Page 47 of Scorched By Fate

I hitched my pack over my shoulder and tried not to think of the vyrathis inside as Vyne led the way down a narrow path.

EIGHTEEN

VYNE

I scanned the path ahead, blinking only when the sting of sulfur forced it. Wind shifted around us in thin, sharp currents—too erratic for comfort, too quiet for complete safety. We had to keep moving.

Behind me, Selene murmured softly, voice calm and almost stern. “Just breathe through it, Reika. A few more steps. We’ll rest soon.”

Selene moved with no hint of hesitation, her focus so tightly woven into tending to the fallen woman it was as though the volcanic landscape didn’t even exist.

And, stars above, it wrecked me.

Selene should’ve been the one resting. Her temples glistened with sweat, smudged with streaks of soot she either hadn’t noticed or hadn’t cared to wipe away. Scratches scored her exposed skin in uneven patterns.

She deserved better than this journey. Better than this ridge.

Better than me.

She slowed, giving Reika another of those delicate touches—her fingers ghosting over the woman’s trembling wrist in asilent reassurance only she could make believable. I exhaled and turned my focus forward again.

It was safer to study the path. Safer not to let myself get dragged under whatever storm she stirred in me: longing, hunger, something deeper I couldn’t name without risking it breaking loose.

Selene’s tone turned teasing despite her heavy burden. “Eyes up. The rocks are more afraid of you than you are of them.”

Reika’s clipped response was little more than a broken grunt. Progress, of sorts—she wasn't screaming or cowering anymore. I’d lost count of how many times the woman had locked up mid-stride, her terror bracing through even the smallest glance in my direction.

Her gaze hadn’t met mine for longer than a heartbeat since Selene had convinced her to move. But shewasmoving, and that was what mattered.

But more than that … Selene wouldn’t let her break further. Her boundless, maddening kindness wouldn’t let her. And something in me knew better than to pretend I didn’t admire that.

Maddening. Beautiful.Mine.

Control coiled its leash tight through my ribs again, its strain aching. I rolled my shoulders briefly, peeling the tension out in careful movements as my claws flexed against my sides.

“We need to stop.” Selene’s attention lifted toward me. “I need to clean her cuts before they get worse.”

I fought to keep my voice steady. “Stopping too long is a risk. If the Ignarath come back over this?—”

“Don’t start with me.” Her tone cut sharply, then dipped lower when I turned. “We need fifteen minutes.”

I swallowed back a sharp retort, releasing a low growl instead. My wings snapped out for a brief stretch, and I winced at the ache. “We can spare five.”

Her jaw twitched, but she nodded.

The moment I stopped moving, the pain caught up like a rival who’d been waiting for their chance to strike. My wing burned in gnawing pulses I could feel down to the bone. It was the kind of pain you could bargain with—if you didn’t mind bleeding through every demand.

The tear wasn’t deep, but every shift turned the injury into a throbbing reminder of my limits. I flexed my shoulder experimentally, keeping my wings tight against my frame. No use letting Selene catch the tremble as my body betrayed me. Not that she’d miss it for long.

Behind me, her voice was soft and low, pulling some semblance of calm from Reika’s frantic breaths. Watching Selene ease the woman out of panic was almost worse than the pain—each word weaving that impossible warmth into this barren land, each steady hand doing what my claws never could.

I clenched my jaw and turned my focus forward, scanning past the darkening shadows of the ridges cutting against the hazy horizon. Volcaryth was unforgiving in its silence, but no fresh tremors rattled beneath us. No sulfur-drenched breeze tipped me off to Ignarath warriors cutting through the paths we’d left behind.

We’d crossed the edge of their claimed territory and were safe.

For now. But we had to keep moving.

Rest time was over.

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