Page 38 of Glow of the Everflame

I barely recognized him.

“I knew you had it in there,” he breathed. He shook his head and laughed again, a full-body ripple of childlike wonder. “Blessed Kindred, you’re incredible—and that was just a hint of it. You’re going to be unstoppable. I have no idea how keeping all that in for this long didn’t burn you alive.”

I stared down at my open palms. The same hands I’d always had. And yet...

“Do you feel better?” Luther asked. When I didn’t answer, his smile faltered. “Did the release help?”

Yes.

And no.

He had been completely right. The explosion of power was a pressure valve for my anger. My mind was now clear, my heartbeat steady, my skin cool and refreshed. Thevoicewas as silent as death.

But its crimson fog had lifted to reveal something I’d been hiding from for months—maybe since all the way back when I was a scared little girl having visions I didn’t understand.

I was Descended.

I had magic.

I was strong, and I was fast. I could heal.

And I would live for centuries. Millennia, maybe.

But my family wouldn’t. Henri and Maura, they wouldn’t.

I would get decades with them at best—if I was lucky. And they would be painful, heartbreaking decades where I stayed young while I watched the people I loved wrinkle and weaken and wither to dust.

I would grieve and bury them, one by one, in the cold soil. I would watch helplessly as everyone who ever knew them died, too, until it was onlymyhead,myheart, that still carried their memory.

And then I would be alone. So completely, eternally alone.

And no magic in the world could prevent it.

Alone. That was my destiny.

“I accept.”

Luther tentatively edged closer and helped me to stand, his hands gently curling around my arms to hold me steady. “You accept what?”

“I’ll claim House Corbois,” I said hoarsely. “But only if you protect my friends and family for as long as they live. Even if I die in the Challenging.” My hands began to tremble. “Promise me that, and I’ll do it.”

“Diem...” His voice was soft and painfully tender. He arched his head down in an effort to catch my gaze. “What’s wrong?”

Everything.

I looked up, my fractured, bleeding heart reflected in his concerned eyes. “If you want my trust, then give me your word you’ll protect them, even if I can’t.”

A tear escaped, streaming like a river down my cheeks. I’d once been horrified at the idea of crying in front of him. Now, I was simply trying not to shatter.

“Please, Luther,” I whispered, my voice cracking.

“Of course.” He brushed the tear away and nodded earnestly. “I won’t let anything happen to them. I promise.”

Without another word, I pulled out of his arms and walked away, up the winding staircase, along the twisting corridors, through my heavily guarded chamber doors, and into my cold, empty bed.

I let the tears flow unchecked, and I wept until the world fell away.

ChapterNine

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