Authors: Ryan Graudin
All That Burns (36 page)
“We’ll be a force to be reckoned with,” I add.
“We’ll have to be, with all that’s ahead. There’s a lot to rebuild.”
He’s right. My thoughts drift to Anabelle and the rubble left by Phoenix Night. Things starting to piece back together, yet still not whole.
From this point I can see it all. The valleys and the mountaintops. The gain and the loss. Some things have been lost altogether: my old magic, Guinevere, Kieran.
Yet so much has been saved.
I turn to Richard. Put my back to the stars and the memory of the price that was paid. The costs which led us to this moment.
He’s worth them all.
“I need you, Emrys. I want you by my side for every step of this journey.” One hand slides up my waist, the other brushes my cheek. Tucks back all of the half-colored hair behind my ear. “I have a kingdom at my feet
and the power of Arthur Pendragon in my veins, but I would lay it all down in a heartbeat for you. Because I’m yours. Always and forever. This is my solemn vow.”
His hands pull away. I watch, breathless, as he gets down on one knee.
Here we are, caught up in a halo of candlelight. The brightest light on the highest hill. Richard pulls something from his pocket. Something that catches and crafts the light, sings it alive.
My ring. The one I lost down the sink drain. It’s here, between his fingers. Jade and silver filigree shining even brighter than I remember it.
“Emrys Léoflic, will you make me the happiest man alive and be my queen? My wife?”
I think back to the tunnels. How my
yes
rang endlessly through those enchanted walls. How it’s probably still echoing, around and around and around. Eternal. I imagine it rising from the depths of the earth, the way I did as a newly formed spirit. Flying up, up, up to this mountaintop moment.
“Yes.” I kneel down. We’re both on the ground now, knees steady on these worn stones. On the same level. “I thought you’d never ask.”
He laughs. The sounds breaks through the music, draws me closer to him.
“How did you find this?” The jade of my ring glows bright as a cat’s eye against the candlelight. “I thought it was gone for good.”
“Ferrin gave it to me. Apparently she retrieved it from the sink just after you lost it.”
So that’s why Kieran couldn’t summon it. It had already been found.
Richard goes on, “I had her help me put a bonding spell on it, so it won’t fall off your finger again. Unless you want it to.”
I slide my finger back into the ring, clasp my hand in his.
“You’re mine and I’m yours. Always and forever. This ring isn’t coming off,” I promise. “No matter what.”
Wind gusts up from the valley, raking fingers of ice through my hair. Richard’s flames stay strong. The turntable’s needle keeps grooving into a new song.
Everything changes, yes, but not everything falls apart. Some things come through the fire stronger than before.
We’re still on our knees when we kiss.
This kiss. It’s rage and heat and flame. It’s the shout of
life and fight into an empty space. And it doesn’t matter that the song has changed or that the wind is blowing. It doesn’t matter that the cold is creeping in, snaking into the cracks between our bodies. It doesn’t matter that the sky above us is dark and dizzying and endless.
I’m the spark and he’s the tinder. Night has fallen, black and cold over the world. And winter might still be on the horizon, but together we are burning.
T
here’s a rumor floating around in the world of YA authors that writing sequels is one of the hardest things a writer has to do. After working on this book, I can tell you this rumor is one-hundred percent true. Sequels are unmanageable beasts. Hard to coax out of the shadows, almost impossible to tame.
Thankfully, I didn’t have to wrangle this story alone. My wonderful senior editor, Alyson Day, and assistant editor, Abbe Goldberg, were there to encourage me from the first paragraph to the final period. My tireless critique partner, Kate Armstrong, believed in this story all the times I didn’t and that made all the difference. The Lucky 13s cheered me on while wrestling sequel beasts of their own. Trish Ward was my ever-willing Old English proofreader. Adrian Cain of the Manx Heritage Foundation graciously answered my emails and made sure the Ad-hene conjugated their spells properly.
Many thanks to my readers, whose enthusiasm for
these characters make everything worth it. Many thanks to my family and my husband, who believed in me, loved me, and fed me (it’s awfully hard to cook dinners
and
tame sequel beasts at the same time).
As always, my highest and final thanks goes to God, who continues to bless me with stories and places to tell them. Soli Deo Gloria.
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RYAN GRAUDIN
grew up by the sea, surrounded by oaks draped in Spanish moss. She was perfectly content there until her mother dragged her on a trip to London. Wanderlust has plagued her ever since, an ailment she sates with heavy doses of traveling and writing. Her first novel,
All That Glows
, was the direct result of both. Ryan currently lives in Charleston, South Carolina, with her husband and is always searching for the next adventure. You can visit her online at
ryangraudin.com
.
