Page 121 of Her Ivory Flame

She chuckled at his inconvenience but she was able to see a faint outline and she liked what she saw.

He unlocked the door and cracked it open, a low growl could be heard and she could tell it wasn’t one of their group members outside the door.

Something was handed to him, her eyes seeing a white piece of paper and he shut the door with a loud thud before sitting on the edge of bed facing her.

“It’s for you.” His voice was uneasy.

She sat up and grabbed the folded paper, her fingers grazing his palm and she looked at the handwriting on the front. It was Silas’s handwriting, and she sighed in annoyance.

“Can’t he just leave me alone?” she mumbled.

“Want me to open it?” he asked quietly.

“Sure.”

She handed the letter back and he opened it quickly, her eyes watching him read the parchment without his face changing expressions. When his face drained slightly of color, she felt her heart start to race in fear of what it might say.

“Does Helen mean anything to you?” His voice was deadly calm and it was her turn to lose color in her face.

She nodded and grabbed the paper from him, her eyes trying to read the words as quickly as possible.

Alyra,

I hope you actually read this letter and you traveled well to Bromel. There have been attacks on small villages all throughout Ambros, it seems Mavros is trying to build his army quickly and I saw the list of known villages hit. Helen was on one of them.

We have sent Thron back to investigate and see if there are any survivors but I wanted you to know. I know you hate me but when you come back, I want to try and fix us.

I still love you.

-Silas

The paper fell from her hand as she felt her entire body go numb from shock. She knew it was a possibility that her old home would get attacked, but the reality that it actually happened slammed into her so hard she couldn’t breath.

Kaden moved quickly and settled himself behind her, his back against the headboard and she felt her entire body shake in his hold.

“Alyra?” he whispered.

“Helen was my home.” Her throat clenched.

He didn’t say anything but held her against him, his head leaning down next to hers and nuzzled her softly.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled and she felt the ache in her chest become more painful.

“I couldn’t save them.”

“Don’t do that, don’t start blaming yourself for things that are out of your control,” he said against her cheek and she felt anger start to flicker inside her.

She shoved herself out of his arms and jumped onto her feet with her fist clenched.

“If I could have gotten my full power back by now, none of this would have happened.” she started to yell. “If I hadn’t hid myself away like a coward then maybe Mavros wouldn’t even be an issue right now.”

She felt her power rise in her, that new large crack from the night before flooding her with skin with flames. Kaden tried to grab her as he stood next to her but she jumped back glaring at him.

“No, don’t try to tell me otherwise because I know better.” she snarled and she watched his eyes get dark with his own anger.

“You can’t dwell on things that might have happened when bad things come to light.” he barked at her.

“I’m useless without my power, Kaden!” she screamed. “Maybe I should just surrender myself to Mavros and he will stop the war and no one else will have to die because of me.”