Page 72 of The Book of Legends
“I loved the wrong one,” she whispers. “I thought I could save him. That love would be enough to keep the fire from swallowing us both.”
The words land like frost on bare skin.
“Don’t choose him,” she says, voice barely more than a breath. “Don’tlovehim. Or you’ll end up here. With us.”
I stagger back, lungs tightening.
She reaches for me—the chains groan and rattle but hold. They always hold.
“I burned a kingdom for him,” she says. “And when the world needed saving… I had nothing left to give.”
I jolt awake.
My throat is raw. My skin is slick with sweat. The warmth of Fae silk against my body feels like a lie.
Kainen is already there.
He wraps his arms around me without hesitation. No questions. No commands. Just his warmth. His presence.
“I’m here,” he whispers. “You’re safe.”
I bury my face in his chest, gasping. “I saw them… the Tomb. They were chained. So many.”
He stiffens, just slightly.
I pull back, locking eyes with him. “You know it exists. Don’t you?”
He doesn’t lie. “It’s sealed. Has been for centuries.”
“Why?” My voice cracks.
“Because they asked us to,” he murmurs. “They weren’t just dangerous. They were suffering. The flame doesn’t only give. It consumes.”
My voice drops to a whisper. “What about the one who looked like me? She…warned me not to love you.”
That stops him cold.
His gaze darkens. Not with anger—but with sorrow.
“I’ve heard the stories,” he says. “Of a flame-born queen who stood where you stand now. Who loved a prince. Who burned a kingdom.”
I exhale, ragged. “Am I her?”
He brushes a strand of hair from my face, his touch impossibly soft. “I don’t know. But I do know this—you're not her, Selene. Not unless you choose to be.”
The silence between us crackles like embers.
“But what if the fire chooses for me?” I ask.
He holds my gaze. His voice is steady. Certain.
“Then I’ll stand with you in the flames,” he says. “Even if they burn us both.”
A vibration hums beneath my skin.
I turn, gripping the edge of the blanket—and then I see it.
A faint glow, like cooled embers beneath my flesh. Just below my collarbone, over my heart.
