection, training, and answers." He leaned forward. "You need me."
I looked up at him, this dangerous stranger with silver eyes who'd appeared out of nowhere to save me. Twice.
"Why?" I asked quietly. "Why do you care what happens to me?"
Something painful flickered across his face before the cold mask slammed back down. "Let's just say I have my reasons. Reasons that benefit us both."
The carriage rattled over cobblestones, carrying us away from everything familiar. Away from the hospital, the town, the last place I'd felt even remotely safe.
"Where are we going?" I asked.
"Somewhere they can't touch you. My estate, about an hour outside the city." Lucian settled back against the plush seat. "We'll be safe there while we plan our next move."
"Our next move?" I shook my head. "I don't even know what my FIRST move is! An hour ago, I just wanted food and a place to sleep. Now I'm a fugitive with magical fire hands and—" My voice cracked. "And I still don't know why my parents are dead."
Silence filled the carriage.
When Lucian spoke again, his voice was gentler than I'd heard it. "Would you like to know the truth? The real truth about what happened to Ember Hollow?"
Yes. No. Maybe. I wasn't sure I could handle more terrible news today.
But I nodded anyway.
Lucian reached into his coat and pulled out a folded paper, its edges burned and stained. "I've been investigating the Ember Hollow fire for three months. Bribing officials, stealing documents, buying memories from people who were there. Do you know what I found?"
I shook my head, my throat too tight to speak.
"The attack was planned weeks in advance. Someone in the Inquisition's high command ordered your village destroyed. Not because of wild magic or accidents—because of your family specifically." He unfolded the paper, revealing what looked like an official Inquisition order. "This is an execution warrant for your parents, dated two weeks before the fire. See that signature at the bottom?"
I squinted at the elaborate handwriting. "I can't read it."
"It says 'Grand Inquisitor Mordecai Thorne.'" Lucian's eyes hardened. "The most powerful man in the Empire's Inquisition personally ordered your parents killed. That's not normal procedure for dealing with illegal magic users. That's personal."
My stomach twisted into knots. "But why? My parents were just... they were nobody special. Dad fixed wagons. Mom made pottery. We were just normal people."
"Were they?" Lucian asked softly. "Or is that what they wanted you to believe?"
Before I could answer, the carriage slowed to a stop. The driver knocked on the roof—three sharp raps.
Lucian's entire body tensed. "That's not right. We shouldn't be stopping yet."
Fear shot through me. "Is it the Inquisitors? Did they follow us?"
"Stay here." He reached for the door handle.
The door exploded inward in a blast of magical force.
Lucian flew backward, slamming into me. We crashed against the far wall of the carriage in a tangle of limbs.
A woman's silhouette appeared in the doorway, backlit by afternoon sun. She was beautiful in a cold, sharp way—like a knife made of ice.
"Hello, niece," she said, her voice sickeningly sweet. "Did you really think you could escape from me?"
My blood turned to ice water.
I knew that voice. I'd heard it in my nightmares, in my broken memories.
"Take the girl alive. Kill the others."
"You," I breathed. "You were there. You ordered the attack."
The woman stepped fully into the carriage, and I saw her face clearly for the first time. She had my mother's eyes. My mother's high cheekbones. My mother's smile—twisted into something cruel.
"Allow me to introduce myself properly," she said, pulling a wicked-looking dagger from her belt. "My name is Evangeline Ashborne. Your father's sister. Your aunt."
The world tilted sideways.
"That's impossible," I choked out. "Dad said all his family was dead—"
"I let him believe that." Evangeline knelt in front of me, pressing the dagger to my throat. I felt the cold metal kiss my skin. "Just like I let the whole Empire believe the Flamebringer bloodline was extinct. But then your foolish parents decided to have a child. A child with the purest Flamebringer magic I've ever seen."
Lucian groaned, trying to sit up. Evangeline flicked her free hand, and invisible force slammed him back down.
"Stay down, Lord Gravemire," she ordered. "This doesn't concern you."
"Everything about Seraphina concerns me," he growled, silver flames starting to flicker around his hands.
Evangeline laughed—a terrible sound. "Oh, how sweet. The great Silver-Eyed Devil has grown a conscience. And attached to a child, no less." She pressed the dagger harder against my neck. I felt a trickle of blood run down my throat. "But I'm afraid your pet project is coming with me, Lucian. The Grand Inquisitor has been very eager to meet the last true Flamebringer. He has such interesting plans for her power."
Terror flooded through me. This woman—my aunt, my family—had murdered my parents. Had burned down my entire village. And now she was going to take me to be tortured or killed or worse.
The heat in my hands returned, stronger than before. The silver flames burst to life, brighter and hotter.
"Let. Me. GO!" I screamed.
The flames exploded outward in a wave of pure power.
Evangeline flew backward out of the carriage, hitting the dirt road with a satisfying thud.
But I couldn't stop. The flames kept coming, pouring out of me like water from a broken dam. They engulfed the entire carriage, eating through wood and metal.
"Seraphina, STOP!" Lucian grabbed my shoulders, his own silver flames wrapping around us both. "You'll kill us all!"
"I can't!" I sobbed. "I don't know how!"
The carriage was disintegrating around us, everything turning to ash and ember. Through the flames, I saw Evangeline climbing to her feet, fury twisting her beautiful face into something monstrous.
She raised both hands, and dark purple magic—completely different from my silver flames—gathered between her palms.
"If I can't take you alive," she snarled, "I'll take your corpse and extract your magic from your bones!"
The purple magic shot toward us like a spear.
Lucian threw himself in front of me, his arms wrapped around my body protectively.
The magic hit him square in the back.
He screamed.
And everything went black.