Page 170 of The Incendiary

FIFTY-ONE

ARYELLA

I didn’t dream. Not even of him.

I supposed no dreams at all were better than nightmares. And certainly, a dreamless sleep was preferable to a world where he was gone.

The first time I woke up, voices faded in and out, shouting and arguing all around me. It went on that way for a while, and I couldn’t make sense of it, so I refused to open my eyes.

I’ll just sleep a little longer. Maybe this time, I’ll dream of him.

When I woke, the quiet felt eerie. I found myself in an immaculate four-poster bed with a lace canopy pulled back. The room was lit with a chandelier, scattered wall sconces and a roaring fireplace built into a stone wall. Carved wooden furniture lined the walls and an expensive-looking rug stretched from one end of the room to the other. It was a beautifully designed space, but the walls and ceiling were rock. There was no natural light, no windows.

The Winterton Caves.

Next to me, sitting leaned forward in his chair, elbows on his knees, head in his hands, was my betrothed.

“Elias?” I whispered.

But he wouldn’t even look at me.

“Elias,” I said louder this time.

Maybe he was still in shock. The battle against the Insidions was a bit of a blur, it had happened so fast. The fire. The water. Gemma captured, rescued, then⁠—

“Where’s Gemma?” I demanded, tossing the covers off my legs to find myself dressed in a white nightgown. “Where’s Gemma? Is she⁠—”

“Gemma’s fine,” he answered coldly.

I released a relieved, shuddering sigh. “And the b⁠—”

“As far as we know, the baby’s fine, too.” His voice softened. Still, he wouldn’t look at me.

He hadn’t seemed angry on the battlefield, but I could see how when the shock dulled and the relief faded, the truth would have begun to fester.

I had lied to him.

“How long was I out for?” I asked.

“Eleven hours and twenty-three minutes.”

“Where are we?”

“The Caves.”

“How did I get here?”

“I carried you.”

“You carried me?”

He grimaced. “You’re not that heavy.”

When he finally looked up, I realized he wasn’t angry, after all. There wasn’t fury in his blue-gray eyes, just disappointment and confusion.

“Did I harm any of our own?” Our people had been behind me, but what if I had? How would any of them ever trust me again? Simeon had warned me I was a danger.

“We lost a few in the battle, but your blaze was kept to the enemy’s side. Gemma and her travel partner were rescued. Only a few more were injured in combat.”