Page 237 of A Flame of the Phoenix

“You’re not enough to stop her now. The ruin is in complete power. Even if you try to take some of it, you only risk dying, and she’ll never come back if that happens.”

“I’m not going to take it—I’m going to become it with her.”

“You’re a damned fool to think that’s any better than what’s happening now. You’ll only be two mindless beings of rage and magick rather than one.”

“Then help me,” Reylan snapped, turning his gaze to let her know he was serious. “You want us to trust you? Help me seal that power back into the ruin. You’re the only one who knows how to wield it safely.”

Her jaw worked, and those purple eyes flared against the fire raging from nearby wreckage. She gave a disgruntled sound, barely audible through the roaring flames and wails of burning enemies.

“The ruin will always pick the strongest vessel. Faythe has the essence of two Spirits within her. It won’t answer to me so easily when it has her.”

Reylan’s jaw worked as that sounded like refusal.

Zaiana went on. “If it’s forced to split between two cores, I might have a chance at sealing half the power when it’s in you. Then it’s up to you to reach Faythe and convince her tolet goof the other half so I can seal that too.”

Reylan knew it wasn’t going to be easy. His Phoenix was ablaze with a torn heart, and he had to hope her soul tethered to his was enough to pull her back to him.

He nodded, and his sight slipped to Kyleer for a second. The blankness on his face every time he looked at Reylan was apunch to his gut. If he remembered how much Faythe meant to him, Kyleer would be just as concerned and desperate to save Faythe as he was.

That was a problem to fix later, so for now, as everyone ran from the raging power, Reylan plunged himself deep into the waves of it. He would always, in every darkness and danger, in every realm and every time, run toward Faythe.

Reylan scaled the buildings he could, knowing the labyrinth of this city so acutely he could navigate it blindfolded. Faythe’s golden essence spilling through the streets didn’t burn him, and from the few glimpses through the wreckage he spared, he was relieved to find many citizens, weary and fearful but alive and unharmed by the living magick.

Racing across rooftops, he didn’t have to fight—Faythe was eradicating every darkness in the city. He focused solely on reaching her. He did not falter in pace, climbing higher and scaling closer to where Faythe hovered in the air like a Goddess of light and fire. Her eyes glowed with her tattoos, the light bright enough to break through the seams of her clothing.

When he got as close as he could, he had to shield his eyes against the tempest around her. He yelled her name, but already knew it would be futile. Reylan didn’t have wings to match her in the sky, but if he jumped…

Reylan didn’t have time to deliberate—the ruin was burning past Faythe’s reserves, and she would die.

He backed up, he ran, then he leaped.

Faythe’s head turned right before he slammed into her, twisting them to take the impact when they hit the roof opposite. They skidded with force against the unforgiving slate before rolling and tumbling. He tried to keep hold of her, but Faythe regained her orientation quicker than him, pushing off him with a surge of magick.

Her wings caught her, and as Reylan stopped rolling, she floated down, her feet touching down gracefully on the flat stone of the street they’d fallen onto.

No—not a street. They were in one of the market squares. The one where Agalhor had visited many times, as it was where Liliana had sold flowers at her stall.

“What are you trying to do?” Faythe said, her voice not entirely her own when another echoed over it. She stalked toward him as he rose. So hauntingly beautiful.

“You have to come back to me,” he said, taking steps to meet her.

“I am with you. So long as you don’t try to stop me.”

“The ruin is killing you. Soon you will only be a vessel to it.”

Faythe smiled, but it didn’t truly belong to her. It was like the ruin was a living entity, wearing her face.

She raised her hands to his cheeks. “I have never felt more alive.”

He reached for her too, using the physical connection to strengthen his will to reach past the raging core of magick that blocked him from their bond.

“With you, I am alive,” he said. “Let me join you.”

Reylan touched the core. Immediately, his own well of magick roared in protest, recognizing the danger of wanting to harness such velocity in evenhalfof what Faythe harbored.

She was remarkable. Even as a human she defied every odd, proving time and time again she was more powerful and capable than anyone believed. Even herself.

“I see you, my Phoenix. I see you, I hear you. I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t want to come back when this world has hurt you so truly. But you’ve always known you could numb the pain by giving in to your power even without the ruin. You’ve known all this time what you’re capable of, and you’ve been careful, gentle, in learning your power instead of raging againstthe world when you had every reason to. You’re the strongest, most resilient person to have lived when after all you’ve been though you keepfighting. That is your heart, Faythe Ashfyre. That is the heart I have the most incredible privilege of loving. So if you won’t come back, then take me with you.”

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