A Light in the Flame: A Flesh and Fire Novel

Ash was quiet for some time. When he spoke again, his voice was barely above a whisper. “Thank you.”
My eyes opened. “What are you thanking me for?”
“For just… Just for being you,” he said.

“Rise for the One who is born of Blood and Ash, the Light and the Fire, and the Brightest Moon,”

“Bow for the Asher, the One who is Blessed.”
The slide of slippers and boots over stone echoed, somehow drowning out the sudden pounding of my heart. Ash squeezed my hand, and I felt that. I felt him. Only him.
“The Guardian of Souls,” Rhain continued, and I swore the stars above pulsed. “And the Primal God of Common Men and Endings, the ruler of the Shadowlands. The Primal of Death.”

“I’ll be waiting for you, liessa.”

“ You are the heir to the lands and seas, skies and realms. A Queen instead of a King. You are the Primal of Life,”

. “I wish…” he whispered hoarsely, dragging his fingers across the freckles sweeping over my cheek. “I wish I’d never had my kardia removed.”
My eyes fluttered open.
His eyes glinted with a…a sheen of red. Primal tears of grief. “I never wanted to love. Not until you, liessa.”
Air lodged in my throat as my chest squeezed and swelled, a conflicting rise of emotion. “I know.”

. “Even if you had your kardia, Ash, there was no guarantee you’d love me—”
“Yes, there is.” His eyes were wide and wild as he caught my wrists. “I would’ve loved you if I could have. There would’ve been no stopping me.”

It’s me…” A laugh that didn’t sound like mine at all parted my lips. “ Sotoria

It wasn’t just my voice screaming. It was hers. Sotoria. All the lives she’d lived. And it was ours that moved my tongue.
“ You’re killing me,” I slurred, eyes heavy. “ You’re killing me again, after all these years.”

I shriveled at the feel of him, shrank inside myself at the sight of the horror etched onto the false King’s features as he realized who he held in his arms—as he realized who he’d have to kill.
Again