Page 78 of A Kingdom of Fire and Fury (House of Embers #1)

My heart burned. I awoke with a gasp, clutching at my chest. When I yanked my shirt back, I saw it. A black tattoo right over my heart. “What. The. Fuck?” I looked up at Kieran, who was already in the process of sitting up from where we lay on Kieran’s bed. “What is this?”

It wasn’t the mark of my Gift that was for damn sure.

From what Nimue said, when those manifested, you knew what it was.

There was no doubt about it, like a piece of you had been returned.

This wasn’t that. Besides the red hot pain it sent through my body, there was no magical alignment or realization.

I had to fight the urge to scratch my skin.

Another change I didn’t approve of forced on me anyways.

“What else could it be?” There it was again. That infuriating airy tone as if I was stupid. “Looks like your Gift finally manifested.”

I shook my head. “It’s not.” I poked the tattoo and shuddered at the jolt of power that rushed through my body. “Come on. You must have an idea.”

Kieran pulled on his shirt. “There’s a lot we don’t know about a bond between dragons and riders. Obviously, it’s magic, but I’m not one hundred percent sure about anything. When it comes to you, logic goes out the windows. Case and point—the gryphons.”

“But you have an idea.” I jumped out of bed and grabbed my clothes that were carelessly tossed onto the ground. “Tell me what you’re thinking.”

Kieran exhaled. “I’ve read some journals where they talk about a mark manifesting. It mentioned some sort of connection, but so much of it was redacted that I couldn’t make sense of anything.”

I slipped on my pants. “Find out for me. Please.”

He paused to look me in the eyes. “Of course.”

I expelled a breath and adjusted my breast band. “My sister will be here within the week. I need to make sure everything’s ready for her. Last night was… nice. We should do that again.” My cheeks heated. I’d never been so vulnerable like that, and it was… mind blowing.

The corners of his mouth rose. “I agree.”

I smiled. “I’m really glad we’re doing this.” I stroked his jaw and pressed a soft kiss against his lips. “I…” I think I love you. But the words refused to leave my lips. Not yet. But soon they would. I just knew it.

After hightailing it out of there and having breakfast, I grabbed Nimue, and we flew our dragons to the lake. Nimue shot me a knowing look. “You going to tell me what’s going on between you and our fearless captain?”

I flushed. “I planned on telling you, but there was a lot going on yesterday.”

“Fair. I’m sorry you got attacked. That sounds terrifying.”

I swallowed. “I thought I was going to die. I’m so tired of being a target.”

Nimue reached forward and squeezed my arm. “It’ll take some time, but the more you’re out on the field, the more you’ll gain a reputation.” She shook her head. “You’re trying to distract me. Don’t think I forgot about your man.”

I nudged her shoulder. “You were the one who asked.”

She rolled her eyes. “Because I'm concerned for you, you idiot. Even for a rider, you’re excessively prone to danger. If I didn’t know you better, I’d say you were doing it on purpose.”

“I can promise you I'm not.” I exhaled. “Kieran and I are together.”

She raised a brow. “Am I supposed to be shocked?”

I laughed and smacked her arm. “Shut up.”

Her eyes softened. “When did it happen? Are you going to announce it to the group?”

I glanced away. “No. Since Wes is looking after Clara, I don’t want to ruin things for her. Hell, this might blow up in my face, and I should back away. We both should, but I… I trust him, and I trust that he’ll make sure this doesn’t hurt her. Is that—is that selfish?”

Nimue took my hand and laced our fingers together.

“Maybe a little, but if we want to be happy, we have to be a bit selfish. The only person you have to worry about is Aurelia, but the rest of us will gaslight the shit out of her to make sure your secret doesn’t get out.

So go for it. Our lives are too short not to. ”

“Thank you.” I smiled. “I can’t believe Clara’s coming in a week.”

“I can’t wait to meet her. Properly this time. But we’ll have to keep her away from Ben. He likes to make the ladies blush, especially the shyer ones.”

“Like hell will I allow that.” I clenched my hand into a fist. “It’s bad enough Wes’s wrinkly ass wants her.

He’s way too old, and she—” She’s a kid, I wanted to say.

And in many ways, she was. Because of her illness, she’d been tucked away her entire life.

Except she was eighteen. When I was her age, I was already deep in my thief career and making sure neither of us starved.

But I didn’t want that for her, didn’t want her to grow up as fast as I had.

“He’s too old for her.” In that, I was sure of.

And he’s a noble. That alone was enough for me to strike him from my approval list.

Nimue’s eyes twinkled. “We’ll put the fear of the Mother into him.”

“Damn right we will.”

It was a relief when the week finally passed, and my sister was on her way to join us.

I stayed outside the entire day, waiting for her carriage.

Nimue waited with me, her hand curled around mine in silent support.

I wasn’t sure why I was so nervous. I raised her.

I knew her better than I knew the back of my hand.

And yet… I destroyed her life. Both of us changed in the past half year.

I hoped she hadn’t outgrown me, hoped she hadn’t started resenting me.

The royal carriage came to a stop. I fought a scowl when Wes stepped out first. But then he turned and held out his hand. A delicate hand took it, and Clara stepped out.

Beautiful. Mature. An adult. The thoughts went through my head when I greedily took in Clara’s image.

The sunken look to her cheeks had faded.

She’d filled out, no longer looking half-starved and exhausted, and she braided her light brown hair in double yesenian braids—just like the ones I was currently wearing.

Her message was more obvious than the sun.

She doesn’t hate me. Clara brightened when she met my gaze, and she nearly tripped as she rushed to me.

She would’ve fallen if Wes hadn’t reached out to grab her just in time.

By the time Clara pulled her face out of Wes’s chest, her face burned a bright red. Oh, I so didn’t like that. Ignoring Nimue’s snickering, I rushed over to my sister and threw my arms around her. “I missed you so much. Look at you!” I pulled back to cup her face. “I swear, you’ve gotten taller.”

Clara blushed and batted my hand away. “Stop. You know I haven’t.” She looked over my shoulder at Nimue, and her blush deepened.

“I’m Nimue.” Nimue offered her hand. “I had the pleasure of annoying your sister until she befriended me.”

The corners of Clara’s eyes crinkled. “Thank you for looking out for her. She can be a lot.”

“Hey!” But I couldn’t stop grinning.

Nimue laughed. “I can see the resemblance. How was the trip? Was it a long day?”

“Not too bad.” Clara glanced at Wes and then back at me. “The carriage ride made it a lot longer, but it was nice to travel and—well—enjoy it.”

I fought a wince. Wherever she’d been taken to, it wasn’t like she was traveling for fun. I glanced over her shoulder where Wes lingered. “We should get inside.”

“Can you give me a tour?” Clara’s eyes shone brighter than I’d ever seen.

Nimue looped her arm around Wes’s. “I know you two want some sister time, so we’ll get out of your hair. But you’re joining us for dinner.” She shot Wes a pointed look.

“Be careful.” Wes stiffened as he looked up at the gates and then back at my sister. The two of them… I didn’t like the knowing look they shared. What the fuck did that look mean?

Clara nodded. Once we were alone, she reached out and wove our hands together. Some of the tension bled from my shoulders. Finally. It was back to how it used to be with us two against the world.

I hadn’t wanted to give Clara a tour right away, had wanted to interrogate her first, but I couldn’t say no to that face.

Not after we’d been apart for so long. Throughout the tour, Clara was all awed glances, especially when we went to the rooftop.

I hadn’t wanted to take her to it since there were a lot of stairs, but she insisted she could handle it.

My resolve wavered when she wheezed with every step, but when I suggested we head down, she snapped at me. My sweet little Clara snapped at me. I was so surprised I couldn’t even be annoyed by her tone. I gave her a once over. “If you’re sure.”

Clara straightened. “I know my limits, Selena.” But she panted heavily.

I wanted to say no, but I didn’t fight, so I merely nodded. When we reached the top, her breathing was even more ragged, and she rested against the stone railings to gather her breath. But her eyes were bright as she looked down at the village below.

“What do you think?” I asked. “How does it compare to where you were staying?”

She shot me a knowing look. “It wasn’t as fancy as the royal palace. I stayed at one of Wes’s family homes. It was a nice castle.”

Of course she’d be at a Caddel castle. Though I doubt she’s returning. If Luther went back on our deal, he’d take her somewhere else, somewhere I wouldn’t be able to find. My heart clenched. I can’t fail. I can’t uproot her again. “And how does the Caddel castle compare to the king’s?”

Clara smiled. “A lot better, actually. I, uh, I really like Wes’s sense of décor.”

Sense of décor, my ass. My smile strained, but I didn’t let it fall. “That’s great.”

Clara wrung her hands together. “Selena… ”

Immediately, my hackles rose. “What is it? What’s wrong?”

She smoothed out her teal dress. “Promise me you won’t lie.” Just like that, I saw the child in Clara again. And immediately, my heart clutched with worry.

“Clara…”

She grabbed my hands and cradled them in hers. “Promise me.”