Page 17 of A Fate in Flames

Zaheera’s eyes narrowed.“Then you will leave as you came.”She gestured toward the path from which I’d entered.“Empty.”

The word struck deep.

Empty.

As I had always been.

Zaheera watched me closely, her patience clearly thinning.The air around her wavering with heat.“Your time with me is ending,” she warned.“You must decide.Now.”

I looked to the ground, to the swirling leaves at my feet.Tears pricked at my eyes.

“I agree.”

The moment the words left me, I knew I had made a mistake.

A rush of something dark and ancient filled the air.The trees around us groaned and bent, bowing to Zaheera’s power.Fear gripped me like talons raking through my chest.

Zaheera’s hands settled on my shoulders and she leaned in, her breath smelling of woodsmoke.Before I could react, she pressed her lips to mine.

A sharp, burning heat flooded my body, starting at my mouth and racing downward, igniting every nerve.Every cell.Thick smoke curled around us, and then I heard them.

Whispers.

They rose from the darkness, speaking words I could not understand.

I struggled, pushing against her chest, but her grip was like steel.

She exhaled.A breath of fire.Of magic.Of something unnatural.It consumed me, searing through my veins like molten rock.

I convulsed, my knees nearly giving out as the sensation spread, coiling in my womb like a snake.I tried to cry out, but no sound emerged.

As quickly as it began, it was over.

Zaheera released me, satisfaction gleaming in her eyes.I collapsed to my knees, gasping.My skin slick with sweat despite the cool night air.

“It is done,” she announced, her voice echoing in the clearing.

I pressed a shaky hand to my stomach, already feeling something different.A presence.

“And the bargain?”I managed to ask, my voice raw as though I had been screaming for hours.“What is your price?”

Zaheera’s smile returned as she spoke.

But I could not hear her.

The pounding in my ears was too loud.My pulse roaring like thunder.

What have I done?

I sat frozen in place, eyes wide with disbelief.My mouth hung open like a gaping fish pulled from water.The sweet incense burning in the corner of the room turned acrid in my nostrils.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I managed to swallow.“What was the bargain?”

She didn’t answer straight away, her gaze darting between her hands and my face.The golden bangles on her wrists clinked softly as she fidgeted.

“Ummi,” I pressed, sharper this time, inching forward until our knees touched.“What was the bargain?”

The lines around her eyes deepened, the silver strands woven through her dark hair catching the light as she bowed her head.