Chapter 53 Elowen
ELOWEN
The Fire Demon smiles at us, a knowing smile—as though he’s already seen how this ends and is simply waiting for us to catch up.
“Come,” he says, his voice a low, silken murmur that seems to curl through the air like smoke. “If you wish to earn your prize, we must prepare you properly.”
I hesitate. Every instinct I have tells me to turn around—to run back out into the barren wastelands, to take my chances with thirst and heat and hunger rather than stay here under that burning, watchful gaze.
But the ache inside me flares again, hot and insistent, curling low in my belly and stealing the breath from my lungs.
Goddess…I can’t turn away and run—not when I feel like I’m coming apart from the inside.
I glance at Theron. His jaw is tight, his shoulders rigid, his tarnished silver eyes fixed on the demon with open distrust. But when he looks at me, something softens—just for a moment.
“It’s all right, baby—I’ll be with you,” he says.”
I feel a twinge of relief—or at least a lessening of fear as he takes my hand and entwines our fingers in the old familiar way.
“All right let’s go then,” I say, before I can lose my nerve.
The Fire Demon’s smile deepens.
“Excellent. This way, if you please.”
He turns and glides toward a doorway at the far end of the room, not quite walking, not quite floating—his flames trailing behind him in soft, flickering ribbons that leave no smoke or ash, only heat—oppressive, stifling heat.
Theron’s fingers close more tightly around mine.
“Elowen…” he murmurs.
I squeeze his hand.
“I know,” I whisper. “But we have to do this.”
His grip tightens, like he wants to pull me back—like he wants to drag me out of here and never look back.
But he doesn’t. He lets me pull him forward, towards the fate we have chosen.
Together, we follow the demon.