Chapter 25 In The Wake Of Flame

• The moon hung low, blood-red and swollen, casting a strange glow over the palace. It didn’t feel like the same sky anymore. Elira stood in the garden where fire lilies had erupted from the earth—flame-edged, gold-veined, and entirely unnatural. She touched one with cautious fingers, its heat pulsing like a heartbeat. “They weren’t planted,” she said under her breath. “They’re responding.”
• Kael stood behind her. “To you.”
• “They shouldn’t be.” Her voice wavered. “I thought I left this behind. I thought I buried it.”