Page 289 of Heat of the Everflame

All the hands I’d held through their final moments, when a single thought from me could have stopped death in its tracks.

Fight.

Help him, I pleaded to my godhood.I don’t know how to do this, but you do.

No answer came.

I turned my frustration into fuel and unloaded more magic into his body. A tiny, nervous bell clanged in the back of my mind at the hollow chasm forming in my chest. I pushed it away—I refused to abandon this man to the monsters of Fortos.

Think, Diem, I told myself.You’re a healer. If you could mend this with your hands, you can mend it with your magic.

Jaw clenched, I dove in deeper. This time, I let my healer’s instincts guide me, weaving my mortal upbringing with my Descended gifts. My years of studies on the human body led the way, identifying bones I knew were broken and the ways the joints were not quite right. I gave instructions to my magic—clear and specific, encouraging and firm—the same way I’d taught trainees at the center.

Fight, thevoicedemanded.

Heal, I demanded right back.

The man suddenly let out a hoarse, blood-curdling scream. I froze, panicked, certain I’d done something utterly, terribly wrong—until I felt a stirring in my chest. My godhood flowed beneath his skin and set to work obeying my commands: reforming the bones, shifting them into place, and restoring the atrophied muscles. I gave a final, unrestrained pulse of power, and a blink of light flashed across the room.

“Blessed Kindred,” the man gasped. “You... you healed me.You healed me!”

My eyes flew open, and a triumphant laugh burst free. “Lumnos’s tits,” I said, grinning. “I wasn’t sure that would actually work.”

He lunged forward and wrapped his arms around my waist, burying his head in my side. “You are Kindred-sent. I haven’t walked in decades.”

“Decades?” I choked out. My heart shattered at the horrors he must have endured. “What’s your name?”

“Enness, Your Maj—” His brow furrowed with a glance at the now-empty spot above my head.

I took his hand and squeezed it, ignoring the question in his expression. “I’m Diem, Enness. I’m so happy I could help you. Now, I needyourhelp.”

“Anything,” he breathed.

“I’ve got a lot of mortals I need to get out of this prison. If I help you escape, will you use your magic to protect them until they get home?”

His shoulders fell. “I don’t have my magic. They drugged us with—”

“Flameroot,” I muttered, remembering. I chewed on my lip. “I wonder...”

I let my magic rush into him again, this time focusing on his blood. I felt the flameroot’s presence flowing in his veins, but much like the godstone’s toxin, my magic fizzled at its touch.

But the light... the strange, silvery light. The one that demandedbalance. Some inscrutable hunch urged me to turn my eyes that way, but I’d only ever used it when life and death were on the line.

I focused in on that—the needless tragedies I yearned to avoid. Children trapped in joyless cells. Broken bodies scattered on the Fortos flatlands. Corpses strewn throughout my beloved Lumnos forests. I pleaded with my heart, my magic, the gods, not knowing which of them held the key—help me do this. Help me save them all.

A light burned frail within me, like the last smoldering ember of a long-extinguished fire. I held it close, cupped within my hands, the blow of my breath keeping its stubborn glow alive. I let my magic be its vessel and carry a spark through my palms. The moment it hit Enness’s skin, he illuminated with a fleeting burst of silver light.

We stared at each other in mutual shock.

I blinked at him. “Did it work?”

He blinked back. “You don’t know?”

I shrugged. “I’m a little new at using magic.”

He laughed abruptly, then straightened in surprise. It had been decades since he’d walked—how long had it been since he’dlaughed?

He held out a palm. Twisting green vines slithered through the cracks in his cell. They sprouted vibrant leaves and clusters of fat grapes. He plucked one off and popped it in his mouth. The moan that followed was borderline indecent.

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