Page 96 of Heat of the Everflame

And I fought against it with everything I had left.

“Attack,” I managed to rasp. My lungs wheezed with an alarming rattle. I pulled my hand from beneath his and pointed to myself. “Attack.”

Luther’s horrified expression was exactly what I’d feared. I wasn’t sure he was even capable of what I was asking him. It was carved into his marrow to protect me, not hurt me.

He wrapped an arm beneath me and held me against his body. His other hand, slick with my blood, curved around my neck.

He shook his head. “I can’t. I won’t.”

The world began to blur, the sounds of the sea becoming muffled and distant. When I opened my mouth to speak, the only thing that came out was a rivulet of blood at the corner of my lips.

Agony wracked Luther’s features, his heart crumbling in his eyes. The indecision tearing through his chest was as visible as the scar that marked his skin.

With considerable effort, I managed to lift my palm to his heart. “Trust,” I mouthed.

He let out a sigh and nodded slowly.

Lowered his forehead to mine.

Laid a tender kiss on my lips.

Andattacked.

Tentative at first—prickles on my arms, light jabs at my feet. He watched me from beneath lowered lashes, probing my reaction, before increasing his power.

The tingling sensation returned. Hot and cold, fire and ice, roaring through my veins. My heart stuttered, then picked up its pace.

Whatever Luther read in my expression, it bolstered his faith. He abandoned his hesitation and slammed his magic into me full-force with a blast of searing light. Glowing cords braided around my chest and squeezed with the brunt of his might.

My vision spotted, but the tingling endured. It was exploding, shattering, overwhelming. My wound began to itch. The blood cleared from my throat, leaving me gulping for breath.

My godhood stretched its hands toward the light. It sang a quiet entreaty, hopeful and serene. I knew I should wait, take more, but I couldn’t hold back any longer.

I surrendered to its call.

A soft, harmonic melody filled my soul. Luther’s aura no longer felt stunted, but gloriously, ethereally fulfilled. My magic burst beyond my skin to meet it, tumbling happily over hisattackslike playful lovers having a romp.

Luther sucked in a sharp breath, and I knew he felt it, too. Our gazes met and shone in wonderous fascination. For a moment, one fleeting moment, our hearts beat together as one.

“Fuck, is she alive?”

Taran’s voice shocked us both from our daze. He ran up the beach and threw himself onto the sand beside us, glaring at our many bleeding wounds.

“Their ‘plan’ was for us to leave her behind,” he said to Luther with a growl. “I didn’t realize until we crossed the border. I came back as soon as—”

“I know,” Luther said. “They tricked us both.”

Alixe jogged up behind him and stared at me with apology and alarm. “Is she...?”

They all looked at me. All I could manage was a deep draw of breath and an exhausted nod.

Taran looked around at the graveyard of Ignios corpses. “Where’s the King?”

“Alive,” Luther answered with a glance at me. “He left with his gryvern.”

“Then we should get as far away as we can before he comes back,” Alixe said.

Luther cradled me and fought to stand. His knees shook under the effort as fresh blood spilled from the myriad gashes and burns marking his flesh.

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