Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)

by Rebecca Yarros

Sloane staggers backward, staring at her palms like they belong to someone else, and Aaric finally lets me go. I fly forward, hitting my knees in front of where Brennan sits with Mom’s body draped across his lap, his hand trembling as he reaches for her face. My fingers find her neck, but there’s no pulse. No heat. No life. The only beat I hear are bootsteps racing into the chamber. She’s gone. “Mom,” Brennan whispers, his face crumpling as he looks down at her. “What did you do!” Mira drops to her knees and pulls Mom’s body from Brennan, her hands furiously seeking what mine just had, any sign of a heartbeat. “Mom?” She shakes her violently, but Mom’s head rolls onto her shoulder. “Mom!” I can’t breathe. She’s the tide, the storms, the very air, a force too big to be extinguished without ripping the world itself apart to the core. How can she just be gone? “I’m so sorry.” Sloane cries softly. “What did you do?” Mira yells again, the full force of her wrath turned on Brennan. “Xaden needs you,” Andarna says, but I can’t move. “Tairn and Sgaeyl wait with him.” “We need to get them out,” Aaric says, and there are hands—his, I think—on my shoulders, pulling me up off the floor and guiding me backward. Mira follows, hooking her arms under Mom’s and dragging her from the chamber. Sloane helps Brennan, and then we’re all in the tunnel. Someone else carries Mom. One of the first-years? Mira’s hands are on my face, searching my eyes, as a shape blocks the entrance to the tunnel. “...