Chapter 32 · Frontier Lord - Chapter 32: Home Doesn't Kneel

The blade sat cold against Mira's throat. Rain's daughter didn't cry. She just stared at her father, eyes huge and still.

Ava's hand was still on the stone. The Heart pulsed under her palm, hot and wild, like it was waiting for her to choose. Klaus stood three feet away, his grip steady on the girl's shoulder. The refugees pressed in behind Ava, silent now. No one moved.

"Let her go." Ava's voice came out flat. No room for negotiation.

Klaus smiled. The torchlight caught his teeth. "You know I can't do that. Not until you give me what I came for."

"The Heart's not yours."

"It's not yours either." His eyes flicked to the glowing stone behind her. "You're just holding it. Your bloodline lit it up, sure. But you don't know what it does. You don't know how to use it."

He wasn't wrong. The stone had woken when the refugees shouted through the walls, when they'd called this place home. But Ava didn't know what came next. She could feel the pulse under her skin, the way the ground hummed beneath her boots. It wanted something. She just didn't know what.

"So what's your plan?" she said.