Page 134 of Inflamed By an Incubus

Fenix released her and rose to his feet as she lifted into the air before him. He moved back a few steps to give her space as heat rolled off her, aware of what would come next.

He glanced at his friends and they moved back too, Mackenzie ushering them to a safe distance.

Evelyn continued to rise into the smoky air, her arms and legs hanging limp at her sides, and then she stopped. Light glowed from within her, highlighting the veins beneath her skin, and then cracks formed in her skin and broke open to release blinding light and boiling heat that buffeted Fenix as he took a step back from her.

Fenix shielded his eyes with his right arm, squinting through the shimmering heat haze as her feet dropped, shifting her upright, and her golden hair turned to flames, fluttering and streaming from the back of her head.

Fierce light exploded from her, a wave of heat that swept him off his feet and dropped him on his backside further from her, throwing dust and pebbles at him as he landed. Fire licked over him and the air grew hotter still, scorching him despite the potion.

And then it stopped.

Cold air swept past him from behind, as if she was sucking it all towards her.

Fenix lowered his arm and stared at her where she hovered in the air, wings of fire wrapped around her bare body and flames dancing over her, fluttering brightest around her ankles and wrists.

He got to his feet and drifted towards her, relieved to see no trace of the wound he had delivered her. There was only perfect, unmarked skin. Light pulsed beneath that skin as she spread her wings and lifted her head to take in her surroundings.

“Evelyn,” Fenix murmured and reached a hand up to her.

She angled her head towards him.

Stared blankly at him.

It hadn’t worked.

The hope that had been building inside him shattered in an instant.

And then her lips parted and a single word fell from them.

“Fenix?”

Chapter 39

Fenix caught Evelyn as she drifted down to him, gathered her into his arms and sank to his knees with her, relief beating in every inch of him. She shook as he held her, curled up against him in a way that relayed her fear to him as clearly as their bond did, and he rubbed her arms, trying to soothe her.

And himself at the same time.

What if this was just a fluke caused by Archer stopping her rebirth in the Fifth Realm? What if the curse wasn’t broken?

“I’m sorry I killed you,” he murmured, voice thick and low, and didn’t take his eyes off her even when Rosalind and the others came to them.

He appreciated it when the blonde witch removed her black coat and held it out to him. He took it and wrapped it around Evelyn, covering her bare curves, and rubbed her arm through it. Her shaking subsided and she leaned back, her gaze searing his face as her golden eyes glowed. The light in them slowly dimmed, returning them to their normal colour, and he smiled for her as he stroked her cheek.

“I’m sorry,” he repeated, unsure whether he was ever going to stop apologising to her for what he had done. “Drystan said it was the way to break the curse. I had to be the one to kill you.”

Something he never would have done, not in a million lifetimes, if the mage hadn’t told him it was the only way.

The bastard had picked the only method of breaking the curse well.

If it had been the way to break it.

He looked at Archer as he eased into a crouch on the other side of her.

“Just going to take a look at you,” Archer whispered, his dark gaze sincere, overflowing with worry.

Fenix didn’t miss the tears that laced his dark lashes as he looked Evelyn over and then held his left hand out to hover his palm above her forehead. His eyes closed and he breathed slowly, deeply as his eyebrows knitted hard.

The wait was agonising. Every breath Fenix drew rasped in his ears as he looked at his mate, not daring to hope the curse had been lifted.

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