Page 213 of A Fate in Flames

I nodded absentmindedly while my hands twisted in my lap.

This was the last time I would see Mira, yet I couldn’t bring myself to be present.My gaze kept drifting to the balcony, to the door, anywhere but her trusting face.

“Elira?”

Her soft voice pushed past the thick fog.

I blinked.“Huh?”

She paused mid-gesture, her hand suspended in the air.Her large eyes searched mine with quiet concern before she braced her hands on my arms.

Her touch was warm, and it only made the ache inside me that much worse.

She was always gentle, always patient, and I wanted to weep.

“Are you okay?”she asked.“You seem… distant.Did I do something wrong?”Her teeth worried at her lower lip.“If I did—”

I spun to face her, grasping her hands tightly.

“No, Mira.It’s not you.I’ve just been feeling… off.I’m sorry I wasn’t paying attention.”

Relief softened her features.She offered me a small, comforting smile before diving back into her usual chatter.

“I was just saying how beautiful Jasila and Tavrik are together,” she continued, twisting a strand of my hair.

Theywerebeautiful together, and in Zaheera’s vision, I had seen just how much Tavrik cared for Jasila.Yet, because of me, that happiness would shatter.

Mira finished arranging my hair in a loose updo, leaving a few strands to frame my face.She called it ‘carefree.’

I felt anything but.

When the door closed behind her, leaving me alone, I turned to the mirror.To the face that would soon become unrecognisable.

The face of a traitor.

The door hinges groaned as it swung back open.

Theo and Tavrik stepped inside, their presence filling the room.The moment my eyes found theirs, every carefully constructed wall inside me shook on the verge of collapse.

They were alive.They were here.

Theo dropped into a crouch that brought his face level with mine.“Are you ready for this, El?”

His voice was resigned, like he wanted me to say no.As if he were hoping—praying I would back out.

He couldn’t see the invisible chains that bound us to this path, couldn’t comprehend that there was truly no escape from fate’s cruel design.

I managed a single nod, the motion costing me everything.

“As ready as I’ll ever be.”

Tears spilled down my cheeks in hot, traitorous streams.

Jasila’s footsteps whispered across the ground at that exact moment, her radiant smile faltering as she took in the scene before her.

“Are you okay?”

Before I could answer, Theo lunged forward theatrically and started furiously blowing air into my eye.He was so absurdly committed to the act that I nearly choked on my tears.