Page 36 of Echoes of Fire

But she just waited, her dark eyes pinning me in place the way only she could.

“It’ssomuch,” I finally managed, the words weak as they left me. It didn’t feel like the truth, at least not the whole of it, but it was the best I could offer. “What if I want time to figure this out first? What if I need time that he can’t give me?”

Selene’s exhale came soft, gentle with understanding. “Then that’s what you tell him. Look, your guy strikes me as this … overwhelming force of nature. But from what I’ve seen, he’d rather burn himself alive than force you into something you truly don’t want. Unless it’s to save your life. In which case, well, we’ve seen how that goes.”

I gave her a flat look. “And what makes you think he’ll understand? Have youseenhow Drakarn handle emotions? Intensity is kind of their whole thing.”

Selene shrugged like I’d just asked her something as simple as where she’d stashed the med kits. “They’re intense. But they’re not incapable of listening. Remember, you’re not the only one in this bond thing. If Rath values you—and clearly he does—then make him hear you. Let him understand the space you need. Building something real doesn’t mean submitting to his every whim.”

I let her words sit between us, their weight shifting something delicate inside me. My jaw clenched, the burning pull of doubt still smoldering, but she wasn’t wrong. Rath wasn’t just claiming me in the way the Drakarn did; he was offering something at the core of himself, messy and complicated and raw.

The real question might not have been about Rath and his expectations but aboutme. What part of me was afraid of saying yes—because saying yes meant staying, meant stripping away every excuse I had to leave behind difficult emotions and impossible bonds I hadn’t planned for.

“You’re thinking,” Selene murmured. “Stop trying to solve him like he’s a damn equation. You can’t science your way through this one, Orla.”

That pulled a snort from me, my lips tugging into the first faint smile I’d felt all morning. “Are you seriously accusing me of being too logical?”

“Damn right I am.” Her grin was irreverent, but her voice softened beneath it. “Listen, science girl, there’s nothing logical about falling for someone—human, Drakarn, whatever. You don’t get to control it, but you do get to decide what you’ll do with it. So yeah, maybe you’re scared. That makes sense—this is wild. But maybe lean into it a little. Give it a chance to prove itself before you shut the door completely.”

A spark of laughter slipped out before I could stop it, the sound catching on the edges of my frayed emotions. “Are you sure you’re qualified to play relationship guru?”

“Touché,” Selene replied, unfazed. “But for what it’s worth, if I had a ridiculously hot, ridiculously devoted alien hanging on my every word, I wouldn’t be sitting here overthinking it. Enjoy the ride. And I do mean that literally. Figure the rest out later.”

The exaggerated waggle of her eyebrows brought a laugh out of me so unexpectedly I almost startled myself with it. I shook my head as warmth unconnected to the water spread through my chest.

“Thanks. Seriously.” I tilted my head back toward the slick volcanic rock, exhaling fully for what felt like the first time in hours.

“No problem.” Selene leaned back in turn, her grin softening. “And hey, if you need me to punch him, you know where to find me.”

“Pretty sure that’d be the shortest fight in history,” I teased, finally letting the tension lose its grip on my chest entirely.

Selene kicked water at me in retaliation, and soon laughter filled the small alcove, turning the soothing peace of the baths into something warmer, something … human.

Exactly what I needed.

THIRTEEN

ORLA

In Rath’s quarters again, the silence felt heavier than it should have. I sat on the edge of the bed, my hands curled into the fabric of my pants, twisting relentlessly as I tried to find the right words. They stayed lodged in my throat.

I’d spent hours in the baths, piecing together the fragments of whatever this was—the bond, the uncertainty, the unfamiliar intensity tying me to Rath. Selene had reminded me that none of it had to make perfect sense. But that didn’t mean I was any closer to understanding what I should do next.

What if I said the wrong thing? What if I couldn’t give him what he was asking for? What if I fucked this whole thing up?

The door opened, and I startled, my pulse jumping as Rath stepped into the room. His wings filled the entryway like they had every right to bend the space around them. He wasn’t wearing his formal armor, just a simple combat tunic that hung unbuttoned at the throat. The red of his scales seemed sharper against the black fabric, his markings glinting faintly.

His eyes snapped to mine instantly, narrowing slightly—not in anger but in that way he always had, like he was trying to gauge every nuance of what I wasn’t saying aloud. The door shutbehind him, plunging us into an oppressive, expectant silence that made my chest tighten.

“You’re back.” His voice was low and rough, laced with something unreadable.

I nodded, swallowing hard. “I just needed to think.”

Rath inclined his head, though there was a faint edge of tension in his wings—tightened, folded close. “And?”

My hands clenched tighter. “I don’t know,” I admitted, my voice cracking faintly. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with … this.” I gestured vaguely at the space between us, the air thick enough to feel tangible. “With you. With … us.”

Rath’s jaw tightened, but he stayed eerily still, watching me the way a predator watches prey—not to intimidate, but to understand. To wait until my guard dropped enough for him to move.

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