Page 76 of Up In Flames
“You're sorry?” Caleb pulled back. “No. I'm sorry, Ember. I'm so sorry. I should have tried harder to speak to you, to tell you about the corruption inside me.”
“Caleb, it's not your fault. You were used, and we didn't know you were suffering. I'm just glad you're all right.”
“Thank you,” he whispered. Then he shuddered. “It was awful.”
“I know. I've experienced a version of it.”
Caleb nodded. “Yes, I saw you.”
My face went red. “Oh, fuck. Yeah, you did. I remember. That's embarrassing.”
“Don't be embarrassed. It wasn't you. I know that better than anyone.”
“Not entirely me, no. But a part of me was still there. Enough to recognize you. The rest of me was Death.”
“Yes, as most of me was.”
That was the moment I realized that I had been one of the Corrupted. I don't know why it hadn't occurred to me before then. I guess because it was different for Ara and me. We were corrupted both more and less by Death. His puppets but also his companions. It was a strange thing Death had done to us. Strange and terrible. But at its root, it was corruption. I should have been immune to it, and I would have been. If only I hadn't welcomed the corruption in.
“Maybe it's good for me to know what the people I'm trying to save are going through,” I said. “No other Wraith Lord has that perspective.”
“But you've already saved us,” Caleb said.
I let out a soft laugh, letting go of the heaviness of my past with it. “You're right. I forgot that for a second.”
“It's hard to believe it's over.”
“Yeah. And we've only experienced the war for a few decades. Some of the Wraith Lords have been fighting since the beginning.” Then I paused. “Wait. How did you get here?”
“Oh, Lord Vexen brought me. He said you'd want to see me.”
“Lord Vexen?” I murmured, remembering the man who had found me in the arrival chamber. “That was kind of him.”Again, I added in my head.
“Yes, he's the one who brought me back to the citadel too.” Caleb looked around. “I can't believe I'm in the Imperial Palace. It's so beautiful. And did you see Sally? She's royalty now, but she has no idea how incredible that is.”
“Yes, and doesn't that make it even more wonderful?” I grinned.
“It does. And that's because of you as well, Ember. You haven't just saved Varr, you've changed it for the better. And it will keep changing because of you.”
“I helped and inspired, but it's not all because of me.”
Caleb laid his hand on my arm. “Mostly.”
I chuckled. “All right. I'll take that from you this once because we're friends.”
“Are we?” His hand slid away. “Were we ever friends? Those conversations you had were with the Corrupter, not me. They weren't real.”
A memory hit me—Caleb staring at me with love and longing. Except that hadn't been Caleb. I thought Aranren and I had fallen in love while we were becoming friends. But for him, it had started before that. Holy shit. Even as the Corrupter, Ara had loved me.
I cleared my throat and said, “He wasn't you all the time. Or rather, you weren't always him. And now, we have the opportunity to truly get to know each other. We can become better friends. Start again.”
Caleb finally smiled. “I'd like that.”
Then I overheard a conversation between the Emperor and General Ranor.
“I can't trust this,” Ranor said.
“I understand,” the Emperor said. “And that's good. I have no intention of disbanding the Wraith Lords. They willcontinue to live as they are unless they wish to leave the citadel, but their role will now be to keep the peace worldwide.”
