Page 37 of Spark of the Everflame

He offered no further explanation as he grabbed his tunic and threw it hastily over his head.

“Why?” I asked.

“To honor the Old Gods.”

“Do you know what the Descended would do to you if they saw it?”

“I don’t care.”

“Henri, they’d flay the skin right off your back.”

“Let them try.”

His bitter tone sent a chill rippling down my spine.

Before I could argue, he pulled me into his arms and crushed me with an eager kiss. His lips were rough and hungry, nothing like the sweet, gentle kisses of last night.

I gave a few halfhearted protests, my mind still reeling, but after being so overwhelmed by a whiplash of emotions, the simple ease of lust was a welcome reprieve. Desire won out, and we tumbled back out of our clothes and into night’s sensual embrace.

Crouched in the shadows, watching and waiting from afar, were the memories of a missing mother, a dangerous Prince, and a cloud of ash that had once been a snarling wolf.

ChapterNine

We arrived at the border of Fortos late the following morning

No matter how many times I’d made this trek, I was always surprised at the severe change in landscape between the two kingdoms. The leafy forests of Lumnos, now abundant with autumn’s flame-colored foliage, gave way so abruptly to the rocky flatlands of Fortos that it almost seemed as if the magic that reigned over the realms was infused into nature itself.

And perhaps it was. Teller had once mentioned something about the Descended’s abilities being tied to the soil of their realm of origin—or as they called it, theirterremère.

He had come home from school one day and recounted with breathless fascination the story of a Descended woman who had defected from the snow-capped mountains of Montios to the secretive realm of Umbros. There, she’d given birth to a son sired by a mortal. Though the child was a Descended—as the laws classified anyone with even a drop of Descended blood as such—he initially showed no signs of magic.

However, after coming of age, the son felt an irresistible calling to return to histerremère. The moment his foot touched down on Montios soil, the ice magic native to the realm had unleashed. His body transformed into a walking blizzard that froze everything in sight as the pressure from years of magical restraint melted away.

According to Teller, the story was taught to Descended youth as a cautionary tale to discourage them from ever leaving theirterremère, but I wondered if the real villain of the parable was shadowy, mysterious Umbros and its uncanny ability to pull Descended and mortals alike into its darkness, rarely to be seen again.

As we approached the border, I stole a glance at Henri and nearly burst with laughter at his glazed eyes and satisfied, sex-addled grin. His thoughts were clearly still back at the campsite.

“Mind in the gutter?”

His expression went sheepish. “Is it that obvious?”

I took the apple core I’d been nibbling on and tossed it playfully at his chest.

“I missed you,” he said quietly. “I missedus.”

“Me too,” I said, and this time, it wasn’t a lie.

Six months of grief-induced celibacy had created an awkward tension between us that we’d both needed to ease. For Henri, the relief had been immediate. He’d already fallen back into the comforting familiarity of our romance as if we’d never paused.

As for me... I just needed time. Time to figure out who I was—and who we were together.

“I’ve been thinking,” he started, his words slow and deliberate. “I was wondering if y—”

“Ow!” I yelped as a painful current shot through my body. “What was that?”

Henri’s blade was in his hand in an instant as his eyes scanned me. “What happened?”

I yanked my horse to a stop and searched for some sign of a wound or injury. The pain had been sudden and ephemeral, crashing like a wave before it just as quickly ebbed away. A faint throbbing still lingered in my limbs.

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