Page 370 of Heat of the Everflame

Those were terrifyingly close to the promises Descended made at their mating ceremonies.

A promise to love, eternally and unconditionally. A promise to give your heart without reserve and be bound as one, in this life and the next.

His gleaming eyes confirmed it—the unspoken offer. After my warning to him that I might not ever want to take that step, he would never ask me outright.

But he could do this.

Let me know that his heart was ready and willing, in case mine ever was.

I desperately fumbled to hold on to my sour mood, working my face into a scowl I didn’t really feel.

“I’m going to wash up,” I mumbled.

I reached to grab our bag from the floor, and Luther stepped in my way. “You’re angry with me.”

“Of course I’m angry,” I said curtly. “You were gone today when I needed you.”

Liar, my conscience hissed.

Luther’s eyes narrowed like he didn’t believe me, either. He snatched the bag from my hand and tossed it aside, then took my hands and laid them on his face. “Show me what happened.”

The note of challenge in his voice prickled my prideful nature, daring me to say no and prove myself a coward.

True to form, my temper rose to the occasion.

I clenched my jaw and slammed my eyes shut. My memories opened to him in a winding river of Sophos and Umbros magics that let him relive every detail of the attack through my eyes and my emotions. I was so drunk on my stubbornness, I didn’t hold anything back, including the suffocating terror I’d felt at his disappearance—and the realizations the near-loss of him had awoken.

But as my deepest, rawest thoughts were exposed, I began to feel too vulnerable, too scared. I started to pull back, and he clutched my wrists to stop me.

“Your turn,” he said darkly. “Look.”

Before I fully knew what I was doing, I let myself get sucked back into the battle through his blue-grey eyes.

Blessed Kindred,she’s incredible.

I was paralyzed. Transfixed.

She wielded magic like someone who’d been training with it for years. She’d only had weeks with these abilities, in some cases days, yet she wove the Kindred’s gifts as if they were a single, seamless force.

True, there were signs of her inexperience. Her shapework needed refining, she was blowing through her energy reserves at far too fast a pace.

Still... even in this chaos, my Diem held her own.

And it wasn’t just her magic. She was a force to behold with her blade. Her strikes were precise, her footwork deft, her timing immaculate. Wherever Andrei Bellator was, I hoped he could see the warrior his daughter had become. Her onlyweakness was her temper, but in moments like these where she was calm and focused, she was unstoppable.

She didn’t flinch at the godstone blades sailing inches from her skin. I wasn’t sure she even noticed them. It made my heart a ragged mess to watch.

I longed to carry her far away to keep her safe. If I did, she’d hate me for it. I could live with being her villain, if it kept her alive.

But she’d also hate herself. She’d blame herself for every death, and that, I couldn’t bear. Even now, I could see her shift each hit, taking care never to land a killing blow.

She thought that made her weak. I wished I could make her see that it made her strong.

Damn, was she ever strong.

Too much had already been asked of her. Diem accepted each new burden with an eyeroll and a joke, but I saw the weight of it in her eyes. I felt her tremble beneath its heft when I held her in my arms.

But my Queen never crumbled.

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