Page 27 of A Clash of Embers

He nodded his head nervously as I pressed my hands into his chest. I felt the eyes on me from the rest of the Fae and one particular man standing across from me, Leo.

"Riley, I'm going to press some of my energy into you, if something feels off just tell me."

He nodded again, not willing to speak.

I focused my power thinking of the Hybrid Chrysanthemum. How I had healed it before. I imagined Riley's body being whole, and healthy. The light from my palms emitted a soft glow over Riley causing him to tense slightly. When my eyes glanced toward Leo, I could see the white beams reflecting off of his amber eyes. I didn't know what he was feeling, but I could see in his eyes that he was impressed.

After a few moments, I felt a click within Riley. A Completion. When I removed my hands, I looked at him, and that's when I noticed just how sick he truly was. Where his eyes were sunken and purple was now even and matching the perfect shade of his skin.

"Th— Thank you. I owe you," he spoke softly just enough for me to hear. All I did was smile back at him and stand helping him up alongside me.

I noticed all of the Fae staring at me and I felt their emotions rushing me all at once. They were in awe. It made me so uncomfortable because what I was doing was not for attention—it was simply to help.

As we started our walk once again, I felt Leo's presence next to me. "What you did for Riley was incredible. I shouldn't have made you feel less than in Monowi after saving Callan's mother. I was being a complete ass."

I sighed, "Thank you. I wanted to help. That's all I ever want to do. I don't want anyone to ever think I would use my power to hurt others."

He stopped walking, reaching out to grab my arm. Halting me. "No one would ever think that. You are not that type of person." He stepped closer to me and whispered, "There is such a goodness in you that I don't know if you truly see. You are a walking ray of light and I want to be in that ray of light always. When I'm with you, I feel like I finally belong somewhere. I... I don't have Fae wings like everyone else and for the longest time I felt like I was an anomaly."

I sucked in a breath because his mother had disclosed a lot of information to me, and now pieces were starting to fit together. She didn't want me to tell him any information about what had happened in the curse, and now I am starting to figure that it's because she didn't want something exposed. Leo had been kept in the dark. He had been lied to, just as I was in the curse. We weren't that different after all.

"Do— do you know your full name?" I asked him. I wanted to see if I was right. I had an inkling that I just might be.

He had a puzzling expression on his face as he tilted his head, "Well, yeah. My name is Leonardo Ophera. What else would it be?"

I looked away from him and pressed my lips together, taking in this information. His mother had been lying to him. I looked towards the ground trying to refocus before I told him something that would knock him out of kilter.

His eyes were longing for what I was going to tell him.

"That's not your full name. When I was in Monowi, your mother and I discussed a few things and she told me what your full name was and that she called you by a different name under the curse because she wasprotectingyou. I just don't want to overwhelm you, Leo. I just—"

"Tell me. Now. Please." He begged me with pleading eyes.

I whispered his name so that others wouldn't hear. "Your full name is Leonardo Madokus Ophera."

He took a step back deciphering what I just said. He looked at the ground as his hands threaded through his curly hair as if he was trying to stay calm. I waited patiently for him to look at me. When he did, a certain clarity was present in his eyes. Anunderstanding.

"I need you to show me everything, Clara. I need to know everything you know. Please," he begged once again.

"Are you sure you want that?" I asked him. Knowing damn well his mother told me not to, but I was tired of following everyone else's demands. I would no longer bow to another’s wants—I would follow my own.

Leo whispered, "Yes, that's what I want."

We sat on the ground across from each other and he pressed his hands into mine as everyone watched. The eyes of the Fae, the men who protected Leo for the majority of his life. They watched anxiously as I gripped his hands.

"Are you ready?" I asked him.

He nodded. "Yes. Show me everything."

Chapter 12

Every memory. Every conversation. Every feeling. I let it all flow out of me and into him. He would know everything I knew, even if he didn't want to.

Heneededto know and I wanted him to.

Every kiss. Every touch. Every tear. He felt itall. Pushing through the memory of the conversation I had with his mother was when I felt his hands tense in mine. It bothered him immensely.

When I broke the connection and opened my eyes, I saw streams of tears falling down his face. He looked in his lap as he processed everything I had just shown him. I leaned over, wiping the tears away with the pads of my thumbs. Just as I was about to move my hands, he gripped my wrists, making me pause with my hands holding his face.

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