Page 192 of Fires of the Forsaken
“I would have,” Seruf laughed. “Sadly, they chose to flee. Except for Ellard, of course. Although he’s little better than a human now.”
“And I suppose you created me to ease your loneliness?”
Seruf’s eyes widened, but her smile never faded. “My, my, you’re more tempestuous than I thought.”
I glared at her, my brain at war with itself. One part—the rational side—argued that I should choose my words more carefully. This was not a human crouched before me. Nor was it a hybrid. Seruf was a Celestial. Ageless and powerful.
The other part of me, the side that was battered, tired, and had grown a prickly defensive shell, told me to keep going. To see how she would react to my provocation. After all, what would she do in retaliation? Kill me? I no longer feared death.
Turn me into a Wraith?
Considering howcallisly—callously I’d viewed the destruction of this town, the transformation would hardly be traumatic. It didn’t seem I had much of a soul left.
“I’m not tempestuous,” I said. “Only truthful.”
“Oh yes?” Her eyebrows raised. “You are a child. What truths do you know?”
“You created me,” I said. My mind rolled back, and back, and back, recalling everything that had happened since Mama died. “Perhaps you intended to keep me, but something went wrong.” I remembered the day of my transformation and the second Celestial who took meaway. “I was brought to Sakar, where you were barred from going. And, for more than a decade, you did not try to reach me.”
“Perceptive!” she exclaimed. “A true marvel! Yes, child, I abandoned you here, didn’t I? It was not intentional, I assure you. When Ch—well,” an angry twinge crossed her face, but she quickly smoothed her expression. “My brother will be dealt with…in due time, of course. But I was led to believe you had perished.”
“‘Led to believe?’” I repeated. “But had no desire to confirm?”
Another ripple of annoyance briefly marred her face. “I did not believe I was being lied to. And you cannot fathom my relief upon hearing you were alive.”
My skin suddenly seemed stretched too taut over myskelton—skeleton. It was uncomfortable. As was the churning of unease in my stomach. “Why did you not create another hybrid to replace me?”
“Creating hybrids is no simple task, my child.”
“Why? Does it deplete your powers when you give a human a piece of it?”
Seruf straightened, her wondrous wings ruffling as she stretched and began to walk, allowing my question to go unanswered.
“Your shoes are terribly impractical,” I said. She did, indeed, have the most ridiculous pair of boots I’d ever seen. The tops were open, exposing her foot to the elements. And the heel was so elevated, it forced her to stand on the balls of her feet. It was a wonder she could walk.
“Perhaps for these rudimentary human streets.” Seruf wrinkled her nose in disgust as she scraped the toe of her silly boot across a patch of dirt. “But in Norhall, where our roads are even and well-paved, these shoes serve me quite well. You will adore Norhall, child. It’s modern. And clean.” Her lip curled as she regarded the ruined town.
“I’m sure this town was clean as well. Before you destroyed it.”
Seruf made a smallhmmingsound. “Acleantown? Where humans sleep side-by-side with their livestock—”
“Animals are great company.”
“Child,” she knelt before me again.
I tensed when she twirled a lock of my hair. Not because I feared her attack. But because her touch, unwelcome as it was, made my skin prickle, a sensation that usually accompanied the emergence of my power.
My apprehension was rather silly, of course. She was the Firestarter. My fire would not harm her.
In all likelihood, she would harm me.
But she didn’t seem inclined to do so, as she worked the knots and snarls out of my hair. “Poor thing,” she murmured. “What is your name?”
“Lass,” I answered.
“Lass?” Seruf scoffed. “Oh no, no. My dear, that is not aname.That won’t do at all.”
My skin itched again. I could still hear Terrick’s voice as he rolled my name off his tongue. “I’ve no desire to be called anything else.”
