FAELAN'S POV
It was an hour before sundown, and already the call of the Flame had sharpened—pulling at me.
It no longer whispered. It pulsed, a steady thrum beneath my skin, each beat a summons no one could ignore. It was almost time.
I fastened the final button of my coat, fingers moving from long habit rather than thought, then turned toward Aviona’s nest.
She sat in the cushioned chair I had added near the window, a thin line of light tracing her profile. In her hands, the lasso obeyed. It flowed and reshaped at her will—from slender cord to blade-thin ribbon, from ribbon to something sharper, then back again. She didn’t even seem aware she was doing it.
My chest tightened.
How I wished I could bring her with me. How I wished she could experience the Enkindling, feel the Flame’s p
