My wish from the well. He didhear me.
The glow of the blood bond dampened into darkness. The Man of the Mountain removed his arm from underneath my legs and placed his hand in the center of my chest. His ageless touch pressed through my skin and bones until it gently whispered against myraw heart.
The tiny ember that awoke after Derrick and I’s first kiss blinked to life within the red flesh of mystill heart.
“Serafina Helia, theLittle Ember.”
Childlike laughter jingled like bells. A tiny raven-haired child ran around us. She had an innocent smile flashing across her face and golden rings like sunfire aroundher pupils.
“Your father failed to protect you. Your mother fell prey for you. So you sharpened your tongue into a forked sword and cloaked yourself in deceit to keep anyone from stomping outyour fire.”
The giggling child grew into a slender wisp of a girl staring out the windows of Ravenwood Manor with cold eyes andfolded arms.
“But in keeping everyone else out, you suffocated your ember in stone defenses. Even still, your spirit remained inextinguishable. Your fire was dormant, just waiting for a breathof life…”
The raven-haired girl grew into a woman dressed in white. She leaned into the embrace of a dark-haired man in black as he kissed her. The tiny ember in my heartpulsed red.
“…and little by little, the defenses chipped away until the truth drove outthe lies.”
A man with long golden hair, larger than any man imaginable, sat in a pool of glowing water and held the raven-haired woman in his arms. He cradled her against his bare chest, the top of her head pressed against his cheek, and he breathed in time with her slow, but unfaltering, heartbeat. The ember warmedto gold.
“And since your blood is already filled with my magic, I will grant the wish ofRiyan Bloodstone.”
“Riyan?” My voice echoed through the chasm. “What did hewish for?”
I swore I could see the Man of the Mountain’s smile in the darkness. “He wished to keepyou safe.”
The Man of the Mountain pressed his thumb against the ember, not snuffing it, but instead igniting it into awhite blaze.
“Now you will never again defend yourself with stone or iron. You wield a power stronger than steelor silver.”
The white blaze crystallized into fractals, each one shining like a flaming diamond in my heart. The brilliant flames pulsed out of my heart and seared my blood with a purewhite power.
“Take my gift and shine, Little Ember. Shine like my brideonce did.”
The Man of the Mountain’s hands left my body and I slowly floated up. The darkness dragged against my skin like honey as I ascended the chasm. A pinhole of white light directly above me lit my way. A moonat midnight.
Low, slow waves of a vast ocean crashed against my skin. The wave was not forceful and cutting like seawater, but soft likea cloud.
No, it was not a wave, it was a breath—warm breath that smelled like nectar and wheat. My right arm reached up as the light in the darkness drew me up closerto freedom.
Whispers of voices swirled around me as I floated—all those who were trapped in the place West of the Moon and East of the Sun with no gift tofree them.
Two hands laid on my shoulders, but I did not startle. They were not the ageless hands of the Man of the Mountain, but young, feminine hands—soft and caring like they belonged toa friend.
“The Queen of the Giants is hunting you,” said the feminine voice. “Take Riyanand run.”
The feminine hands gently pushed me up closer to the growing white light until it completelyenveloped me.
Then no space existed between the sun andthe moon.
Rising, falling. Rising, falling. Into infinityfor eternity.
The world was only white light. I faced down into the expanse of a blank canvas, a blanket of glowing snow, or the inside of the farthest star, and gently rose and fell inthe air.
The Man of the Mountain said he gave me a gift, but the flaming diamond he placed in my heart gave no sign of life, no spark ofpower, nothing.
My tender heart beat in my chest. Time could touch me, wherever I was. I focused on my heartbeat, each soft pound another second on the ticking clock, and let my throat hum. Air from my lungs warmed my throat and I found my power inhis name.
