Page 60 of The Iron Flower

The startling realization washes over me.He knows. Lukas knows. But he’s going to overlook all of it.

“I want to fast to you, Elloren,” he snarls, emphatic, “but my protection can only go so far. There are forces much stronger than me at work.Much. So, you need to takegreat care.”

I hold his stare, unflinching, as steel rises within me. “Lukas. You need to break from them.”

He draws back, angered. “And go where, Elloren? To what end?”

“East.”

His eyes harden with fury, and he turns away, looking out over the base, seeming wildly unsettled. This is not a Lukas I’ve often seen. He’s like a caged, feral thing. Even though he has power here, I realize, he’s not truly in control.

No one controls this thing that Vogel’s unleashed. No one, except Vogel himself.

“What’s Vogel planning on doing, Lukas?”

He eyes me with derision. “Read the Mage Council archives, Elloren. He’s quite clear about what he’s planning to do.” Lukas’s nostrils flare, his jaw ticking as he looks back out over the base. “Elloren,” he says, suddenly almost sounding hesitant. “I might have been wrong about Fallon Bane.”

Shock lashes through me. “What do you mean?”

“She’s healing. And her air and water powers are quickening. She’s starting to be able to access her other elemental powers, as well. Which means Vogel just might have his Black Witch. And the Icaral of Prophecy is a tiny, helpless baby. So, we have Fallon. Andthis,” he says, waving his hand over the base. “We have the Alfsigr Elves as our allies, and more dragons than we’ve ever had before.”

He stares at me with stone-cold sobriety. “We’re going to mow over the entire Western and Eastern Realms. I could go east tomorrow, Elloren. And I couldnot changewhat’s coming.”

Horror laps at me, but I battle against its grip. “Lukas, are you really content to be part of this nightmare?”

Lukas sets his eyes back on the base, the tree-torches guttering around us. His voice is pitched low with struggle when it comes. “I don’t know, Elloren.”

I’m stunned by his sudden honesty. The urge to be equally honest with him rises in me. To voice to him what I can voice to no one else.

“Lukas...there’s a lot of power rising in my affinity lines. I felt it when we flew in over the wilds. We both did.” I look out over the base, remembering the intoxicating thrill of the power, and clasp my fingers around the Snow Oak pendant, my fire lines rousing in response. “The power... It felt good.Toogood. And that scares me.”

I turn to face Lukas and release the pendant, and the fire recedes to a dull ember. “I don’t want to be like my grandmother.”

Lukas turns to face me and reaches up to caress my cheek, his touch featherlight. “Fast to me. I understand your struggle. And I don’t judge you for it.”

We hold each other’s gaze for a brief moment, our branches reaching for each other.

Then he steps closer and pulls me gently into his arms. Light as gossamer, he kisses the base of my neck, his lips rousing my fire lines with a heated longing that tingles straight through me.

“Fast to me, Elloren,” he murmurs again, coaxing me to give in to his hypnotic draw. “The world is always in conflict. We could use our power to secure a place for ourselves in it.”

Ourpower?

A small edge of confusion cuts through his sensual spell. “How can my power be of any use?”

“I can draw on it.” Lukas trails kisses along my jaw, his fire caressing my lines.

“You can...draw on my power?” I ask breathlessly.

“A bit.” Lukas’s fingers skim down my back, a delicious shiver chasing his caress.

I swallow hard, my mind suddenly a whirl. “Is that why you want to fast to me?”

“No,” he says as his lips brush against mine, his fire rippling through me. “There’s a bond between us, Elloren. I know I’m not the only one who feels it.” He draws me closer and brings his lips to mine, sending his heat straight through me in a provocative rush.

I gasp as a delicious tension ignites inside me, and Lukas’s kiss deepens.

“Lukas,” I say as his pianist fingers knot in my hair and he kisses along my neck, “if we can combine our power...we could use it not just for ourselves...but to fight Vogel.”

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