Page 238 of A Flame of the Phoenix

That softened her molten eyes, swirling like the surface of the sun.

“All I feel is pain,” she whispered. Her eyes glistened, and liquid gold spilled over them.

“I know,” he said, resting his forehead on hers.

“All I know ispain,and it never ends. I’ve been a coward all this time. Now I’m free.”

“Now you’re free,” he echoed. “Take me with you. You promised.”

The mass of power within her started to ease in his presence, allowing his ability to begin absorbing some of it. He’d barely taken any before his skin began to slick with sweat and his veins heated in warning. Reylan ignored it, taking more.

“It’s hurting you,” she said, studying his pinching expression.

“Nothing can hurt me more than your pain.”

Magick like he’d never felt before flowed through his body, as transcendent as it was punishing. Reylan focused on the physical touch of Faythe to bear it. He cupped her nape, her skin burning against his so hot they could fuse into one person.

Then his lips slanted against hers. The moment they kissed, he lost all sense of time, gravity, and being. All he knew was power beyond what should exist in this world, and his love for Faythe, which was beyond any test of distance or time.

If the ruin killed them here, he no longer cared. The power was as addictive as the taste of Faythe. He gripped her tight, crushing their bodies together. He would recognize her soul wherever they might be reborn next. With Faythe, he believedin true immortality. The kind that defied knowledge, logic, or reason.

“Don’t give in!”

That feminine yell frustrated him. It tried to pull him away from the power and Faythe, but he wanted more of both.

He couldn’t breathe when the air was too hot. His passionate kiss with Faythe faltered when he didn’t want to stop for a moment.

“You can do it,” Faythe soothed, holding his head, which fell to rest against her chest. “Stay with me, and we can make everything right.”

He lifted his arm to grip hers, but his body became lead.

What were they doing?

So much power and heat and…

“REYLAN!” Zaiana’s yell jerked through him this time.

He remembered what he needed to do and became horrified he’d almost lost himself to the overwhelming magick with Faythe instead of helping her release it.

Reaching into her jacket, Reylan straightened, tugging her closer against resistance when he felt the icy stone of the ruin. A bitter contrast to the fire it invoked.

Faythe felt him pull it free as she tried to push him away, but Reylan threw it before she could, sensing Zaiana across the square.

“You’re a liar!” Faythe cried, pushing harder with her magick this time. It wasn’t enough for him to lose his footing, but the look of betrayal she pinned him with tore his soul.

Every breath he drew released the power of the ruin he’d taken from Faythe slowly, and Zaiana harnessed it back into its stone prison.

“I have never lied to you,” Reylan breathed. He was close to passing out, having to brace his hands on his thighs.

Faythe approached him, gripping his hair and yanking his head back to look at her. Even in all her anger and loathing, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever laid eyes on. He collapsed to one knee.

“Your mother sold flowers right here,” he said. Reylan pictured the beautiful stall, flooding Faythe’s mind with the image. Her grip in his hair loosened, and her face let go of some of her anguish.

“My mother,” she echoed.

“Agalhor became utterly smitten with her. He would visit this market more times than any king should desire, and it quickly became known why he came. The last time he did, he asked her to marry him, unknown to anyone. He kept it private by her request.”

More golden tears streamed down her cheeks, and he could feel the split in the core of her magick. Reylan reached for her. With everything he was, he reached for their bond to pull her out of the misery she was drowning in.

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