Tamed, Li burned at an appropriate distance out on the horizon, near setting. The red sky reflected the crimson ocean below, purified by the empire’s efforts. Fresh-cut cranberry grasses crunched beneath Korac’s feet, and the breeze carried the smell of thyme, not ash.

What a glorious day for a competition.

Korac tucked Sagan’s bra into the back of his pants with a wink in her direction. She blew him a kiss as the girls walked over to the stands. One major section was cordoned off for the Shadow, where everyone took their seats. Korac recognized the twelve children from Bones and Pehton’s reports of the orphanage. Their lives had started similarly to Korac’s, but after only a month in the care of decent people, they looked healthy and happy.

Thanks to the big Icarus waving at them.

Korac smirked.

“You’d better get your head in the game, crowd pleaser. Pehton and Sagan’s cheerleading won’t save you out on the training course.”

Xelan.

Korac turned to face his cocky Co-Emperor and taunted, “Care to make a wager?”

In a signature move, Xelan bit his thumbnail as he considered the odds. Nox stopped waving at the children and walked over with a curious glance in Korac’s direction.

The General knew just the thing. Korac said, “No holds barred—If I win, the three of us start a new tradition.”

Xelan quirked a brow with a glance over at Nox, who shrugged with one shoulder. Xelan asked, “What tradition?”

“When the girls have their night, us three have our own.” Korac gestured among the trio.

Hiding his reaction, Nox looked out over the Ignis Desert. Korac appreciated that Xelan took his time to decide. After a quiet stretch, the brothers glanced at each other.

With a rake of his hair, Xelan said, “Agreed.” He sounded certain, but neither happy nor upset about it.

Nox nodded with a glint in his eyes.

They walked to their mark, and Xelan set into a runner’s stance, much to the delight of the crowd. “If I win, I want you to host Tameka, Pax, and I at the chalet for a week.”

Korac cursed. “Of course you’re wanting to inconvenience me and soil my guest sheets.”

Nox hid a smirk, but not in time. Xelan pointed a stern finger at his older brother. “I want you and Rayne there too.”

The genuine surprise in the enormous Icarus’ eyes was enough incentive for Korac to accept the terms. “Agreed. What do you want, Nox?”

Nox’s baritone chuckle rumbled in his chest before he said, “You two assume we’ll even finish this race. This is my wager. The three of us encounter some disaster, which prompts our overly protective and incredibly capable women to rescue our collective asses.”

That got a laugh out of Xelan, and it was good to hear.

Korac grinned and felt it glowing despite his best efforts to remain composed. “What do you want if you win?” The cameras centered on Nox as if they could hear the conversation, despite that the three Icari had muted their mics.

Nox’s voice quieted, and sorrow thickened the words. “Invite me to your Shadow events so Rayne will go. She refuses to go without me, and after the Martyr Complex isolated her for years, I wish not to be the cause for more of it.”

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Xelan looked away as he said, “Done.”

Korac noted the finality in the word, and knew win or lose, Nox would get his wish. The General glimpsed the confirmation in his Co-Emperor’s eyes. It made Korac smirk as he loosened into his stance and turned on his mic.

“Ready?”

Korac’s word echoed back to him from the coliseum, televised to the entire empire. A hush settled over the crowd.

Nox said, “Set.”

Throughout the arena, the sound of people scooting to the edge of their seats put the pressure on.

Xelan peered between Korac and Nox. At their nods, he shouted, “Go!”

All three opened their wings and flew down into the lava field below. The Ignis desert’s rivers of magma began at the mouth of a massive caldera and carved their way through volcanic rock into a funnel. It emptied into a basin at near sheer cliffs constantly at war with the ocean.

Korac and his brothers raced to the pumice beach and mounted their glass skates, retrofitted with extra friction dampeners and restraints for their heavy boots. Two straps, one magnetic harness—And bang!

With a shout of triumph, Korac was the first to drop into the lava with his skate.

“Don’t get cocky!” Xelan warned from behind, alerting Korac of his expeditious pursuit.

Just in case, Korac bent his knees deeper and flattened his wings behind him for more aerodynamics. He was the smallest of the trio, more dancer than Xelan’s swimmer build. And obviously, Nox was built like the legends of Greek Olympians.

While Korac had size on his side, Xelan had ingenuity and a better understanding of physics. He zipped by with a broad grin on his face.

They both dodged the same stalagmite with ease, but Korac tried to cut into the inside of the next turn.

Xelan predicted this and sliced through the lava to thwart Korac’s strategy.

Where was Nox?

Before Korac could glance back, a shade across the field caught his attention. Nox was in a separate stream. The arrogant bastard waved as he went by, unimpeded by his competitors.

Incredulous, Korac asked, “Can he do that?”

Xelan was still grinning as he watched his older brother glide further away. “You said, ‘No holds barred.’”

He did. Fuck—

As soon as Korac cursed, the ground shook around them, and lava sloshed this way and that. He quirked a brow at his Co-Emperor.

The Icarean Prince’s grin broadened. “Ah… Right on time.”

Nox shouted warily, “What is that?!”

Xelan said, “Well, there’s a reason I chose today—”

A firebomb exploded from the north—The caldera.

Korac dropped his composure. “Tell me you didn’t!”

Another earthquake ripped through the magma desert, and a distinctive crack resounded right as a column of fire shot out of the volcano.

Nox nearly collided with a boulder in his stream as he stared at the calamity in the distance. All around them, the mantle shifted and disconnected until the course ahead fell away completely.

Korac growled, “Xelan!” And braced himself for the fall off the edge of Cinder.

Ahead of them, they heard Nox bellow in a disconcerting mixture of delight and terror before he disappeared.

Xelan cackled like a mad scientist as he crouched and reached out a hand. “Together as Elden intended, General.”

Clenching his jaw, Korac took Xelan’s hand and faced their potential end—Not afraid, but…

Complete.

Together, they went over the edge, chasing after the older brother.

This was not the funnel. This was a ring of massive lava falls pouring into an uncertain end. Ashen wind swept them up as the inertia tightened every muscle in Korac’s body. Halfway down, the intensity of the fall took his breath away, but all the while, he reveled in the pure joy on Xelan’s maniacal face. A speck appeared in the center below, growing bigger as they descended.

Nox.

The lucky son of a bitch made it, and he was pulling ahead to shore right as Xelan and Korac approached the bottom. When the skates right themselves after a vertical drop, it always unsettled Korac’s stomach. It only took one failure of the friction dampeners to send them plummeting into the fire.

Sagan flashed before his eyes, wearing that transparent sun dress and holding their little girl.

Powerful arms gripped Korac, and Xelan’s voice came from a breath away. “Open your eyes, General.”

With a churn of Korac’s stomach, they righted in the ring of lava falls. He looked into his Prince’s eyes and smiled. “Thanks.”

A cheeky grin spread across Xelan’s lips as he said, “You can let go now.”

Korac laughed and released his Prince, whose eyes glittered with mischief as he pushed away toward the shore.

What did the crowd think of the moment?

So they could fully immerse themselves into the sport, Korac, Nox, and Xelan tuned into a private frequency. They weren’t listening to Iuo’s coverage of the races. The more Korac thought of it, the more he didn’t care what anyone thought of his interactions with Xelan. Tameka would get over it, and Caedes could resuscitate Pehton’s heart.

It was enough to make Korac smirk as he unstrapped out of his skate and hopped into his wetsuit. Xelan was already diving into the ocean with his electric spear. Here, Nox’s advantage would end.

The whalesharks were spawning.