“I’m not asking you to.”
My mind hyper-focused on every moment with Frank and Dillon. How both men had been my rock after my parents died. How Frank regularly sent me stupid GIFs to make me laugh and Dillon treated me like his favourite annoying sister.
If Lucien was right and they treated me like that to keep me compliant...how stupid did that make me? How ridiculously naïve—how hungry for love was I that they manipulated me so successfully?
Cupping my cheeks, he angled my face to look up at him. “You’re okay. You’re not alone anymore, alright? You’ve got me now. And I will never letanyonehurt you again.”
And suddenly,nothingwas okay.
Swaying in his hold, I grabbed his burning wrists. “If anyone finds out about this...” I tripped over my words. “I-If anyone finds out we can h-heal each other. That you can set an entire valley on fire just by climaxing. If they find out I’m partsnow...Cinderkeep will seem like a vacation.”
“They won’t find out. We won’t let them.”
“But what if Marcusalreadyknows? What if my company is pulling the strings? What if—”
“Rook.” He pulled me close. “Calm down.”
“Don’t tell me to calm the hell down! These are important questions!”
“And I’m not saying we won’t answer them. But...if you insist on getting worked up...then use that energy to put out the fire.”
“HOW?!” I roared, my panic utterly consuming me. “Tell me how to do it and I’ll do it. Tell me how you summon your heat. Tell me how you stop it.”
“I have no idea.”
“Great. Wonderful.” I laughed. “Thank you. That’s incredibly helpful.”
“How did I never realise you’re snappy when you’re angry?”
“Because you’ve only known me for seven weeks!”
“Didn’t stop me from falling head over heels for you though, did it?”
That stopped me.
That helped me.
I wrapped my arms around myself, doing my best to get a grip.
“Look.” He smiled softly, letting me go. “Ice comes from water, right?” He pointed at the flowing river. “We have water. Use it if you want the fire to stop.”
“No problem.” I rolled my eyes. “I’ll just wave my hand around, say a little limerick, andbibbidi bobbidi boo, all done.”
“You’re right. The hand waving probably isn’t necessary.” Crowding me, he pressed a burning palm over my heart, taking liberties with my breast at the same time. “Use your heart. It seems when your emotions spike, things around you freeze. So...harness them and put out. The. Damn. Fire.”
“I can’t justcommanda feeling—”
“Yes, you can.”
“No, I can’t!”
“Yes. You can.” He bent over me, his eyes narrowing. “You’ve been doing it your entire life. Why else do you think that damn necklace kept knocking you out? You kept reaching a level where you were about to touch the power inside you and it couldn’t let you do that. Just like the vitalsync core prevented me from touching mine.”
“You don’t know that.”
“It doesn’t take a genius to figure it out. We’ve been locked by a damn pendant and a pacemaker our entire lives, Rook, and the second your necklace was lost, you were free.”
“Even if you’re right...” A ringing began in my ears. “I can’t just use anger to conjure a snowstorm.”
