Smoke filled Violet’s lungs.

Fire lashed The Bastion, leaving behind charred shadows.

Violet felt empty. Magic had left carefully carved basins inside of her since she left Eloy, etched by pieces of royal souls. Eden had excavated her the deepest, but Raegan opened entirely new possibilities. Scratches of Chione, Dalyla, Caiphas, and Rabiah would soon wear away. Curzon had tried to forge her in his own image but failed.

As Violet lay in a pool of her own spent power, she ...