Page 55 of The Incendiary

“Nothing’s wrong.” I looked into her eyes and groaned at the way her big eyes were filled with innocent concern. “You’re getting quite good at this.”

“At this?”

Kissing me like you want me to strip you down and do very un‑princess‑like things to you.

“Kissing.” I pressed a gentle kiss to the right of her mouth and caressed the soft line of her jaw with my knuckles. “And touching.” My eyes followed my own hand as it went down the elegant curve of her neck to the space over her heart, where I stopped. “You’ve been practicing.” The words came out with a little more edge than I intended.

We hadn’t confirmed what this relationship was. I’d never been involved with anyone on any permanent terms. I knew she wasn’t seeing anyone else, but even the fleeting thought of another filled me with rage. Not at her, but at them. Men. The world. Everyone.

“Yes,” she giggled, oblivious to the monster inside me. “With this handsome blacksmith I know.”

“Ah,” I sighed, forcing my irrational urges to subside. “Well, he’s one lucky asshole.”

She laughed quietly, pursing her lips. “What do you want to do today?”

Not lose my fucking mind trying not to combust every time I touch you.

“Well,” I said instead, “it’s hotter than the balls of Helios outside. And even worse in here.”

She blushed at my crass humor. I normally curbed my vulgarity around her, but she didn’t like being treated like she was fragile.

“So?” she asked.

I needed us both to be far away from my loft and bed. Preferably somewhere I could force my entire body, and my urges, to cool.

An idea sparked. I knew the perfect place.

“Let’s go swimming.”

SIXTEEN

ARYELLA

You deserve an apology for what happened that night in Brinnea. I pulled away to protect you from the truth of what I’ve become. Now, I’m sitting at your bedside in the cabin I built for us while you recover from death. I’m praying you’ll soon understand that saying no to you was the hardest thing I have ever done.

I’m so sorry.

All I’ve ever wanted is every part of you forever.

—FROM THE BUTCHER OF NYRIDA’S LAST KNOWN LETTERS TO QUEEN ARYELLA I

To the best of my knowledge, no more dead bodies were found near the fortress. I didn’t see Elias for days after I showed him the body. Then, one morning, he returned through the gates, covered in sweat and clearly exhausted.

The first two weeks of training passed in a blur.

Most of the other cadets were unproblematic, but they didn’t trust the new girl from Brinnea. Hardly anyone but Mavic and Mina spoke to me, and judgmental glares and harsh whispers followed me everywhere I went.

“I doubt she’ll make it through the first test.”

“I’m surprised no one has tried to kill her in her sleep despite the rules.”

And the most common: “Who did she fuck to get in here?”

They could say what they wanted for now. But I knew that this kind of hate would fester if left untreated, and that meant my time as Fera from Brinnea was limited. Hostility toward outsiders was something I was determined to change once I accepted my role as queen.

I looked out for myself just as I promised him I would. But I slept poorly each night, plagued by nightmares so vivid I began to dread closing my eyes. When I woke covered in a cold sweat, the fading scent of him on his sweater was my only reprieve.

Those few nights we’d shared a bed had been so perfectly warm and peaceful that I was beginning to forget the terrible threat he was to me now. My mind was so worn down from lack of sleep that I was willing to risk just about anything to spend a single night in his arms. If only I could reach him beyond his letters. If only I hadn’t sent him away.