Page 382 of Heat of the Everflame

The word echoed in my ear in avoiceboth foreign and ancient. Too quick to place, but distinctly familiar.

I walked up the steps and ran my hand over the bronze trunk, the metal oddly warm despite the chilly air. My fingertips roamed along a low branch and skimmed the gemstones.

At my touch, the tree sparked to life. The jewels flared with waves of light that engulfed the room in a waltz of flickering, fiery hues. Even the bronze took on a heated shade of red.

Restore the balance, Daughter of the Forgotten.

I ripped my hand away and jerked back, Luther catching me in his arms as I stumbled down the steps. The light instantly faded from the gems.

“My godhood,” I gasped. “It spoke to me.”

Luther walked forward and placed his own palm against the stones. Nothing happened—no show of light, no molten bronze.

“If this place belonged to the Old Gods, why would my godhood react?” I asked.

“I’m not sure... but I think I know where we might find an answer.”

He pressed a knot carved into the metal tree trunk, and thin lines of light appeared within the grooves as the door cracked open.

The room on the other side was remarkably cozy despite the ostentatiousness of its entrance. Bookshelves of varied heights and wooden pedestals bearing ancient artifacts were arranged in an arc around a central sitting area at the base of a stone hearth, complete with a low-burning fire.

On the ceiling, a sweeping mural of the Everflame reminded me of the fragments we’d seen in the rubble of the old mortal temple. The flames were flecked with veins of silver leaf, and a man with vivid red hair leaned casually at the foot of its trunk, chin tipped down and face obscured.

Blankets and cushions had been set out by the fire as well as an arrangement of food, a large wine jug, and a steaming kettle of tea.

“These are the mortal books banned by the first Crowns,” Luther explained. “What little we know of the Old Gods and the ancient mortal ways lives in this room.” He looked at me with a hopeful half-smile. “I thought you might want to start your exploring here.”

Love.

Love.

It detonated in my chest.

It destroyed me, reduced me to bone and ash.

It rebuilt me, a bird of flame and passion.

Love, like I’d never felt. Love, like I’d never believed myself capable of feeling. Love, like I didn’t think existed but in storybooks and dreams.

His eyes darted greedily over my face, savoring every speck of the joy he’d ignited. “I had the librarians pull a few books I thought you might like. They’re stacked there, by the blankets. And the tea is a special blend. The researchers use it to stay awake all night studying. I guessed you might need it, since I doubt you plan on sleeping.”

My hand closed around his forearm, my head reeling. “You arranged all this... for me?”

His chest puffed proudly. “Does it please you?”

Gods.

Ilovedhim.

I’d known it before. I’d meantit before.

But I wasn’t sure I had truly understood it until this moment.

Whatever flimsy tissue of a wall might still have been holding me back, it turned to smoke and vanished in the breeze.

A home, a marriage, a mate—I wanted itall.But only withhim.

Whatever that life looked like, whether it was just the two of us growing old alone in a humble seaside cottage, or a life of obligation in a royal palace bursting with family and friends. It didn’t matter, as long as the future had him in it.

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