Heat of the Everflame (The Kindred’s Curse Saga #3)

Chapter 57

Chapter

Fifty-Seven

S torm clouds greeted us in Montios and shrouded the moon in dismal grey. The temperature had taken a dramatic plunge, turning our breath into clouds and our fingers into ice.

We touched down just inside the border in a sunken valley at the base of a towering, snow-capped peak. With little vegetation, we were dangerously exposed to both our enemies and the weather. We exchanged anxious glances and settled in for a long, restless night.

I showered Sorae in pets and scratches for her loyalty, promising to grow her a thousand apples once my magic returned. Thankfully, she seemed unbothered by the cold. She offered up the space beneath her wings for us to sleep, and I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw her wound was healing fast.

My own weren’t faring quite as well. Luther had pushed the last of his magic into me knowing he’d lose it at the border anyway, but it had only been enough to stem the bleeding. My arm was useless, and the throbbing pain had set my already sharpened nerves on a razor’s edge.

“How long until your magic is replenished?” my mother asked me.

I glanced at Luther, brows arched, internally irked that this was something I should already know.

“We have a saying—‘the stronger, the longer,’” he said. “It’s the downside to being powerful. Most Descended take a few hours. Mine takes a day, sometimes two. Yours... I’d guess three or four, at least.”

“Three or four days? ” I choked.

“Maybe more.” He shot me a look. “Assuming your magic works like normal.”

He didn’t elaborate, but I caught his point. When it came to me, normal never seemed to apply.

My gaze swept across the landscape, a vast expanse of lavender peaks. In any other situation, I might have enjoyed the chance to spend a few days exploring. Something about this realm, with its breathtaking vistas and mysterious secrets, called to my soul in a primal way.

“Let’s get comfortable then,” I conceded. Luther nodded and stepped away to unpack our supplies.

“Diem,” my mother said slowly, lowering her voice to a hush. “There is another option. A Guardian camp nearby.”

“The last time I was in a Guardian camp, I was chained up and drugged, and both my Prince and my gryvern were nearly killed.”

“ Your Prince?” she asked, brows lifting.

I worked my jaw. I’d have to tell her soon enough, but I dreaded the fight the truth was sure to bring.

“We’re safer on our own,” I said instead.

“You and I could go. There would be food, water, and shelter from the cold. They’ll have weapons and lookouts. You’d be safe from Descended attacks.”

“And what about Luther?”

She pursed her lips. “He’s a Descended Prince, Diem.”

“And I’m a Descended Queen . I’m not sure you understand that, Mother. I’m not the sheltered mortal daughter you left behind. That girl is dead.”

She flinched, looking for a moment not like a legendary healer or a fierce rebel leader, but a grieving, heartbroken widow whose family was irreparably changed.

I sighed. “I’m sorry. Can we discuss this tomorrow? It’s been a long day.”

“Of course.” She tentatively stroked a hand along my arm. “Come, let’s get some rest. Luther can take first watch.”

My gaze shifted to find him standing on the other side of Sorae, rummaging through our bags and pretending like he hadn’t overheard every word.

His eyes met mine. He nodded silently, then held out a bundle of fabric. As I walked over and reached for it, my hand brushed against his, sending a tingle coursing through my blood.

“The Montios gift from your ball,” he explained. “The cloak that’s spelled to always keep you warm.”

I stared at it for a long moment. “You knew we would end up here, didn’t you? That’s why you brought this—and the map and gold you gave to the prisoners?”

“Those were meant to be for us,” he muttered. “I suspected going back to Lumnos wouldn’t be an option. I wanted to be prepared in case we were forced to stay away indefinitely.”

“You went with me even though you knew you would be exiled from your home?”

His brows knit to a deep crease, as if my question made no sense. “Diem... you’re my home.”

A breath rushed out of me, crystallizing in the air into a glittery fog. The darkness inside me finally began to recede.

Luther took the cloak and secured it around my shoulders. Though I felt its magic seal me off from the winter chill, it was the emotion in his eyes that set me simmering from within.

“Thank you,” I said. “For stopping me from making a mistake with Teller I would have regretted forever. And for standing by me when it looked like I was going to do it anyway.”

“You’re not angry?” he asked. I shook my head, and his muscles eased from a tension I didn’t realize he’d been hiding. “I’ll stand by you through anything, Diem, even when I disagree. I hope you know that. Whatever consequences may come, we face them together.”

I gazed at him, unable to form the words I really wanted to say. I was overwhelmed by the stirring in my soul—not just of carnal desires, but of a future I was beginning to let myself imagine.

It wouldn’t be so scary, giving myself to him forever.

The thought arose suddenly, taking me by surprise. I’d always feared commitment because I thought it meant sacrificing who I was. But being with Luther never felt like a sacrifice. He’d go to hell and back to help me achieve my dreams—and not just because he loved me, but because they were his dreams, too. Because we were the same in deeply fundamental ways that were etched in our bones and dyed in our blood.

Had I held myself back all these years because I didn’t want to give my heart away, or had I simply never found someone worthy of giving it to?

And if so... what happened when I finally did?

Luther cut a quick glance to my mother. She must have been watching us, because all the warmth in his expression immediately shuttered. He used Sorae as a shield to hide his hand as it slipped beneath the cloak and settled on my waist.

“Are you alright?” he asked.

A loaded question.

One that, were he anyone else, I would brush off with a joke and a promise I was fine.

But he wasn’t anyone else. And I wasn’t fine.

My eyes fell. I focused on the feeling of his palm on my hip: Solid. Strong. Certain of its place.

“I killed a King today,” I whispered.

“He deserved it.”

“And I killed the High General.”

“He deserved it, too.”

“And I betrayed my brother.”

His voice softened. “You did the right thing. You saved a lot of lives today, too. In Fortos and in Lumnos.”

I wanted so badly to believe him, but every time I closed my eyes, I saw the High General’s face. Felt the numbness in my heart as I forced him to take his own life.

I could try to convince myself it had been noble—he would have killed more mortals. Or maybe self-defense—he certainly would have killed me.

But I knew the truth. He was dead because I’d wanted him dead and because I’d known I was strong enough to do it. I’d killed him simply because I could. No more, no less.

It was that sense of total power, that addictive draw of wielding fate in my hands that haunted me most of all.

I shook my head sharply, needing to outrun those thoughts as fast as I could. “It looks like our night alone will have to wait a little longer.”

His eyes narrowed at my change of subject. I waited to see if he would push, but whatever he saw on my face, it convinced him to let it go for now.

“Although...” I cracked a tiny smile. “We could tell my mother we need to go collect firewood.”

A noise rumbled in his throat. “I didn’t really want to have you for the first time against a rock with snow up to our knees.” His fingers found a slice in my tattered clothes and grazed over my flesh. “But I could be persuaded.”

I hooked a finger into the weapons belt slung low on his hips and tugged him closer. His eyes darkened with desire.

“Diem,” my mother called out loudly. “Leave the Prince to his watch, dear. Let’s get some sleep.”

I bit my lip and shrugged. “Sorry, Prince. Better luck tomorrow.”

I reluctantly pushed him away and turned toward my mother. He grabbed my hips and jerked me backward, grinding into me so roughly I felt his hardened cock against my back.

He leaned his mouth to my ear, his voice dominant with command. “Dream of me.”

Despite the emotional turmoil of the day and the enormous trials that lay before us, I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

And dream of him, I did.