Page 209 of Heat of the Everflame

“Diem?”

My head snapped around at the sound of my brother’s voice. He stood at the door to my bedchamber, bright-eyed and grinning.

“You’re home,” he cried out.

We ran to each other and collided in a bone-crushing hug, a balm I’d badly needed. The fragile pillars of glass I’d been erecting to stop my plummet into the dark, depthless pit of fear that yawed open beneath me—they fortified to steel the second we touched. My brother’s steady strength flowed into me and restored me at a more profound level than any magic ever had.

He pulled back and gripped me by the shoulders. “Thank the gods you’re alright. He told me you were, but I was too scared to believe it.”

“Who told you?”

“Luther. He sent a messenger hawk from Umbros to let me know you were safe.”

My heart squeezed.Ofcoursehe had.

Teller’s eyes roamed over me, taking in the ruby-encrusted gown I was still wearing from dinner, the tear-streaked kohl that stained my cheeks, and the crusted blood all over my skin from Luther’s wounds.

“By the Flames, D. Whathappened?”

My body drooped at the weight of that story—a story that was still unfolding behind me.

“I’ll tell you everything soon. Right now I need to focus on—”

A scream ripped through the room. A heart-wrenched, soul-shattering cry, a hot knife that seared straight through my chest.

“Luther?” Lily choked out. She stared, horrified, at the bed, her round eyes already full with burgeoning tears.

Teller looked at me in alarm. The sight of my anguish answered the question he didn’t ask.

Taran stepped forward to block her view. “You shouldn’t see this, Lil. Let us clean him up first.”

Her hands flew to her mouth as a sob cracked out. “Is—is he...? Did he...?”

I ran to grab her arm and spun her to face me. “He’s alive, just ill. I know it looks bad, but he’s going to be fine. I’m going to heal him.”

“Diem,” Taran rumbled in warning.

She looked between me and her brother, bottom lip quivering. “You can do that? You can save him?”

I knew the right thing to do was to be honest. This would be hard enough on Lily as it was. But admitting the truth to her meant admitting it to myself, and that was something I couldn’t yet bring myself to do.

Though I also couldn’t bring myself to meet her eyes as I answered, “Yes, I can.”

“Diem,” Taran said again.

“What?” I snapped at him. “I never gave up on saving you, did I?”

Muscles twitched on his forearms as his fists clenched at his side. He ground his teeth. “Fine. What can we do to help?”

I immediately put them to work—Zalaric filling a basin of warm water, Taran gathering soap and clean gauze, and Teller and Lily collecting the medicinal herbs I’d planted in the palace garden. Though their doubts were unmissable, I could also tell they were grateful for the distraction of being useful.

They set off to complete their tasks, and for a brief moment, Luther and I were alone. I gingerly slid onto the bed beside him and brushed back the hair from his face.

He still looked so formidable. His sharp jaw was a weapon, his scar a banner of war. He was a warrior.Mywarrior. Ever ready to face my enemies in battle—and now, that enemy was death.

I set a kiss on his lips, hating the stillness I felt in response. Would I ever again feel the dominant crush of his mouth on mine, the possessive tug of his fingers in my hair, that fiery passion that was a twin flame to my own? Would I get to see thesliver of sunlight that was his true smile, the hard-won joy he so rarely let shine?

“Come back to me,” I begged. My hand shifted to the unblemished patch of skin above his heart.

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