All but embers

Our hurried and panicked footsteps rang all over the empty hallways. My bare feet struck the cold marble floor but the only feeling I'd acknowledged was the deep eeriness curdling in my stomach. As every turn meant we were getting closer toward the source of the explosion, my throat constricted and nausea swirled in my head.

Lucius steered us to where the Essence would be located—if it was still there that is, along with the perpetrators. Eloise and Damien stayed behind to help with the wounded in the palace grounds.