Page 67 of An Empress of Fire & Steel

Emara took a step forward as if to stop her, her heart bursting into her throat.

“Believe in who you are. Let go and feel the magic, feel it around you. I’m here. Always.” Cally’s voice rang around the trees and disappeared along with her figure. The light folded in on itself, spiralling around, and then vanished like a puff of smoke. Like she had never been there at all.

A whimper left Emara’s throat as she looked out at nothing but the forest, the midnight-coloured water still flowing heavily from the waterfall into the pool below. The moon beams made their way down to earth just to glow upon the tears that sat on Emara’s face.

For once, she didn’t feel empty. She felt whole.

She felt a purpose bloom in her heart. A hope.

“Emara.” A raspy voice pulled her from the surreal bubble that had formalised in her mind. She spun, facing the direction in which it came.

Torin Blacksteel stood against the backdrop of the trees, his tunic twisted like he had shoved it on quickly and his breathing laboured. Holding a sword in his hand, his eyebrows pulled down. “What are you doing?” he asked, a note of concern in his voice.

“I…” She trailed off, not quite sure what to say. Her emotion was still bubbling in her heart.

“Why are you out here? How did you even get to the Waterfall of Uttara?” His voice was soft, even for him.

She looked around herself again, finally taking in everything. Come to think of it, she wasn’t sure if she even remembered. The thin veil of magic that had been swept over her was now gone, and she wasn’t sure she could remember the way here at all.

“I don’t remember,” she muttered.

“You don’t remember getting out of bed beside me and walking almost half a mile—in your bare feet, may I add?” His eyebrows crunched tightly together and his jaw sharpened.

To someone else, he would look menacing in the eerie light of the Cold Moon, but to her, he was devastatingly beautiful. Soul-crushingly handsome, even if he was currently trying his hardest to scold her. His hair fluffed over his forehead drowsily and his tight tunic hugged his extraordinary frame, revealing his rock-hard torso that was heaving with his panting breaths. His arms bulged out from the side, so powerful that she could only imagine how destructive they were in full battle, but they had only ever cradled her, kept her safe, and fought for her.

“Emara, can you speak? You are scaring me.” His tone was short, and his eyes darkened in a way she had never seen before.

Torin Blacksteel felt fear?

“Please speak,” he begged her.

So she told him. She told him what she could, how she had witnessed an orb, and how she had felt as it floated in their room. She tried to explain the feeling of how she knew that she had to follow it, but his expression of concern had only deepened. She explained to him about Cally and how she had appeared in spirit to let her know who she truly was. She left out that he had fans on the Otherside; his ego didn’t need that kind of boost.

“And you didn’t think of waking me up as you saw a massive orb floating in the room?”

She huffed. “No, Torin. I didn’t.” The frustration crept into her forehead, creasing it.

She had, and she had chosen not to involve him.

“It could have been anything. I am your guard!” He threw a hand out in exasperation. “You need to inform me of these things. It could have—” He stopped himself and placed a hand up to his temple. “It could have hurt you.”

“It wouldn’t have harmed me. I trusted it.”

A dry laugh slipped through his lips. “How can you possibly know that?”

“Because I did,” she bit out. “I did. I knew it in my heart. I knew it wouldn’t harm me. I don’t know how, but I did.” She looked him over, her eyes narrowing. “As my guard, you should trust me.”

“I do, but you should have awoken me. Sometimes magic can trick you into thinking something that’s not real.”

“No,” she said sternly. “I have instincts just as much as you do, just as powerful,” she reminded him. “And I trusted that I would be okay.”

Callyn had told her to trust her gut, and she would.

He walked towards her, his brows slowly pulling down again. “I don’t want to row with you over this.”

“We are not rowing.” She crossed her arms over herself.

“Well, there is a first time for everything.” He smirked sharply before his jaw locked back in. “All I ask is that you please tell me the next time a random orb visits you whilst we sleep.” His fierce cheekbones were highlighted by the glow of the moon, and it hollowed out the structure of his face to present a wildly handsome profile.

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