I pull in a slow breath, feeling the cool air fill my lungs.
“Fire does not wait for permission,” Valen murmurs. “It does not hesitate. It does not doubt. It simplyis.”
Nothing answers at first. Just stillness.
And then—a spark! Small. Flickering. Buried deep beneath my ribs. Waiting.
Alive.
I breathe into it. And Fire wakes up.
Heat detonates in my chest, racing down my arms like molten light. The spark jumps—flares—
Shit!
Flames burst from my hands, roaring into existence. They spiral out in violent arcs, searing the air, cracking the earth beneath me. The ground beneath me blackens, cracks. The heat slams into me—ravenous,relentless.
It wants more.
I can feel it feeding off everything I’ve been holding in—grief, rage, shame, guilt. Every emotion since the attack on my village.
It wants all of it.
Gasps echo around the clearing. Someone shouts. I hear boots scuff against dirt, the sound of bodies stumbling back.
The fire clings to me, coiled around my wrists, licking at my skin—but it doesn’t burn. It’sinsideme.
The heat builds. Itrages.
“Amara!” Valen’s voice cuts through the roar.
I can’t stop it. This isn’t like the others. Earth had been firm.Water had been difficult. Air had been light.
But Fire—Fire isferal. Unbound. Unforgiving.
And some reckless, searing part of me wants tojoinit.
“Amara—breathe!”
The flames flare—and burst outward. A twisting jet of fire hurtles toward Valen. Someone screams my name.
No.
No, no, no—
I try to pull it back, but Fire doesn’t care. It won’t listen to me. Itlungesfor him.
And then—a shadow moves.
Thane.
He’s there before I can even process what’s happening—stepping between Valen and the fire, body braced, stance unyielding.
The flames twist. Snarl. Resist.
And then—he does the impossible.
He reaches into the flames. The fire fights. It pushes back. But something shifts.
