Iron Flame (The Empyrean, #2)

by Rebecca Yarros

“Regret letting me into the quadrant yet?” He keeps his voice deceptively calm, but there are shadows rising along the tunnel walls. “No.” Her gaze drops to me. “Stay alive, or this all will have been for nothing.” She skims the backs of her fingers along my swollen face. “I’d tell you to take arnica and see a healer, but you already know that. Your father made sure you’d know everything you needed or where to find it. You’re all that’s left of him, you know.” But I’m not. Mira has his laugh, his warmth, and Brennan… She doesn’t know about Brennan, and in this moment, I have no regrets about keeping that secret. The smile she gives me is tight and so full of sadness that I wonder if I’m hallucinating. It falls as quickly as it appeared, and she turns away from us, headed back to the stairwell that will carry her up to the main campus. “Oh, and Violet,” she calls back over her shoulder. “Sorrengails walk or fly off the battlefield, but they’re never carried.” Unbelievable. I watch until she disappears up the stairwell. “No wonder you’re so warm and fuzzy, Violet,” Garrick mutters. “We’re leaving,” Xaden announces. “Gather the marked ones and meet us at the flight field—” “No.” I shake my head. Xaden looks at me like I’ve sprouted a few more limbs. “We just talked about this. We can’t stay here, and I won’t leave you.” “Not just the marked ones,” I clarify. “If Markham is gone and most of the leadership is flying for the border, then it’s our only chance.” “To leave?” Xaden ...