Ah, yes, good point.
Don't forget it.
Her smile came true, warming me from the inside out.
“Your smile could rebuild anything,” I said, my voice thick with emotions. “Even me, a man born from ashes and ruin.” I wouldn’t survive losing that smile or the light she didn’t realize she gave me with every look.
“We all carry sins we didn’t earn,” Dorion said, his gaze on the wall of scales. “If anyone understands that, it's me. You’re not the only one trying to untangle a bloodline.”
I scanned the cavern, wondering what we needed to do next.If this place remembered, then so did the curse. And if it came for my wildfire next, I would never forgive myself.
My love for her might not be enough. I’d give everything to protect her. But love hadn’t saved the world once, and I wasn’t sure it could now.
Reyla’s hand slid across my back.
I tilted toward her. She didn’t speak, but she didn’t need to. Her touch spoke in a language my body would always remember, the kind carved deep into my skin.
Even if the world erased names and rewrote the fates' plans, I’d still know her, find her, follow her. I didn’t believe in forever, but I believed in her.
If the threads of fate ever unravel again,I said.I’ll weave you into the next world so you won’t be lost to me.
I’m already weaving you, love.Seeing the quiet strength in her eyes broke me inside.
I loved her so much it hurt. I wanted to stuff time in a jar and never let it slip free. But time had claws, and it always demanded more than I could give.
A growl pulled us both around.
Farris stood near the back wall, pawing at something. We joined him, staring down at a mirrored pool hidden in a hollow, surrounded by carved stone and moss.
The surface rippled, light arcing off it, hitting three golden rings embedded in smooth stones mounted in front of the pool.
Reyla crouched down and held her hand over the water, not touching.
Instinct pushed me closer, that same feral feeling I got when she was in danger. Let it come for me, not her. Always me.
Farris snorted, and Dorion was there in an instant, his blades half-drawn.
“What is that?” he asked.
“Not water.” Laphira dropped to her knees beside Reyla. “I think…” Tipping her head back, her gaze met mine and then Dorion's. “I think something’s waiting there.”
“Three rings for three talismans,” Reyla said. “But why a pool?What'sbeneath the surface?”
The water began to glow with the same silver light we'd seen in the tunnel. I caught movement in the depths. Whatever it was, it had been waiting a very long time.
“The rings match the pattern from the rune above.” Reyla nudged her chin toward them.
I knelt beside her, studying the setup. Three rings. Three talismans. The connection was too obvious to ignore.
“Finally.” The hope I’d borrowed from my wildfire on the rooftop long ago came through in my voice. “This is where we break the curse.”
Chapter 52
Reyla
The world felt askew, and I needed to fix it.
It wasn't about how quiet it was here or the way moss curled along the water’s edge. The pool was too smooth. Too still. Light danced across the surface, reflecting the glowing insects above, but what I saw in the surface didn’t match. In the water, the cavern looked different. The dragon scales on the walls shimmered with their original luster, the altar stood uncracked and gleaming white, and soft light filled every corner without the need for luminescent insects.
