Page 136 of Fire to the Stars

The door opens and startles me back into my body.

The amber glow of sunsset casts orange light through the frosted window. Yet I’m precisely where Abel left me: on the bed, with a cup of tea that’s lost its steam. The silverwolf blanket still covers my shoulders. My shield against the world.

Lucy hops at the sight of me but remains beside him, as if she’s leashed. She glances up, asking for permission.

“Go on,” he tells her.

In seconds, she’s across the room, diving under the pelt with me. I snuggle her close.

“Still cold?” he asks, removing his coat. A shiver exposes his instant regret for doing so. “You haven’t used the firewood.”

“The pelt warms me just fine.” With a sweep of my arm, I open it for him. “Sit with us?”

He smiles. “How could I refuse?”

We lean against the pillows, my head on his shoulder and ourfingers threaded together. Lucy snores between us, coat reverted to a vibrant shade of red that demands to be petted.

It’s the only shade of red I want to see right now.

“The gendarmes didn’t expect me to come back as a human,” I say quietly. “I could see it in their faces.”

“They didn’t expect the Immortals to turn into dust, either,” Abel replies.

“How do we prove a conspiracy without the criminals who caused it?”

Good riddance to the Immortals, but their disappearance makes it difficult to prove their actions.

“Marshal Payen says witnesses across Florent have already come forward with reports of spontaneous combustion,” he reveals. “Their statements will help.”

“But if we can’t make a convincing case, fringe theories will take over. People will spin false tales that prioritize comfort over what’s real.”

That’s especially true for the Slayers Guild.

The Ignition won’t make new dragons, but active bounties are legally tied tohumanidentities. Slayers might kill them in human form just so they can collect.

“What if this doesn’t change people’s minds about who I am inside?” I ask. “What if they don’t want me to live?”

“My fight for your life isn’t over until the Slayers Guild is disbanded. I promise.”

I press my lips together, fighting the impulse to protect myself with a persona. Conning people can’t help me anymore, now that the Gendarmerie know I was cursed.

“You don’t have to come to the meeting,” he offers. “Marshal Payen can vouch for the disappearance of your magic.”

“I want to help. I just don’t know how I’ll face the slayers,” I confess. “They scare me. Especially Étienne Houdin.”

I tell him of Anne-Sophie’s daughter, and how Étienne displayed her to a crowd of admirers in bloody bindings as if she were no more alive than Gérard’s skeleton. Without healing magic, I can’t brave the world like I did before. My body has limits.Anyonecould end the life I just regained.

“I’ll protect you,” he assures me. “Marshal Payen and Lyle will too.”

I stare into my bandaged hand and flex it. My wince makes Abel sigh in relief. I suppose it’ll take us both a while before we stop expecting my injuries to emit steam.

We watch the snow fall outside our window until the last sunsrays vanish. The fur blanket keeps us warm, but I still shake in his arms like a newborn tinderfox. Once the moon rises, I turn my back to him.

“Abel?” I whisper into the dark.

“I’m listening.”

“Be patient with me. I…I need time to trust that this isreal.”