Page 85 of Heat of the Everflame

So to hear Luther call me mate, a bond that would permanently bind us through this life and beyond...

I should have been panicking. Shutting down, raising my walls. Fleeing for the hills.

And yet... I wasn’t.

I dabbed at my flushed, sweat-soaked face with the corner of my scarf. Gods, why was it so unbearablyhot?

“Are the guards out of sight yet?” I asked.

“Not yet. Are you sure you’re feeling well?”

I turned my face up to him, trying to conjure up some semblance of a reassuring smile.

He stopped. “Diem, your eyes—they’reglowing.”

“They are? I mean, uh... good. My magic must be coming back.” I tugged the scarf loose from my neck. It was getting hard to breathe in this heat, let alone think.

Luther didn’t look convinced. “I’ve never seen them like that.” He squinted and leaned in. “That doesn’t look like Blessed Lumnos’s light.”

A slow rumble of thunder sounded across the sea, nearer this time. The telltale haze of approaching rain was visible on the horizon.

“Come on,” I urged, tugging on his cloak. “We’re almost to Umbros.”

“You promised you would say something if you started to feel worse.”

I clenched my jaw. I really needed to leave the promise-making to Luther.

“I do need a break,” I grudgingly admitted. “But not until we’re out of sight of the guards.”

“The beach is straight until the border. I’m not sure we’ll have a chance until we cross.”

“I can make it.”

Now even I was unconvinced.

Luther frowned. “At least have some water.” He grabbed his canteen and twisted off the cap. I reached for it and our hands collided, sending water sloshing over the top.

The second the drops hit my skin, they sizzled and disappeared.

We both stopped. We looked at each other, then down at my hand.

He tilted the canteen over my wrist. The streams of liquid hissed against my skin, then evaporated in a tiny white wisp of steam.

“Impossible,” he breathed.

“Is something wrong?” Alixe asked as she and Taran caught up to us.

“No,” I blurted out, snatching my wrist back. “Let’s keep going. We’re almost to Umbros.”

I turned before they could see me and walked as fast as I could for the border, the urge to escape Ignios becomingunbearable. I couldn’t shake the feeling that if I stayed on this beach much longer, I was going to combust.

Something scratched at the back of my neck, and I yanked my scarf off completely. There were holes along the fabric, their edges blackened and curled. It looked as if someone had held it over a candle, just to let it—

Burn.

My breath hitched. Thevoicewas back. The godhood was still weak from the flameroot, only a fragment of my full reservoir, but my magic was unmistakably there.

A relieved laugh almost bubbled out of me, though one gnawing worry held me back.

---