Page 405 of Heat of the Everflame

If she didn’t get off the island in the next few seconds, theyallwould die.

The dark monster of vengeance waited in the wings as my fate played out on stage before my eyes.

The three men sprinted toward my gryvern, whose legs trailed dangerously close to the ground. Perthe turned his head and yelled something at Luther, who nodded. Suddenly, theygrabbed my brother and launched him into the air—right into Sorae’s outstretched talon, which closed tight around his waist.

Teller reached his arms down. One hand clutched fast to Perthe’s wrist. The other...

Luther’s fingers hooked to my brother’s, but the grip was flimsy and weak. Sorae was moving too fast, Luther too slow. He began to slip.

He was going to die.

My Prince. Myheart.

The man who’d sworn to be my equal partner in all things, who had seen me for all that I was, my light and my darkness, and not only accepted me, but cherished me. Loved me.

The man I’d given myself to, wholly and unconditionally. The man I wanted to spend my forever with. The man I wanted as my mate.

And now I’d never get the chance.

I cried out a broken, anguished sound as Teller’s fingers slipped, and my Prince dropped from his grasp.

He was falling.Dying.

And then Teller’s hand released from Perthe’s wrist—and closed around Luther’s.

Sorae banked up into the sky, my brother in her talon, my heart dangling from his grip.

Perthe crashed to the soil, somehow managing to stay on his feet. He staggered forward with the momentum, then slowed to a walk, then stopped.

His shoulders slowly rose and fell.

He turned to face me. Lifted his chin. Placed his fist over his chest, then sank to one knee.

Tears flowed down my face in rapids. I pressed my fist to my chest and lowered my head in a final salute to my faithful guard.

The last ray of sunlight vanished over the horizon. Another pulse of light shot from the heartstone across the island, and Perthe’s body slumped to the ground.

In the distance, my gryvern kept flying.

I sank to my knees and buried my face in my hands, overcome by bittersweet sorrow and joy, liberating relief and crushing loss.

Teller had sacrificed Perthe to save Luther, perhaps as much for Lily’s benefit as mine.

Oh, how that choice would weigh on him. How the guilt and second-guessing would chase him through dark thoughts, haunting him as surely as it would haunt me.

Sorae swooped in wide circles outside the island, seeming unable to tear herself from my sight. Or perhaps it was a final kindness, so I could watch as Teller and Luther climbed up her side and mounted her back.

They were safe. I dragged breath into my lungs and tried to find some shred of solace in that. My brother was alive and safe and out of Doriel’s hands. Luther would help him find my mother, and they could finally go home.

And Luther was alive. The future we’d planned was not yet lost—its flame still glowed, lost in the shadows but burning strong. I had committed myself to him, tous, and now that I knew he was out there fighting to get to me, I would fight just as hard to find my way back to him.

And when I did, I’d tell him everything. I’d tell him that I was his and he was mine, now and always. I would tell him I wanted to be bound with him forever, in whatever life we could make in this world, and in eternity thereafter.

The very first chance I got, I would offer up my blood and tell him I was ready to be his ma—

Thwack.

A blur at the base of my vision.

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