He nodded in agreement. “The Watchers managed to keep this secret very well. But why would they do that?”

She wracked her mind, but came up blank. “I have no idea.”

In one blinding instant, a flood of fire poured down his arms. “Stand back, little sorceress.”

Lucia started. “What are you going to do?”

“Watch and see.” Kyan’s eyes turned bright blue.

Before she could say another word, he turned to the moss-covered rock, flung the flames toward it, and wrapped his fire magic around it. The moss burned away in an instant; the grass surrounding the rock turned black. Deeply dismayed, Lucia watched the swift destruction of this beautiful place, but held her tongue.

Kyan’s amber fire turned to blue, and then to a bright, blinding white.

Lucia had never seen this white fire before, but she quickly learned that it was scorching enough to transform solid rock into bubbling lava in seconds. The rock melted like an ice sculpture on a summer’s day.

Kyan snuffed his fire out. The lava glowed like an orange moat protecting a strange object now revealed beneath the rock.

Lucia craned her neck to look, expecting to see another stone wheel. Instead, she saw a jagged crystal monolith—light violet at the top fading into a darker shade of purple at the bottom.

The monolith lit up their surroundings with its otherworldly glow, like a magical bonfire. Lucia felt the warmth of that magic, the pure and pulsing life, emanating from the crystal.

She looked down, stunned, to see that her amethyst ring had begun to glow with the exact same violet light.

“This is an original gateway,” Kyan whispered, pressing his hand against the crystal’s surface. “One so rare it might lead to places even more secret, more sacred, than the Sanctuary. They’ve hidden it because of its power. What a dangerous, dangerous secret we’ve uncovered.” He grinned at Lucia. “And now it’s even more dangerous because we’re the ones who’ve found it. Tell me what you can do now, little sorceress.”

Lucia cautiously touched the crystal, and gasped.

It was the same sensation she’d felt when she’d stolen Melenia’s magic. A warmth, a glow, a hunger for more.

She knew instinctively that she could drain enough magic from this crystal monolith to draw Timotheus out of his safe Sanctuary in seconds.

And she could kill him just as quickly.

“I can access its magic,” she said. “I can draw out Timotheus. This is exactly what we’ve been looking for.”

Kyan lips stretched into a smile, and he laughed. “Oh, this is wonderful. You are a goddess, my little sorceress. And you will stand by my side, as I burn all of the weakness away from this world.”

“Just like a forest fire,” she said, remembering a lesson from her past. Despite the devastation they caused, forest fires made new life possible by forcing old life to run its course.

“Yes, just like a forest fire. Once the Sanctuary is gone, we will rebuild this world, reconstruct it just as it was in the beginning.”

“What beginning?” she asked.

He clasped her chin. “The very beginning. It will take patience, but we’ll get it right this time. We will create a perfect world.”

She willed the smile to stay on her face, but suddenly she felt unsteady. “I thought all you wanted was for Timotheus to die so he couldn’t imprison you again.”

“That is just the first step in my grand, revolutionary plan.”

She drew in a shaky breath. “So what you’re saying is, you believe this world—my world—to be one big forest that needs to be burned away so new life can grow in its place?”

“Exactly. It’s for the best.” Kyan’s smile faded a bit, and he watched her more carefully now. “There’s nothing to worry about, little sorceress. With magic as strong and pure as this”—he gazed up at the monolith—“you can become immortal, just like those who think they control me.”

“But don’t you need your siblings to be present for this?”

“They’d be better off remaining where they are for now. It’s best that I be the one in control in these beginning days. But very soon we’ll be reunited.” His kind, broad grin returned. “Summon Timotheus here now, little sorceress. I’ve waited an eternity for this moment.”

Timotheus knew this already—Kyan’s grand plan for the world. He had to. But he hadn’t said a word to her about this in her dreams. Not that she would have believed him if he had. Which was exactly why he’d left her to discover this all on her own.

On the cliffs the night Alexius died, after she’d killed Melenia, Lucia had been left feeling so hurt, so betrayed, that she’d wanted nothing more than to hurt everyone else in return. She’d nothing left to live for, so she hadn’t cared if everyone else died right along with her.

Lucia had wanted to watch the world burn.

And now, because of Kyan, it would.

“No,” she said softly.

“Sorry? What did you say?”

“I said no.”

“No? No to what? Do you feel ill? Do you need to rest before we begin?”

She looked up into his amber eyes. “I won’t help you do this, Kyan.”

Kyan frowned, his brow furrowing and his eyes glowing hot. “But you promised.”

“Yes, I promised to help you reclaim your freedom, reunite you with your family, to go so far as to kill someone I considered an enemy to get you what you desired most. But this . . . destroying everything and everyone.” She shook her head, gesturing to the mountains and barren forest around her. “I’ll be no part of this.”

“The world is tragically flawed, little sorceress. Even in our short time together we’ve seen countless examples of this—men and women obsessed with their own little lives, their greed, their lust, their vanity, every weakness compounding on the next.”

“Mortals are weak—that’s what makes them mortals. But they’re also strong, resilient during crises that test their faith or threaten the people and things they love. There’s no such thing as perfection, Kyan.”

“There will be once I carry out my plan. I will create perfection in this world.”

“You aren’t meant to create it. You aren’t meant to destroy it. You’re only meant to sustain it.”

His expression had turned from plaintive to downright unpleasant. “You would dare judge me—you, a mortal child who’s barely even tasted life?”

It was rare for her to feel this certain about anything. Even rarer that she’d take a stand when another opposed her.

She had changed.

“It’s over, Kyan. I’ve made my decision. And now, I’m leaving. Of course you don’t have to come with me; you can stay here as long as you like.”

With a small nod, she turned from him and began to walk away.

But only a short moment later, she felt the rising heat behind her.

“If you think I’ll let you walk away from this so easily,” he said, “you’re stupider than I thought. You still don’t realize exactly what I am, do you?”

Slowly, she turned to look at him.

Fire rolled over his skin, burning away his clothing, until he blazed from head to toe. His eyes burned blue within the sea of amber flames.