Page 90 of Ruin of Revenants

Are you finally here to answer my prayers? I’ve begged for a way to heal the phoenixes. And then for a way to stop the revenants that are destroying Emberglade. Do you know what’s happening?

Vithenna gave a single nod. “You’ll have to find me in my temple, in the land of the living.”

You can’t tell me here? Now?

“The gods do not give freely. There is a price to pay, even for information.”

My stomach dropped, but Vithenna was already gone. Anger and frustration tangled with my immense relief that my magic had saved me, that I had another chance at saving my people.

Had Archer been spared too?

Exhaustion clung to me, dragging me back into unconsciousness.

This time, I blinked awake to darkness again, so thick it took a few moments to adjust and discern my surroundings. My throat was as dry as sand, and the scent of smoke clung to me, but when I assessed my body, there were no signs of wounds. Lifting my tunic—a new one someone must have slipped onto me after my flames had extinguished—I couldn’t find even a scar. Everything was new and whole, like my body had been completely remade.

I’d heard stories of how phoenixes could rise from the ashes, even if I’d never seen it happen myself, but I hadn’t known all the details or if the stories were all accurate. Had I actually burned up in my fire and died? All my memories seemed intact. When I reached for my magic, it was there, easily accessible.

It was as all the stories had said—my magic had consumed me in a healing fire, letting the same body reform from the ashes. I was still me, with nothing lost, nothing changed, except that I would not be afforded such a mercy again, my magic unable to resurrect me twice.

A new possibility occurred to me. What if Archer’s and my blood bond had severed in death? What if he’d already sensed the change? Just because I’d awoken, alive and free, in his rooms didn’t mean that couldn’t all change. What if he was planning to strike when I awoke, to put me in chains for later judgment or execute me immediately in his own quarters? Or maybe he hadn’t noticed yet, but once he did, surely he’d make his move…

My chest tightened, breath constricting. Cold sweat broke out on my brow, and I began calculating how I could escape.

I blinked again, my eyes adjusting further to the darkness. I wasn’t in Archer’s quarters. I sat up, trying to make sense of my surroundings. Foul odors of filth and old blood mingled with earth and mildew assaulted my nose. There was stone beneath me and on three sides, but they were lined with metal bars that matched those in the heavily barred door on the fourth side.

The dungeons.

My heart plummeted.

Had they discovered me while I was burning? Or had my resurrection finally snapped the bond between Archer and me, giving him the chance to reveal my identity and throw me in here?

Grief stabbed me so sharply that I had to blink against the threat of tears. Would he really have betrayed me that quickly and easily?

Worse was the pain seeping into me, tightening my chest, pounding in my temples, weighing down my bones. I could remember what it was like to wield my magic, but my magic itself felt…unreachable. I couldn’t recall how I’d accessed it before, couldn’t find the strength to conjure the smallest spark. Forget-me-nots, surely. They had to be infused in the metal bars encasing me.

Isa? Can you hear me?

Relief flooded me. Archer. You’re alive. Our…our bond is still here.

Thank Vithenna, you’re alive. Your resurrection was complete, but you were still unconscious when they brought us here. I was afraid your magic hadn’t worked. And then I thought the bond would be severed forever, but apparently phoenix shifter magic restores everything as it was before you were hurt, so that included our bond. A beat of hesitation, as I wondered how he’d learned all that about my magic. Had he been frantically tearing through books and researching while I’d been dying? Are you all right? he asked.

Completely whole, like I was never hurt at all. His relief and joy filled our bond. Strangely, the connection I’d despised and wanted to break was now comforting. I was soothed knowing it remained. And the forget-me-nots aren’t hurting it either.

That’s because the bond isn’t magical, exactly. It’s something deeper, a connection between souls. Its origin is from the gods, like magic, but…different.

I sucked in a breath, startled by how relieved I was that our bond was intact and unaffected by the forget-me-nots. How did you find out how to save me? The price if I’d already died… I shook my head. Even though Archer would have died anyway, imagining him sacrificing himself for me seemed like insanity. But it’s not that bad, when the phoenix is still alive. Did you read how to save me in one of your books?

There was a pause. Yes, Orchid helped me and we found it. A few drops of blood to help your magic do the rest? You can be grateful I’m used to suffering because of you, Feathers.

Thank you. The memory of the feverish glint in his green eyes when he’d found me, of his voice pleading for me to stay with him. Surely, it had been because he didn’t want to die too, right? For…ensuring my magic could work properly.

Archer laughed lightly in my mind. What did you expect, that I’d leave you to die so I would too?

How much time has passed? What happened? I thought of Dell’s threats, and my stomach twisted.

Only a day. They…they found the body.

Memories flitted through my mind. Flames dancing from my hands. Dell’s screams. The smell of his flesh burning. The thud of his body. It had been gruesome, awful. My magic flaring to life to save me instinctively. Even though I’d hardly been able to hold it back in the moment, a pang of guilt still cut me.