Page 367 of Burn of the Everflame

I gasped. “Those are their mates.”

Lumnos nodded. Her smile lifted higher as Meros and Arboros cried out, spotting their beloveds, too. “They’ve been waiting for us for a very long time.”

Sophos frantically paced back and forth, scouring the Everflame’s roots. “Where is she? Why hasn’t she—what if—do you think—maybe she⁠—”

Lumnos and Umbros exchanged an amused look. “Patience, brother,” Umbros said. “She probably lost track of time in a very good book.”

Sophos closed his eyes and let out an inappropriate-sounding moan, though I couldn’t be sure if it was the prospect of his mate or the book that aroused him.

Lumnos cleared her throat, and Sophos’s eyes shot back open, settling instantly on a petite, cream-pale woman whose mousy bob bounced as she waved one arm. Beside her sauntered a goddess-like vixen who pointed at Umbros, then slowly hooked her finger.

Sophos gave a long, contented sigh, his nervous energy flooding away. He spread his arms wide and ran past me. “Good luck, Daughter of the Forgotten,” he yelled over his shoulder.

Umbros slid his hands into his pockets, flashing his mate a provocative smile. She cocked her hip and winked, and he gave a deep, hearty laugh. “Good luck, indeed,” he said as he walked past me. “You’ll never be forgotten to me.”

Lumnos took my hand as we watched the last of her siblings reunite with their long-lost mates. “Shouldn’t yours be here?” I asked her.

“Soon. He won’t want an audience. He’s always been a private man.”

She fell quiet, and the other eight Kindred led their mates to the opening in the Everflame’s trunk. One by one, they crossed through the curtain of Fire and disappeared. Though I felt true gladness for them, the weight on my heart continued to grow.

I should be with my mate, too, I thought. I don’t belong here without him.

I tried to shake the feeling off as Lumnos’s hand tightened in mine. Just as she’d guessed, once the last of her siblings passed over, a man came strolling around the Everflame’s side, the barest hint of a smile playing at his lips. His ebony hair was long and sleek, his features sharp, his ice-blue eyes bright against rust-colored skin.

In my chest, something started to ache.

Lumnos kissed my cheek. “Goodbye, Diem. I’ve glimpsed the happiness that lies ahead for you. You deserve every moment that awaits.”

She walked toward the waiting man, who brightened like the sun as she approached. The love between them was so radiant, they practically glowed when she pressed her body to his. His hands brushed across her jaw, lips hovering over hers, chest rising as he breathed her in. I blushed at the intimacy of it and turned my back to offer them a private reunion.

My fingers rose to my lips. How long until they reunited with Luther’s? How many centuries would pass before I felt his touch again?

Panic began to rise. I can’t do this, I thought. It’s wrong. All of this is wrong.

“I’ll be watching over you both,” Lumnos called out.

“Wait!” I yelled, running toward her, but she had already disappeared into the Flames. Everyone had—the new arrivals, the Kindred and their mates.

I was alone.

I stared up at the Everflame. Rivers of light pulsed along the cracks in its bark, leading up to soaring branches alight with twirling, crackling Flames. Embers fell from their ends like glowing snowflakes, flaring with light as they touched the ground, then disappearing into the soil.

The sight of it restored a small measure of my peace. “‘Be not afraid, as shadows fade, all pain and woe shall be unmade,’” I said, reciting a line from the Rite of Endings to reassure myself. “There’s no sadness in the Undying Fire. Only joy. Nothing to be scared of.”

The Flames rose higher. That’s right, they seemed to say. All will be healed in the Fire.

I smiled, feeling sheepish at my hesitation. Of course this was where I was meant to be.

I stretched my hand toward the opening and tried to decide what I would do first once I crossed over. Maybe I’d go sailing with my father, or perhaps I’d try every chocolate ever made. I could hike through snowy mountains without ever getting cold or sail through the clouds like I’d been born with wings.

The Fire licked at my outstretched fingers, and my anticipation grew. Maybe I’d go to faraway lands that I could never have visited in life. Meet people I’d never heard of, visit worlds entirely different than my own.

Heat enveloped my arm, drawing me closer.

I could do everything I’d ever dreamed of. Any adventure could be mine.

But Luther won’t be there to do them with me.