CASSIAN POV
I'd failed at a lot of things in my life.
Failed to protect Lydia. Failed to stop my inventions from being stolen. Failed to prevent the Rosewick massacre.
But watching Sera disappear into Cordelia's silver flames while knowing I'd led her straight into a trap—that was a new kind of failure.
"Sera!" I lunged forward, but Mnemora grabbed me.
"Don't! You'll burn too!"
The silver fire was different from Sera's red flames. It moved like liquid, wrapping around her body, seeping into her skin. Sera screamed—a sound that would haunt me forever—then went silent.
When the flames cleared, she was standing perfectly still. Eyes blank. Face emotionless.
Just like Lydia.
"No," I whispered.
"Yes." Cordelia smiled. "Eight weapons now. Thank you for delivering her so efficiently, Lord Vyredge. You've been quite helpful."
Rage replaced horror. She'd been in my head. Reading my thoughts through Lydia's connection. Every plan I'd made, every strategy I'd considered—she'd known it all.
I was a fool. An arrogant fool who thought he was clever enough to outsmart an immortal.
"Now then." Cordelia gestured to her army of captive Flamehearts. "Since you were so cooperative, I'll give you a choice. Leave now and live, or stay and burn with your city. What do you say?"
I pulled out another device from my coat. "I say you made a mistake."
She laughed. "Another weapon? Really? I know about every invention in your workshop. There's nothing you have that can hurt me."
"You're right. This won't hurt you at all." I pressed the button.
Nothing happened.
Cordelia's smile widened. "How embarrassing."
"Not for me." I grinned. "For you."
That's when the real plan activated.
The device wasn't a weapon—it was a signal. And all over the Clockwork Capital, hundreds of my hidden inventions responded to that signal. Mechanical birds took flight, carrying messages to every news outlet, every public square, every noble household.
Messages containing proof of Cordelia's crimes. Stolen memories Mnemora had collected. Evidence of the Flameheart kidnappings. Records showing how she'd manipulated the Noble Council for decades.
In ten minutes, everyone in the capital would know the truth.
Cordelia's face twisted with fury. "What did you do?"
"Exposed you. You can burn me, burn the city, burn everything. But you can't stop the truth from spreading now." I met her eyes. "You wanted to control the narrative? Too late. The story's already being written."
For the first time, Cordelia looked uncertain.
Then Sera moved.
Not like a puppet. Like herself.
Her blank eyes suddenly filled with awareness. Red fire exploded from her body, shattering Cordelia's silver flames like glass.
"Did you really think," Sera gasped, struggling but fighting, "that I'd just give up? That I'd let you control me like the others?"
Cordelia's eyes widened. "Impossible. My magic should have—"
"Your magic did work. I felt it trying to take over." Sera's hands ignited with red flames. "But I've been burned before. I survived worse than your silver fire. And I learned something: fire doesn't control me. I control it."
She was fighting the transformation from the inside. I could see the strain on her face, the way her body shook. But she was doing it—resisting magic that had broken seven other Flamehearts.
"Impressive," Cordelia said coldly. "But futile. You're only delaying the inevitable."
"Maybe. But I'm also doing this."
Sera grabbed Cordelia's arm.
And set them both on fire.
Not controlled fire. Not careful fire. Pure, destructive, burning-everything-to-ash fire.
"Sera, stop!" I yelled. "You'll kill yourself!"
"I know!" She smiled through the pain. "But I'll take her with me!"
The two of them were engulfed in red flames. Cordelia screamed—the first time I'd seen her actually hurt. The other captive Flamehearts collapsed, freed temporarily from her control as she focused all her power on fighting Sera.
"Cassian, now!" Mnemora appeared beside me. "While they're distracted!"
Ferris charged forward, grabbing Lydia and the other captives, pulling them away from the fire. Mnemora opened portals, shoving the unconscious Flamehearts through to safety.
But I couldn't move. I was frozen, watching Sera burn.
She was going to die. She knew it and did it anyway, just to give us a chance to save the others.
"You stupid, brave, impossible girl," I whispered.
Then I did the only thing I could do.
I ran into the fire.
Again.
The heat was worse than before. My skin blistered instantly. My lungs felt like they were melting. But I kept going until I reached them.
Sera's eyes widened when she saw me. "Get out! You'll die!"
"Not without you." I grabbed her free hand. "Let go of Cordelia. We'll find another way."
"There is no other way! She'll just keep coming, keep hurting people—"
"Then we'll stop her together. But not like this. Not by killing yourself."
For a moment, I thought she wouldn't listen. The fire raged hotter.
Then, slowly, she released Cordelia.
We ran.
The fire collapsed behind us as Cordelia struggled to control it. Mnemora had a portal ready. We dove through just as the entire area exploded in silver flames.
We tumbled into Mnemora's Palace of Forgotten Things. I immediately checked on Sera. She was alive but barely—covered in burns, barely breathing.
"Ferris, medical supplies!" I shouted.
"Already here, my lord." The metal knight was faster than I expected.
The other captive Flamehearts were unconscious but stable. Freed from Cordelia's immediate control, though I didn't know for how long.
Lydia was among them. I knelt beside my sister, touching her face gently. "I'm going to save you. I promise."
Her eyes flickered open—still blank, but something stirred behind them. "Cassian," she whispered. "She's coming. Angry now. Going to burn everything."
"Let her come. We're ready."
"No. You don't understand." Lydia grabbed my hand with surprising strength. "She's not just angry. She's desperate. Because what Sera did—grabbing her, burning her—it damaged the Heart of Ember. Not much. But enough. Enough that Cordelia knows she can be hurt now."
"That's good, right?"
"No. Because now she'll do anything to protect herself. Even if it means destroying the entire capital."
Before I could respond, every window in the palace shattered.
Silver fire poured through, but this time it wasn't aimed at us. It formed into words, hanging in the air like a death sentence:
YOU HAVE ONE HOUR. BRING ME SERAPHINA ASHFORD OR I BURN THE CLOCKWORK CAPITAL TO ASH. EVERY MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD. EVERYONE YOU'VE EVER CARED ABOUT. ALL OF THEM DEAD BECAUSE YOU CHOSE ONE GIRL OVER THOUSANDS.
The message hung there, burning.
Mnemora looked at me. "Cassian, we can't let her do this."
"I know."
"There are a hundred thousand people in the capital. Children. Families."
"I know."
"We have to give Sera to her."
I looked at Sera, unconscious and burned, who'd just tried to sacrifice herself to save everyone.
Then I looked at Lydia, at the other captives, at Mnemora and Ferris who'd become my closest friends.
One girl's life against a hundred thousand.
The math was simple.
The choice was impossible.
"No," I said finally. "We find another way."
"There is no other way!" Mnemora grabbed my shoulders. "I care about Sera too, but we can't let an entire city die for her!"
She was right. I knew she was right.
But I also knew what it felt like to sacrifice someone to save others. I'd done it before with Lydia, let her die because I thought it was the right choice. And I'd regretted it every day since.
"There's always another way," I said. "We just have to find it."
"In one hour?"
"Yes."
Mnemora looked at me like I was insane. Maybe I was. The Mad Duke, living up to his name.
That's when Sera's eyes opened.
"Give me to her," she said weakly.
"Absolutely not."
"It's the only way to save everyone."
"It's also the only way to lose. Cordelia wants you because you're powerful. Give her that power, and she becomes unstoppable."
"Then what do you suggest?" Sera tried to sit up and winced. "Let a hundred thousand people die?"
"No. I suggest we do what Cordelia doesn't expect." I smiled—not my fake smile, but a real one. "We attack first."
Everyone stared at me.
"With what army?" Ferris asked.
"With the one we already have." I gestured to the unconscious Flamehearts. "Seven fire wielders who've been her prisoners. Seven people who have every reason to want revenge."
"They're still under her control!"
"Not completely. Sera broke free. Lydia's fighting it. The others can too, with help." I looked at Sera. "You said you control fire, not the other way around. Can you teach them?"
She looked at the seven unconscious bodies, then back at me. "In one hour? That's insane."
"Yes. But it's also our only chance."
Sera stared at me for a long moment. Then, incredibly, she smiled—small and pained, but real.
"Fine. Let's do something insane."
Outside, the clock tower began to chime.
One hour until Cordelia's deadline.
One hour to do the impossible.
Again.