Page 83 of Beneath the Flames
But if I did, then I would doom all of Eroth.
Maren might have been doing foreign things to my insides, but I was a stonehearted Fae at the core.As nice as these strange feelings were, I wasn’t willing to sacrifice breaking the curse so that she could go home to her family.
Maybe that made me a monster.
But didn’t desperation make monsters of us all?
The reminder sobered me, and my hand fell from her cheek.“Rest up.We’ll begin the next task at moon rise.”
Without another word, I spun, heart strangely aching, and headed to the other side of the castle.I’d have to tell Nico to check on her and bring her some food, make sure she had enough clothing to stay warm.Inside might be warmer than outside, but only just.
When I arrived at the room that held the Magmara, I was unsurprised to find Nico waiting for me.
“I saw you coming through the gate,” he explained.“Figured this is the first place you’d come.”My life was tied to that last petal that could fall at any moment.He couldn’t blame me for coming straight here.
“How was your trip?”A knowing look lit his eyes.“I see she survived.”
An unwelcome shudder went through me as the memory of facing the Lavawraith flashed through my mind.I unlocked the door, and he followed me inside.My legs felt like they each weighed thousands of pounds as I stalked to the Magmara, seeing if the last petal was any closer to falling.When there appeared to be no change, the tension in my muscles eased—just a little.
When I turned to face Nico, he laughed at whatever look was on my face.“I take it the trip wasn’t uneventful then, like you expected.”
I snorted.“It was the furthest thing from uneventful, Nico.First, the Scorching Rivers somehow got past my magic, and we nearly died.It devoured our tent and most of our supplies.I barely got her out of there in time.Then she almost died from cold exposure.I was forced to drag her into a cave and hold her in my arms to get some warmth into her.”
“Right,forced.”Nico’s sneaky smile had me rolling my eyes.
“Yes,forced.”
Nico chuckled, but then sobered as he asked, “Your magicfailed?How?”
“I’m still trying to figure that out.One second, there was a barrier around our camp, and the next, I woke up to find our tent on fire and the lava creeping through the fabric.”
Nico’s throat bobbed as he swallowed.“Does that mean—”
“I don’t know.”
There were several questions he could have been asking, and I didn’t have answers to any of them.All I knew was my magic was growing weaker by the day, the Magmara closer and closer to dropping its last petal.
Soon, it would be too late.A sudden hopelessness filled me so completely my knees nearly gave out beneath me.There was no way that Maren would fall for me in whatever short time the flower had left.Our journey to Mount Kharos may have done wonders for her trust in me, but I wasn’t cocky enough to think it had caused feelings to spring up.
The image of Maren leaning her face into my hand flashed through my mind.Or had it?I shoved it from my mind, refusing to let hope get the better of me.
It was as hopeless as the second task.Nothing would grow here.
Not anymore.
I sighed, my hand tousling my hair.“After Maren got the relic, a Lavawraith attacked us.If I hadn’t made it to her in time, she would have died.”
Nico’s wide eyes were like a child’s, fascinated by monsters.Sometimes, it was easy to forget just how young he was.
“The Lavawraiths exist?I thought they were all dead.”
“As did I.”
“How did you stop it?”
I quickly recounted the tale of the monster attacking Maren, my magic somehow saving us when it shouldn’t havebeen able to.
“And before you ask, I have no idea how my magic was able to do that.I haven’t been able to use such magic in decades.”
