Page 275 of A Flame of the Phoenix

Of all people, Faythe found herself barging into Zaiana’s room without consideration of a knock in her high of adrenaline.

Faythe was staring down the point of a blade in the same breath. The dark fae was incredibly fast.

“You really better have a good reason for that, or this goes in your neck,” Zaiana said coldly.

Faythe flipped the dagger in her hand before holding it up.

She said, “We have the means to go hunting.”

CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE

Reylan

When everyone left the drawing room, Reylan stayed. So did Izaiah, who leaned one hand on the mantle of the fireplace, watching the flames ripple, and Kyleer, who sat at the edge of the table.

The gravity of Kyleer’s lost memories weight heavy on them all.

“Nik and Faythe are going to try their best through Nightwalking to try to find my memories.” Kyleer broke the silence. “If they can’t, at least they can show me things. Memories with them and things they know of me. Though I can’t deny, it feels strange to have to trust people I don’t even remember at all.”

Izaiah straightened, turning to his brother. Reylan watched him warily with the anger he presented.

“I’m your little brother. We went through the Nether with shitty parents and abandonment—the least you could do is remember me.”

“I want to.”

“Then try harder.”

“Take it easy, Izaiah,” Reylan warned.

“Can I ask something?” Kyleer hedged.

Reylan perched on the edge of the table. “Of course.”

“Zaiana keeps pushing me away, adamant that if I had my memories, I wouldn’t want her like I do now. I can’t explain it. If you’re my brothers, I’m assuming you’d know me and what happened better than anyone. So…would I have forgiven her had I been given the chance? Can I trust her?”

Reylan and Izaiah exchanged a look that spoke of their mutual reluctance over the truth, but they couldn’t lie to him.

“You would have forgiven her,” Izaiah said. “What she did was wicked, and I don’t forgive her myself, but what you had with her was real, and I believe she did regret betraying you eventually.”

Reylan said, “I hate to agree. She doesn’t make it easy to get along with her, but you understand each other in a way I’ve never seen in you with anyone.”

Kyleer absorbed that information, and it was pain to watch him in so much confusion and turmoil.

“How are the wings?” Izaiah asked, breaking the heaviness.

The feathered wings towering over Kyleer’s shoulders were as bewildering as they were fascinating. None of them knew if the obscure manifestation held any significance. Kyleer still bled crimson, and his eyes hadn’t lost their moss-green color. It was a relief but an anomaly he hoped wasn’t an omen for something bad to come.

“I’m getting used to them,” Kyleer said, making them flex subconsciously.

“I’m kind of jealous,” Izaiah said.

“You can Shapeshift and fly in any form you want,” Reylan pointed out.

“That’s not the same. Kyleer gets to look more intimidating than ever.”

Making light of the situation helped to ease them into their new reality. They wouldn’t stop trying to get Kyleer’s memories back, and when they did return, nothing would be changed.

Reylan had another heavy weight of sorrow lingering in his mind. He debating waiting until Kyleer had his memories, but they didn’t know when that might be.

---