Page 182 of By the Flames of Her Fury

“I’m sure she does,” Mama said, eyes bright. “Just like I’m sure she knows you’re being taken care of, the way she took care of us all those years ago. You’ll always have a place in my family, Tessa.”

Tessa sniffed, then wiped her eyes. “Fates, I hate crying,” she said with a watery laugh. “You think Noxy boy would let me call him ‘big bro’?”

I chuckled. “You never know until you try.”

Tessa took a deep breath and grinned at us. “It means a lot that you both came.”

“Don’t mention it,” I said, returning her smile. “A wise woman once told me you don’t have to do this alone.”

She snorted, then paced around to where Mama and I sat and flung an arm over each of our shoulders. “She must be a very wise woman.”

“Very wise, and much older than me.”

She aggressively ruffled the top of my head. “Hey, respect your elders, young lady.” When our laughter subsided, she sighed and leaned her head against mine. “Thanks, Vera.”

I smiled. “Any time.”

The weeks that followed were the quietest I could remember. Sure, the days were filled with loud children and laughter and sometimes more people than I could handle, but my mind was quiet. I was learning the ways of this new life and picturing myself in it, instead of on the outside. My favorite moments were when I’d walk through the Keep in the evening and pass one of the children’s bunk rooms where Everett read bedtime stories. I’d watch him sit on the ground, with three or four kids sprawled around him, their heads drooping at his sides. He would sometimes catch my eye and give me one of those soft, tired grins. The kind that spoke of happiness through exhaustion. Fulfillment. It made my heart burst every time.

After we’d been back in Drakorum for a month, Everett found me in the bedroom, standing at the balcony facing the sea. I liked to watch the tide come in around sunset. It reminded me of the times I spent on the stern deck, with the open sky and wide, endless waves. A reassurance that there was nothing caging me anymore.

Everett’s arms snaked around my waist. “Do you miss it?” he asked.

“Miss what?”

“Being out there, on the water.”

I shrugged. “Sometimes. I got used to living on a ship.” I turned so I could face him, then tapped his nose. “But this is nice, too.”

He hummed. My breath hitched when he lowered a kiss to my lips, then my jaw and down my neck, tilting me backward so my hair flew in the wind and my eyes faced the sky. The clouds were nearly purple, with the dark pink and gold haze settling above them as the sun dipped lower.

“Well, I have a proposition for you,” he said, placing another kiss on the column of my throat.

I raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“What if we left?”

I straightened and pulled back, blinking in surprise. “What?”

“Not for good,” he amended. “Your brother would burn me to a crisp if I took you away again. Not to mention your mother.”

“Then what do you mean?”

He hesitated, giving me a sheepish smile. “There was a life we talked about in those cells. So many places we wanted to go together.” He drew me back in as he spoke. “Do you remember?”

“Some of it,” I said softly. “There was a river. The one your mother used to take you to, with all the flowers.”

“Yes, there’s that one,” he murmured. “But there’s also the beach. The first illusion I ever showed you was of the wide, open beach in Iluze, with sand between your toes and the sun shining on your face.”

“I want to remember that one,” I whispered.

That gap in my soul from the memories I lost still existed, but for the first time, I didn’t dwell on what had been taken. Instead, it gave me hope. A chance to fill the emptiness with light. A chance to live instead of merely survive.

“Then we better get started, sweetheart.” He placed his hands on my waist and lifted me on the balcony rail. I peered down at him, chest swelling at the look in those dual-toned eyes. “I hear the water is perfect this time of year.”

Epilogue

VERA