The streets were unrecognizable. Smoke tinted the sky a bruised gray and sparks swirled like angry fireflies caught in a gust. The marble facades of the once proud palace quarter glowed red as flames lapped across their arches. People streamed out of the narrow alleys in a panic—merchants pulling carts, mothers holding children, guards barking orders that went unheeded.
Vivian navigated the mayhem with Wren on one side and Arabella on the other, but every step they took felt as precarious as balancing on a tightrope over a pit. The heat was oppressive, sticky and suffocating, but heavier still was the burden of doubt.
“Keep your head down,” Wren muttered, her voice half drowned in the roar. “This is more than just fire—it’s cover. Somebody started this.
”Vivian narrowed her eyes. She kn
