Rose in Chains (The Evermore Trilogy, #1)

by Julie Soto

Her brother who was supposed to be the one to end this war. Her brother who had been foretold.

When the sun shines at night, he who will bring an end to war on this land shall be victorious. He shall be an heir, twice over, and a rightful sovereign over the continent.

Heartstop was outlawed in Evermore. Of all the heart magic, Heartstop, the crushing of a heart within its owner’s chest, took the heaviest toll on a magician. The first taking of a human life ripped one’s own heart, and every subsequent kill sliced further and further. Rory had had to learn this complex magic from scratch, as only Bomardi used heart magic. Just as only Eversuns used mind magic.

Magic pulled from the mind did not exhaust the body, whereas magic from the heart took a greater physical toll. Heart magicians had always needed to rely on animal familiars to keep their strength for prolonged magic use.

And then there was someone far harder to decipher. Icy cold most days, only to thaw at the oddest moments. With strong hands and opaque eyes, a wicked mouth and a silver tongue. Who inspired as much fear and uncertainty in her chest as he did yearning.

He flung the doors open, and then she was face-to-face with Toven Hearst. The eyes she’d realized years ago weren’t fully gray, but also speckled blue, stared directly into her. She should have cast another spell to soften her heartbeat. He must hear it. His hair fell across his forehead, fine and so pale that the gray was almost silver. The last time she’d seen this man, he’d been hunting her through the woods and killed the people that got in his way.

While there was certainly a divide between those who practiced mind magic and those who practiced heart magic, the basic principles were very much the same. It was the source of the power and the connection to it that differed. For a heart magician, lifting a rock into the air started in the muscle. For a mind magician, it started at the source of movement—the brain. Heart magicians felt a pulsing vein of magic in their chest, while mind magicians felt a thread between the eyes, tying their mind to the outside world. Briony had always been taught that the Eversun mind magic was an evolved technique: Mind magicians did not tire as quickly as heart magicians, and the Bomardi didn’t have the patience for mind magic. Heart magicians could accidentally deplete their magic, yes, but it took less training to get strong results the first time. Consistency was the friend of the mind magician.

“Tell me what? Why are we being held here?” Larissa smiled cruelly. “It’s for the auction.”

“I’m not sure how many more times I need to say it,” he whispered, and the room was barely breathing. “That heartspring is mine. Her mouth is mine, her magic is mine, her skin is mine.” His teeth bit through the words, and he met eyes with every person at the table before saying, “You will not touch her, under any circumstances. I purchased her. I do what I please with her.”

“Sometimes I have to act without your approval to do what’s best for my family! Not just you, all four of us!”