Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)

by Rebecca Yarros

The conduit flares with intolerable heat. I drop it, watching in horror as it disintegrates, leaving nothing at the end of the bracelet. He flips his hand, palm upward, and I’m lifted off my feet, suspended in midair, completely immobilized. Just like the dream, but that isn’t the Sage. My throat closes. I can’t lift a hand to wield or even yell for Cat to run while she can. This isn’t a dream. There’s no waking up from this. “Stay calm!” Tairn orders, nearly on us but not close enough. “I’m on my way!” Xaden shouts as the venin steps over the body of his counterpart like she’s a feature of the landscape and continues toward me. They won’t make it in time. I won’t, either. Which means I’ve killed us all. But Andarna can live. She just has to hold on, has to choose to survive. “He’s almost here, so let’s move this along, shall we?” the dark wielder says, less than a dozen feet away now. “The horde tires of hovering, waiting for permission to attack.”