Page 503 of Coal Hearts

Twin flames.

Twin flames...

Those two words pushed over a domino of memories—

“He’s a mystic as well as a Vedic astrologer, Khushi. Be prepared for him to scare you as well as enlighten you.”

My heart fluttered as my darling brother called me by my nickname.

Khushi ...it meant happiness. He’d named me Ily thanks to a mistake when he was six years old. My mother and father had extended that name by googling what Ily could be short for and had chosen a pretty Arabic one for sunshine, which matched my eyes. I loved my name, but I loved it more when he called me Khushi.

“I’ll be fine.” I wanted to hug him, but that would be too much. He’d come into society despite all its noisy smells, sounds, and people. He’d come to support me. He’d come because today, I’d find out my destiny thanks to the stars.

“Ilyana Sharma?” An old Indian woman with white hair and a hundred beautiful bangles on her wrists beckoned us from her desk. “He’s ready for you now.”

Krish sucked in a breath, fortifying himself to step into a room with a stranger.

I knew better than to offer comfort or touch him. Instead, I let him sink into his way of coping.

Opening the door to a small office with heavy scents of sage and bright yellow calendula flowers hanging in a drying bunch by the window, my eyes fell onto an elderly Indian man sitting primly at a desk scattered with astrological charts, notebooks, and Post-its.

The moment our gazes met, he shot to his feet and frowned.

Krish stiffened. I went to ask if he was okay, but my fear for my brother’s wellbeing was utterly overshadowed as the Vedic astrologer, who was said to converse with celestial energies and far off planets, planted his weathered hands on his desk and said, “You are blessed with soulmates, child. In fact, you have one standing beside you. He found you in this life and recognised you as kin.”

My heart warmed.

I’d heard this tale before. My mother often told Krish and me that we all had multiple soulmates. A clan of them. An astral tribe that could manifest as our siblings, parents, and friends throughout our lifetime.

I smiled but then that smile fell away as the astrologer sat back down and studied my star charts that couldn’t be completely accurate, seeing as I couldn’t provide him with my exact date or time of birth.

Scowling, he said, “You are blessed, but it seems as if you requested to endure adversity. Your karma is worthy of an abundant life, but you will soon have a choice to make.”

I glanced at Krish as we each took a seat on the opposite side of the mystic.

“A choice?”

The astrologer grabbed my hand over my planetary charts and uttered a warning that haunted my dreams for weeks afterward.

“One day, you will meet your twin flame. This is different to a soulmate as soulmates are individual spirits drawn together by past lives and love. A twin flame is two souls from one source. One spirit split into two bodies. When you meet them, you will know. You will recognise them just as surely as they will recognise you. You are the same. You are one. But karmically, you are destined to destroy each other. The moment you meet, your choice is already made. This match will not last. The intensity will destroy both of you. If you accept this union, you will both burn—”

My eyes flew open as Henri bit my throat and thrust harder, yanking me back from the past.

Burn.

God, yes.

Everything was burning.

Every nerve ending, every heartbeat.

But I burned the hottest where we were joined.

Letting my hair go, Henri tipped forward and sought my mouth again.

The moment our lips touched, I forgot about wizened old mystics and detonated with brighter flames.

He cindered me to ash as his tongue dived into my mouth.