I threw my arms around Zoe Helios the second she was in reach, hugging her firmly to me while she laughed, breathless from the embrace. Though I barely knew her, really, I couldn't help the tightening in my throat and chest, the burning in my eyes at seeing her there, safe and sound.

She'd saved my life, that of my family, when she'd risked everything to come and warn me the night the Brotherhood attacked. Burning up from her own power, turning ...