Page 64 of A Storm of Fire and Ash

---

Nothing but a scream ripped through me. My hands clenched, and snot poured from my nose as my tears stained the sheets I was lying on.

A hand touched my shoulder—Fintan’s, maybe? It was too warm, too steady—and I screamed again, louder, until my vision exploded into white. I thrashed, but my body barely obeyed, trembling violently under its own weight.

“Fintan—get something—gods, she’s burning up—”

I didn’t hear the rest. My mind began to unravel, and the voices stretched and blended into a dull roar. The pain surged again, rising like a tide of acid through my spine. I choked on a sob as darkness lunged for me—

And then I was gone again.

I surfaced to murmurs and footsteps. The room was quieter. Dimmer. My skin throbbed with fire that wasn’t my own, but something had changed.

“Out,” a voice growled. Deep. Commanding. Unfamiliar and yet… familiar.

I blinked, or thought I did. The world was blurred shapes and warm shadows. Someone protested—Makar? Eryn? But the voice came again, low and final.

“I said out! All of you.”

Silence followed. Then retreating footsteps.

A figure knelt beside me, close enough that I could feel his presence even through the fog of my mind. Cool fingers brushed my temple.

“Elara,” the voice murmured. Gavrin. “I’m going to try to ease the pain, but I can’t undo what’s been done. I can only stop the infection. It’s not going to be pleasant.”

I wanted to cry, to beg, to tell him to leave—but all I managed was a broken gasp as his hands roamed over my back.

I screamed.

My body shook. My eyes fluttered shut.

And I fell again.

A dream took me.

It wasn’t long, barely more than a flicker.

A cave, pulsing with heat and shadow.

A massive white-scaled nose, slick and scarred, exhaling steam that curled like smoke through the air.

Flames.

Screams.

Arrows made of fire.

Fire and ash rained from above.

My ears—my Fae ears—rang.

Green eyes stared at me through the dark.

Then—

I woke.

The pain hadn’t left me. It clung like hot metal to my bones, branding every breath. Fintan was on his knees in front of me. His eyes. The King’s eyes.

I screamed, “Get away! Get away from me!”

---