That’s why every other blessed wants to bond her?I ask.
Maybe they do,Asteria says.But even more of them would be relieved if she was just gone, including your brother.
She’s right, Hyperion says.I spend most of my time either hating her, or wishing I’d bonded her myself.I can’t seem to make up my mind which would be better.My life would be easier, though, if she were simply gone.
If anyone else talks about killing or takingmyhuman, I really will have to destroy something.I’m not re-bonding her, and no one else is either.The reason she’s alive, the reason she’s here in this cave, is that something happened in that lava, and she’s going to tell us what.She’s still our best connection to the heart, so she’s not dying either.
Hyperion walks closer.I heard she was out of the cage.
I forgot to ask about that.How did you bend the bars?
Liz juts out her bottom jaw.“Why do you care?”
“She’s stronger,” the small human with not-short, not-long hair says.“She has wings,andshe’s stronger.The world just isn’t fair.”
Asteria laughs.It certainly isn’t.
Even so, she will stay in that cage until she recovers her memory.I glare.
No,Gordon says.It’s too cold for them here.They can’t rest, they can’t eat, and it’s not healthy.He glances at the lava.Not to mention, this whole place is creepy.
I agree,Rufus says.They should come back with us to the hotel.
I dig deep and project a red bubble around the cage.There.That’ll keep them inside, and it’ll keep the blessed out.It’ll also keep them warmer.
You’re making a mistake,Gordon says.
In all the years I’ve known him, he’s never said anything like that to me.Not ever.When I turn slowly toward him, my fury must show on my face.
I’m doing this for you.Gordon lifts his much larger head, his eyes flashing.
So am I, Rufus says.If you remembered anything at all, you’d want us to defend her.
I’m heartily sick of everyone acting like I’m damaged, or worse, like I had gone insane.Have you all forgotten our goal?We need the heart, and the person most likely to get it for us is right here.
Asteria’s the last blessed in the cavern, other than Hyperion, Gordon, and Rufus.But even she’s walking out, at least, until she freezes.The flame.
“What?”Liz is pressed against the edge of the cage, her hands tightly wrapped around the bars.“What about the flame?”
What flame?I ask.
There’s a flame carved on the entrance to this lava pit,Asteria says.There are skulls underneath it.She turns back slowly, but she’s not talking to me.She’s looking right at Liz.There were three, weren’t there?
Liz nods.
There are two now.
Hyperion nearly runs me over to look at it himself.He uses a very human word to express his displeasure, and I may not remember much, but for some reason I still recognize the meaning.
What do we think that signifies?Gordon asks.
Well, Liz may have gotten wings,Hyperion says, turning.But I think she lost one of her three lives.
We’re running out of time,Asteria says.
Speaking of running out of time,Hyperion says.I told you I went to see Father.I told him you’d died, and he ordered me to mate with Asteria in your place to see whether proximity to the heart has allowed us to finally procreate.
Okay.I’d always been promised to her, but I find that I don’t mind at all.Go ahead.
