Page 63 of Of Flame and Fate

“Uh-huh,” I say, grateful I missed the show.

I try wiggling my toes. Turns out I can’t. For now, I’m just thankful they’re still attached, given Shayna’s oh-too descriptive visual of me being nailed into the earth.

Emme ties Gemini’s shirt around me like a skirt when I sit up. “You sort of . . . exploded,” she explains. “And the blast disintegrated the ground.”

The retelling becomes too much for Gemini. He abandons his cursing fit and lifts me in one smooth move, placing me further back and near what resembles a burning shoe. My charred outline remains on the ground. With a trembling hand, I try to toss my hair over my shoulder, except all I feel is bare skin. I gasp, thinking I’m bald.

“It’s still there, T,” Shayna assures me, her words releasing in spurts of sound. “It’s just sticking up a little.” She does an arching motion around her head. “Like an afro. But I think Genevieve can fix it and give you back your eyebrows.”

“My eyebrows?” I ask, not wanting to believe what came out of her mouth.

“Totally,” Shayna adds, nodding. “You fried them and your lashes clean off.” She holds out her hands. “But don’t worry. I don’t think anyone will notice and, on the plus side, you may never need another bikini wax again.”

“Oh, God,” I whimper, touching my face. All I feel is smooth skin and lots of ash.

I look up to where Genevieve and Ines elegantly wait. But don’t you worry one damn minute, they’re fine and still very much have their eyebrows. In fact, both raise theirs when they get a gander of me.

Their beautiful maiden gowns sway in the dying breeze, along with their silky hair. Meanwhile I’m standing in a tube top that barely keeps my breasts in, a ripped T-shirt for a skirt, and the only hair on my body levitating in the air.

“How’s it going?” I ask, stepping forward.

“Fine,” Ines replies, her French accent thick and just as lovely as her face, even as it fades in and out. “Et toi?”

“Oh, I’m dandy. Just missing some hair.” I shrug. “It happens, you feel me?”

She nods. Sort of.

Vieve can’t stop staring at my forehead. “That was quite a display of power, Sister Taran,” she says. I can barely hear her, but I don’t think she’s whispering. Like my sister and Ines, her voice is most like a muffled and distant echo, its pitch alternating from almost normal, to barely audible.

“Tell me about it,” I say. Her eyes widen. “What’s wrong? Am I yelling?”

She appears almost afraid to answer, looking to my sisters for guidance. “Ah, yes.”

“Oh. Sorry.” I stop just in front of her, muttering through my teeth. “You can fix this shit, right?”

“I . . . hope so,” she says, casting an apologetic glance in Gemini’s direction.

Awesome.

I continue forward, trying to strut and failing miserably. With how bad my arm continues to jerk and twitch, I can’t even walk a straight line.

My focus travels to Johnny where he’s sitting on the ground. He looks weak, tired, and is breathing fast, but he’s no longer screaming in agony, nor does he seem in pain. I’m glad. I don’t know him, but it was hard to watch him suffer like he did. And poor Destiny, I can’t help thinking she’s worse off.

Not that I’m the only one who’s thinking of her.

Tye appears ready to charge. If it weren’t for the wall Bren and Koda are making with their colossal bodies, and the way Gemini’s twin wolf continues to circle him, Johnny’s blood would be dripping from Tye’s fangs. Johnny can sense as much, his full attention on Tye.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” Gemini mutters tightly. I didn’t know he was behind me, my hearing still out of sorts. He adjusts my clothes, making sure I’m covered. “You could have been killed.”

My hands fall against his skin, leaving blue and white soot marks. I try to wipe it off, only to give up when I make it worse. “I didn’t have a choice,” I say, hoping I’m keeping my voice soft. I motion to the damaged trees surrounding us. “We were all going to die.”

“That doesn’t automatically make you the go-to sacrifice.” He releases me slowly as if it pains him. I want to reassure him except I don’t get a chance. He leaves me and walks to where the wolves await his orders.

I wish we could leave. But as much as we’ve already faced and fought through, his job isn’t done and our situation is far from over.

I hurry behind him, at least I try to. Something is off in my balance, and the world isn’t quite as I remembered it.

Mounds of blue and white ash expand across the perimeter, creating a flower with petals extending out in sharp sweeps. My guess is, the way all the bolts intertwined, I was hit with one mighty blow, the residual power branching out of my body and creating the blossom.

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