Page 74 of The First Spark (Dynasty of Fire #1)

“She hung up before I could get any answers, but Cybel sent me a message saying she had another mission, something confidential. She had to leave immediately. You should call her, though, she was acting strange.”

“Well,” Mylis said, smiling weakly, “it is Mira. Isn’t she always a little strange?”

Zane threw back his head and laughed. The tightness gripping his chest loosened, and the monitor returned to a steady rhythm.

If Mira was safe, Iliana was dead, and the hospital was secure enough for Kalie to visit, it was all over.

He would call Mira and set things right as soon as he was back on his feet.

A harried nurse came by a few moments later and escorted Mylis back to his room in a hoverchair, despite his protests. Clinking tools filled the sudden silence as a nurse took Zane’s vitals, dosed him with a line of meds, and left with the order not to strain himself.

The door clicked shut, leaving him alone with Kalie.

Sweat coated Zane’s palms, and he swiped them across the navy comforter, cringing at the oily smears left behind. The monitor was racing. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, Zane straightened up.

“I was thinking of spending a few weeks at the beach,” Kalie said abruptly, with a faraway look in her eyes and a coy smile on her lips.

“There’s this island called Avington, you know, and you should see the new baron.

He’s got this infuriating smirk and some truly awful self-preservation instincts, but I?—”

Zane’s sore ribs slammed into the metal rails as he lurched over the edge of the bed, cupping her face in his hands and kissing her deeply.

She gave a little moan of surprise, but as her hands roamed up his back and threaded through his hair, her body melted against his.

There were no words to describe the overwhelming joy surging through him.

No words, but the ones that had been circling his head since he’d watched her walk away from his prison cell.

“Wait,” he breathed, breaking away.

Confusion and disappointment warred on her face.

He brushed his thumb over a crease at the corner of her lip, trying to wipe her frown away.

His throat was thick, but his smile was so wide that his bruised face ached.

He didn’t care. “I didn’t get a chance to say it before you left the cell, and I—honestly, thinking about it scares the shit out of me, but after you left, I was terrified I would die before I got a chance to?—”

“You’re rambling.”

The words were right there. On the tip of his tongue, screaming in his mind, roaring in his heart. When he opened his mouth, though, nothing came out .

Her frown deepened.

Zane breathed in the sterile air, freshened by the bouquets of flowers.

They were safe. Now was the time to take risks, to let himself live.

“I’ve been sleepwalking through life since Lysa died.

Pushing people away, shutting them out, because I thought if I didn’t let myself feel, I couldn’t be hurt again. But you…”

Kalie’s eyebrows knitted together.

Nervous flutters danced in his stomach and tremors ran through his hands, but even if it ended badly, even if it broke his heart later… She was worth it.

“You make me feel alive, Kalie,” he said, twining his fingers through hers, “and I haven’t felt that way in a long time.”

Kalie’s breath caught.

“And I want to see where this goes, if you’ll have me.”

Her radiant smile lit her face. “You really mean that?”

Zane brushed his thumb across her knuckles. “I’ve never meant anything more.”

Kalie launched herself at him. The bedsprings squeaked as she crashed into his chest, and with a startled laugh, he wrapped his arms around her.

Gripping her hair, he claimed her lips. Her fingers crept across his bare chest, shooting shocks over the tender pink scar stretching across his wound.

He gasped and tightened his arms around her as they rolled over in the bed, tangled together, still kissing.

This felt good. This felt right.

He wouldn’t change a thing.

The sun’s tangerine rays crept over snow-capped mountains as Kalie reached the wide stone staircase.

Powdery white drifts coated the lush hill on either side of the broad stones.

Tremors racked her body, and as misty fog plumed from her lips, she nearly lost her grip on the bouquet of white lilies in her arms.

She could do this .

She’d walked along this path days after Aunt Calida’s murder, but she’d lost her courage at the top of the steps and fled. Zane, Mylis, and Uncle Jerran had all offered to come with her today, but she’d turned them down.

This was something she had to do alone.

Taking a deep breath, Kalie began to climb.

Her boots crunched through layers of snow. Frozen air burned her lungs, and by the time she reached the top of the slope, she was panting, gripping the stair railing for support. A sea of granite statues jutted out from the snowy valley below.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she trudged down the hill.

The names on the marble sculptures were familiar, even if the faces weren’t.

A statue of an aged woman in a rustic dress stood beside an elderly man—Duchissa Coriana Roth and her husband, Dux Aleksander Leighton.

A smiling woman had her arm looped through a young man’s.

The boy resembled Uncle Jerran, but Al and his mother, Jenessa, hadn’t lived long enough for her to meet them.

Kalie glared at a flat stone beside them. Madeleine was the reason Uncle Jerran’s family was dead, but he’d buried her here anyway, against the Collectivate’s wishes.

The stretch between Madeleine’s unmarked grave and the shining monument beside it marked twenty cycles of happiness. Twenty cycles of soothing words, smiles, and hugs.

Carik had ruined it all.

Names gleamed on shining bronze plaques as Kalie wobbled towards the next set of statues.

Between two towering sculptures stood a little girl with a broad grin and flowing hair. One hand clutched a book; the other was buried in the folds of her tiny gown. Mother had made sure every detail was immaculate, right down to the dark flecks on the stone where her freckles had been.

With a shaking hand, Kalie brushed specks of ice from the crown of Lexie’s head.

Behind Lexie stood an older statue of Uncle Jacyn.

The rigid sculpture looked nothing like her boisterous uncle, but the woman standing beside him was every bit as regal as she’d been in life.

Sapphires were set in the stone diadem on her head, and a flowing gown framed her slim figure. Her gentle smile shone down on Kalie.

She crumpled. Snow seeped into her pants, freezing her kneecaps, and she placed the bouquet at the feet of the smallest statue.

“Happy birthday, Lex.”

A breeze whistled past, carrying with it the sound of Lexie giggling. Tears streamed down her cheeks, landing in the snow and leaving frozen crystals behind.

“I, um… I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. I should’ve. I miss you all so much.” Her voice cracked, and she wiped her eyes. “My coronation is tomorrow. Well, my second one. The first was interrupted. Did you see that?”

The silence wrapped around Kalie like a warm blanket. If she closed her eyes and concentrated, she could almost feel the gentle press of Aunt Calida’s hand on her shoulder, or Lexie’s arms wrapped around her legs.

“I’ll make you proud. I promise.”

“I think she’d be glad to hear that.”

Kalie bolted to her feet.

As Mother stared at Grandmother’s grave, her grip tightened on the bouquet in her arms. Sighing, she trudged past Kalie and placed the flowers at Lexie’s feet.

“Do you mind if I join you?”

Kalie shook her head, and they stood in silence, gazing at the mountaintops as the sun peeked over the horizon.

“She loved you,” Mother said quietly. White wisps of breath blew towards the statues. “So much.”

Kalie swallowed thickly. “You did a beautiful job with the sculptures.”

“Thank you, but I don’t think a statue could ever do Lida justice. She was the best of us, you know? Without her…”

Wind scattered sparkles of frost through the air, and Kalie tugged her scarf tighter. Flurries trickled down on Aunt Calida’s motionless statue like specks of melting ash.

“She died fighting for freedom. We’ll finish what she started.”

“We will.” Mother brushed snow off the statue’s shoulder. “She would’ve been proud of the way you handled the Advisorium. I heard the vote for war was unanimous.”

Kalie tucked her frozen hands under her arms. “They were furious about the Speaker’s murder, and it was a lot easier without Hewlett’s family obstructing everything.”

“What made it easier is you giving the council choices, Kalista. Once you assured them that a vote approving the war wouldn’t require their personal militias to fight, I imagine they were considerably more receptive.

” Mother’s lips twitched upwards. “Although you’re right, removing the Hewletts did help.

And while I find their replacements questionable, I think you showed good judgment. ”

Kalie’s cheeks warmed.

Coming from Mother, that was practically ‘I’m proud of you.’

She hadn’t done it alone. Her Advisorium’s new members—Zane and Mylis, Julian and Haeden—had been by her side every step of the way.

Mother cleared her throat and reached into a pocket in the folds of her skirt. “Lida loaned this to me long ago. A few days before she died, she asked me to send it back for her daughter.”

She drew out a ring. A large violet stone was set into a gleaming gold band, but it didn’t look like any gem she’d seen before.

Kalie stretched her fingertips towards the ring, but paused, frowning. The look on Mother’s face was a twisted mixture of envy, guilt, and grudging acceptance. She lowered her hand.

Mother caught her wrist, turned her palm over, and placed the ring there.

“I think you should have it.”