Page 38 of A Storm of Fire and Ice

“You remember that ice cream shop on Main Street?”

“Of course, they had the best salted caramel milkshake!”

“Yes, that one! I worked at the little convenience store next door.” Aria rubbed her stomach as if she was hungry. “Oh, my God. I almost forgot about those salted caramel milkshakes. I wouldkillfor one of those right now! So yummy.”

We both broke out into laughter again.

I shook my head in disbelief. “All this time . . . we were only a few miles apart.”

“Yeah, I know . . .” Aria said wistfully.

The spiky blond guy, who had been behind Aria, cleared his throat.

“Oh!” Aria gestured for him to come toward us. “This is my fiancé, Asher. His dad is the lead Fire Council member you spoke to.”

Asher stepped forward and offered me his hand. “Welcome,” he said solemnly. “I’m glad you found your way back to us.”

My heart twinged as his icy blue eyes met mine, reminding me so much of Fannar.

“Thank you,” I murmured. “It’s nice to meet you.”

He turned to Aria. “I’ll let you two get reacquainted while I go talk to my father. Knowing him, he probably already has some celebration planned.”

“Oh, that’s totally unnecessary,” I responded.

Asher shrugged. “There’s no stopping him if he has an excuse to throw a party, but I’ll try to make sure he doesn’t get too carried away.”

Aria nodded and smiled up at him. Asher gave her a kiss on the cheek. I could see their admiration as they looked at each other. They were clearly very much in love.

“Come on. I’ll give you a tour of the castle.” Aria’s violet eyes twinkled before she linked her arm through mine. “We have so much to catch up on, so many lost years to make up for.”

I nodded, overcome with emotion. “I want to know everything about you, about our family.”

She led me into the grand main hall with towering ceilings and luminous chandeliers. Enormous floor-to-ceiling windows framed a breathtaking view of a majestic volcano towering in the distance behind the Fire Castle. A light-gray smoke billowed into the crisp blue sky with white puffy clouds. Rolling hills adorned the horizon, covered in lush greens and speckled with blooming wildflowers in shades of purple, white, and orange.

I gasped.

“What’s wrong?” Aria asked with alarm.

“This is my painting!” I cried in disbelief, motioning to the volcano on the other side of the windows.

“Your painting?”

“Yes, I have it hanging in my dorm room. I always thought it was a mountain, but my roommate told me it was a volcano. It looksexactlylike this.”

“Really? Where did you get the painting from?”

“A friend made it for me, but it was based off drawings I drew over and over again with crayons as a kid.” I took a deep breath. “I can’t believe it was this place all along.”

I often saw the volcano in my dreams, but now I wondered if those dreams had actually been memories buried deep inside me.

Aria smiled. “All this time, you never forgot our home.”

I thought about that sentence for a long moment, and tears prickled my eyes.

Home.

And I’d been looking at it every day.

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