A jolt slammed through me.
There was a blinding flare of red, and shock seared through my veins like molten fire. A scream tore from my throat, Flame’s roar twining with it, the sound shaking the very ground beneath us. When the light finally dimmed, I was gasping, my vision swimming, my pulse thundering in my ears.
Something intense and warm swept through my body—either from blood-loss hallucinations or from what I could swear was some type of magic.
So this was what dying felt like. I’d expected it to be less painful.
Get up.
What?
It is time.The voice threaded through my subconscious.
For what?I shook my head feebly.
Flame nudged me with her head, her fur prickly.Come.
I wrapped my arms around her wide neck and let her pull me up until I could stagger to my feet. The world tilted and swayed beneath me. My ears were ringing. The crowd was in an uproar.The remaining candidates were staring and gesturing. I was lightheaded from the blood loss. I rubbed my eyes, trying to clear my vision.
Why was everyone pointing at us and shouting? I didn’t understand.
Flame turned her massive head toward me, and her nostrils flared. To my utter astonishment, she knelt slowly until her stomach was flat against the ground, just as she had last night.
Climb onto me.
Now the crowd fell silent.
I hadn’t imagined it. The tygress was talking to me in my mind.
Her voice was low, not quite human, and her words came a bit slowly, as if it took her some effort to formulate the thoughts.We must proceed with the Queen’s Ride.
“Why?”
Because we are their queen.
I am no one’s queen.
Flame chuffed as if she were laughing. Her stare was so insistent that I stepped toward her. My chest no longer hurt. Of course not, because I was dead.
My eyes flickered to check—Blake was in that same spot, eyes now almost triumphant.
What was Blake Axefire doing in my afterlife?
I hesitated, and Flame flicked her tail with impatience. The gesture reminded me of my sweet Couscous, pulling a faint smile from me despite my exhaustion. I grabbed a fistful of Flame’s fur and managed to hoist myself onto her broad back. My heart raced as I straddled her, her muscles rippling beneath me. I sat astride the tygress queen.
Flame let out a low rumble that vibrated through my whole body. Slowly she got to her feet. I swayed, trying to keep my balancewithout a saddle or reins, or Blake behind me. I leaned close to her ears, inhaling the warm, musky scent of her fur.
My wound—the desperate thought trilled through my brain like a siren. I should have been dead, several times over. But when I grasped at my chest, I felt only a thin scar through the ruined fabric of my dress.
Flame padded forward on her silent paws, carrying me through the sand. The other tygers moved back as we approached.
Am I in the realm of the dead?
She chuffed again.You humans are so amusing. I healed you.
By licking me? Can you do that for everyone?
She made a sound that I could only describe as a snort.Do I look like a healer?
