BURNING FATE

The Slip Beneath the Skin

Ember's POV

Friday evenings usually came with the soft ache of exhaustion. A silent reminder of the week I'd survived, stacked with tasks, phone calls, and the overwhelming presence of the man I worked for.

But today, something was different.

Raegan had received a call mid-afternoon. His jaw tightened, eyes unreadable. Then, without a word of explanation, he rose from his chair and said quietly, "You can head out early today."

No commands. No clipped tone. Just a strange softness in his voice I wasn't used to.

I nodded, packed up slowly, and stepped out of the high-rise building just as the golden light of the evening settled across the city's shoulders. A breeze played with the hem of my blouse, and for the first time in a while, my shoulders didn't feel so tight.

I reached the apartment just as the sun dipped low. Sia was already there, perched on the couch in a loose tee, barefoot and grinning.

"You're home early," Sia said, raising an eyebrow. "Did the world end?"

I dropped my bag and kicked off my shoes. "I think he had to rush out for something. Personal, maybe. He didn't say."

Sia's eyes sparkled. "You mean you're free on a Friday night? This is fate."

I laughed, loosening my hair. "And what does fate want?"

"Girls' night," Sia declared. "Just you, me, soft music, and that little café on the corner. The one with fairy lights and bad wine."

I hesitated. "I was going to catch up on some reading..."

"Nope. No files, no dragons. Just us."

I blinked. "Dragons?"

Sia grinned innocently. "Figure of speech."

Third person's POV

The evening was calm. Too calm, Ember thought, as she and Sia walked down the cobbled path toward the little café tucked between rows of antique stores and blooming window boxes.

Lanterns hung from the trees, swaying gently with the breeze, and laughter spilled softly from the patio where a few patrons lingered over warm drinks.

It was the kind of place that made the world slow down.

Inside, the café was quiet, dimly lit, filled with the scent of cinnamon and old wood. The air felt wrapped in warmth, a cocoon after a week of sharp suits and sharper gazes.

They found a table near the window, and Ember let herself breathe.

No thoughts of deadlines. No second-guessing every word. No Raegan Drayke.

Or so she thought.

In the private room toward the back, where the noise faded into stillness, Raegan sat across from an old friend—Elias, a dragon-born seer who rarely left his reclusive estate unless the matter was dire.

Raegan had barely sat down when it began. That pull. Subtle but unmistakable—the familiar pressure in the air that always announced her presence.

She's here.

His dragon stirred at once, alert.

Impossible. She couldn't have followed him. This wasn't planned. She didn't even know this place existed in his world.

He exhaled, forcing the sensation down, masking it under the urgency of the discussion.

"I found something," Elias said, his voice low. "About the prophecy."

Raegan's shoulders tensed.

"The queen... the one from the old bloodlines, the girl who vanished. She was nearly taken by an Elder... One who fell from the Path, who sought to control her power for himself."

Raegan's eyes darkened. "What happened?"

"Her mother hid her. Sealed her essence, buried it deep, so she wouldn't be traced. The girl was teleported across realms... sent to the human world, hidden with a guardian who raised her like one of their own. The mother died shielding the portal. But not before she erased every sign of the girl's magic. Only one thing could awaken it."

"What?"

Elias looked him in the eye. "You."

The air turned sharp.

Before Raegan could respond, the room trembled.

An alarmed shout. Then glass shattering.

And the smell... smoke.

Raegan stood, already moving, heart lurching. Ember.

Ember's POV

It started as a flicker. A warm glow from the kitchen, easily mistaken for candlelight.

Then came the smoke—thick and sudden, curling like fingers across the ceiling.

Someone screamed.

Sia stood abruptly, grabbing my hand. "We need to go."

But I wasn't looking at the door. My eyes were on the far end of the café, where flames danced too close to a child, no older than six, trapped near an overturned chair, frozen in fear.

The fire was closing in.

And something inside me snapped.

"Go!" I shouted to Sia, my voice deeper than usual, laced with something wild. "Take the front!"

"Ember, wait!"

But I was already moving.

The world blurred. Heat closed around me. The flames surged... and so did something else.

Third person POV

Just for a second, her eyes glowed—not with fear, but with light. Ancient. Fierce.

A shimmer, like golden cracks in her skin, flared along her fingertips. But only for a breath.

Then it vanished.

Raegan entered the room at that exact moment, just in time to see the glow fade.

An illusion?

No. His dragon roared in recognition.

She reached the child, wrapping her arms around him and shielding his face, guiding him through the fire like she'd done it before. Her movements were sure, instinctive.

And then she stumbled. Just outside, in the cold air, with the child safe in Sia's arms—she collapsed.

Raegan caught her before she hit the ground.

"Ember," he breathed, holding her like something sacred. "Stay with me..."

Her pulse fluttered, weak but steady.

Sia's eyes were wide, still clinging to the child. "What just happened?" She whispered.

Raegan didn't answer.

There were too many questions. Too much he'd just seen.

But one thing he knew without doubt—his dragon had never been wrong.

And if what Elias said was true... then the girl in his arms wasn't just someone he desired.

She was someone the world had been waiting for.

Moments Later, Inside Raegan's Penthouse...

The wind had picked up as he soared across the city, Ember in his arms, cloaked in shadow and dragon-light. Sia and Elias followed by car, still shaken but unharmed.

He strode through the elevator with her in his hold, Elias and Sia rushing in behind. The doors closed. The world grew quiet.

Raegan lay Ember gently on the couch, brushing her hair from her brow. She was unconscious, peaceful, but something still shimmered faintly beneath her skin—like embers in ash.

His dragon stirred again. Not with hunger. Not with the instinct to claim.

But with reverence.

Because the girl he thought was merely human had just walked through fire... and lit something in him that he didn't know could burn again.

In the next room, Elias stood near the fireplace, his arms crossed as he studied the swirling shadows in the glass. The fire had been no accident. Of that, he was sure. And the energy he'd felt radiating from the girl... it wasn't human. Not entirely.

Sia paced nearby, arms folded tightly across her chest. Her usual brightness was dimmed, worry creasing her forehead.

"She's special," Elias said without turning. "You know it. I can see it in your eyes."

Sia paused, her lips pressing into a thin line.

"You're fae," he added gently, finally looking at her. "I can sense it. You're not just her friend."

She said nothing.

"You're part of her protection, aren't you?"

Still silence.

He softened his voice. "We're not enemies, Sia. My family has guarded the ancient lines for generations. Raegan and I, we are of the royal blood, yes, but we are also the sworn protectors of the balance. Of her, if she is who we suspect."

Sia looked away, conflicted. "You don't understand. If I say anything before she remembers on her own..."

"She could break," Elias said, nodding. "Or the memories could shatter her mind. I know. But the time is coming. The veil is thinning. Powers are moving. She flared tonight, Sia. Just for a second... but it was real."

The flicker of magic in Sia's eyes told him all he needed.

She knew.

"Does she know?" he asked softly.

"No," Sia whispered. "Not yet. But something inside her does. And it's waking up."

They both stood there in silence, heavy with the weight of prophecy and truth unsaid.

Then Sia suddenly straightened, head tilted, as if hearing something.

"She's awake," she murmured, already reaching for the tray she had prepared. "I have to go."

Elias didn't stop her. He only watched as she disappeared through the door, leaving the room tinged with magic and secrets still unspoken.