Page 91 of A Fate in Flames

I shot upright, water erupting in a violent wave that crashed to the floor.My heart hammered so hard I thought it might break through my chest.The fantasy shattered like glass, leaving me trembling and unfulfilled.

Zaheera’s presence coiled around my thoughts.

“What?”I asked, my voice cracking.

Of all the times Zaheera could’ve spoken to me, she chosenow?When I was balanced on the knife-edge of release?

Her voice was nothing but a whisper, seeping in at the edges of my mind.“He is the enemy.Do not allow yourself to fall for his charm.”

I swallowed hard.“I’m not falling for his charm.”Even to my own ears, the lie sounded hollow.

A beat of silence.Then, soft laughter like a brush of silk.“Are you sure?”

A shiver raced down my spine.

She pressed deeper into the back of my skull, her fingers ghosting over my thoughts.“It is easy to forget why you are here,”she said.“To get swept up in their world.”

She wasn’t wrong.I was starting to feel it—that pull.The freedom of their existence worming its way into my heart.How easy it would be to give in.

“You are only human.I am not judging you for feeling, I am simply warning you.The Jinn are sensual, open, and free.Their intensity can drag you deeper into their world.”

I stayed silent as her words settled into me, forcing me to acknowledge the truth of Dalkhan’s pull.How against my every instinct, my body was unable to refuse him.Even now, with her voice in my mind, part of me still longed for the fantasy to continue.For his touch—real or imagined—to finish what he’d started.

“Always remember why you are here.The bargain, your mother, the mortal realm.Root the thought into your mind.Burn only for yourself, and not for them.”

“I won’t forget.Not the bargain and not my mother,” I said.She had given me clarity.“Believe me, I want nothing more than to go back home.”

“Good,” she purred, tracing along the fragile thread of my mind.

Then the connection snapped.

I slumped back, blowing out a frustrated breath.The warmth of the water did little to ease the tension winding through my body.My skin still tingled where I’d imagined his touch, my centre still throbbing with unsatisfied need.

Zaheera’s words lingered in the back of my thoughts like embers.

Everything she had said was true.

But what choice did I have?I hadn’t chosen this bargain, and yet here I was, trapped in the middle of something far greater than myself.

I pressed my palms against my face, water streaming down my cheeks like tears.I couldn’t afford to waver.I couldn’t afford to let him get under my skin.

It didn’t matter how fiercely I fought against the memory of his touch, his voice, the burn of his gaze.All my resistance crumbled against one undeniable truth.

The moment I closed my eyes—the moment sleep finally dragged me under, he would be there.Waiting in the darkness.Ready to burn me alive all over again.

“No!”

I jerked awake, clutching my hand to my chest.I winced, my throat burning raw, as if I’d truly inhaled ash.The taste of it still on my tongue.

I flung myself from the bed, rushing toward the nearby table.

There was a tremor in my hands as I grabbed the pitcher of water, nearly spilling it in my haste.I lifted it to my lips, gulping greedily.Coughing as it went down the wrong way, but desperate to extinguish the phantom fire that scorched my insides.

I slammed the pitcher back on the table and collapsed onto the bed, shoving my face into the soft sheets.I groaned, my voice muffled.

“Why me!”I whined, kicking at the tangled blankets.

I couldn’t take it anymore.These weren’t dreams.To feel every sensation as if I were truly there, night after night.No.This was torture.