Page 43 of A Court of Ash and Midnight
My brows lift. “And fae are immune to fire?”
His jaw rolls, but he says nothing.
“I didn’t think so.” I’m still standing with the wall next to me, but as flames eat along the side of it, I take a shaky step closer to Daemon. “Get up, Daemon.”
He slowly forces himself upright. The air is so thick with smoke, each inhale burns. I grab one of Daemon’s hands and we shuffle toward the back door of the healing ward. But we haven’t made it three steps before the flames circle around the walls and cut off our exit. They’re crawling along the ceiling overhead now, too. We’re standing in the middle of a literal inferno.
Maybe fire was my fate all along. I had awoken to fire, all those years ago, and now, I find myself full circle. Except this time, I’m not standing outside the fire. This time, I can’t escape. Maybe all my years of running were for nothing. I had merely delayed the ending that was meant for me, the same ending that had claimed my family.
I stop walking and look up at Daemon. He turns toward me at the same time, as if sensing the same thing. Sensing the inevitable.
Maybe, if I hadn’t paused to wake him, I could have made it out. All these years I’d been on my own. Running, fleeing, surviving. I’d never considered anyone else. Never made connections, because they were too risky. Too dangerous. And now, at the very end, I realize that somehow, when I least expected it, that had changed.
Daemon’s eyes hold sorrow as they lock onto mine. He reaches out with his free hand, and he brushes his thumb softly over my cheek, wiping away the ash that coats my face. I close my eyes a moment and lean into his touch. I don’t know why any of this is happening, but here, in these final moments, I let go of the need for answers.
In the darkness behind my eyelids, however, I have a sudden jolt of memory.
It had always been there, lurking in my subconscious. This feeling that I’d had something to do with it. The fire the night I awoke, eight years before. A kinship with those flames.
Had Istartedthe fire that killed my family?
My eyes fly open. All I see is Daemon’s green eyes and the golden-red-vermillion devouring everything around us. And in that moment, some inexplicable force rises within me. I realize that the fire cannot hurt me. It can’t hurt me because Iamthe fire.
I take a step back from Daemon, and Icall.
A summons, a command. The fire roars brighter for a moment, and it swirls like a cyclone around me and Daemon. Sparks fly around us like fireworks, and I see Daemon’s eyes widen. My back arches, arms falling to my sides, and my feet lift off the ground. The fire surges into my chest, every flame in the room moving into me in a matter of moments. I absorb it, devour it, as moments before it had been devouring everything else.
The room is suddenly black and still, but I am glowing, golden, my limbs and my skin shining. It feels as if I’ve swallowed all the stars in the sky. There’s a heat, and a buzz like lightning. My veins feel as if storms are swimming inside them. Daemon is staring at me with a mix of horror and awe.
And then, all energy leaves me, and I collapse to the floor.
Chapter Nineteen
The sound ofrunning water wakes me. I blink my eyes open slowly, surprised to feel the warmth of sunlight on my eyelids.
The first thing I see is an open window with green vines climbing along the stone. I catch a glimpse of the river beyond, swift and silver, flowing between rocky banks. I’m lying on a rough, straw-filled mattress, a blanket pulled over me. My arms and hands are streaked with soot, although it looks like someone tried to wipe them off.
Everything comes rushing back at once.
The black magic. The fire. And…
Me.
What had I done? And how?
I sit up, finding that my body feels fresh and restored. Far from the pain and dizziness back in the healing ward. I feel like I could get up and run ten miles without pausing for breath. The energy running through me is surprising, but it feels… good.
I’m still wearing the clothes I’d had on before, a long pale blue nightgown. It’s also covered in ash and soot. I can smell it on me, too, and I can only imagine what my hair looks like. But none of that is a primary concern at the moment. Where am I and how did I get here?
I get out of the bed, which is set in a small bedroom, and wander out the door into a larger room with a stove in one corner, a fireplace, a table, and several chairs. There’s an open doorway leading outside, so I go through it onto a stone patio. The river is twenty paces beyond, and there, standing by the water, is Daemon.
As I approach from behind, he turns, a questioning look on his face. I stop a few paces away and we look at each other for a long moment, clearly neither of us knowing quite what to say.
“You’re awake,” he says finally.
“Thanks for bringing me here… wherever this is?” I offer a tentative smile.
He nods. “We’re on the north side of the compound. The castle seemed far from safe. I came across this little cottage years ago. Most don’t even know it’s here.”
