I would never let anyone hurt my Little Flame again. I would rather Durian wipe me from this earth and take my city than watch her suffer such unspeakable violations just one more time. I no longer cared about logic or reason, not when it came to her. I didn’t care that she wasn’t turned, or that she was a mortal. I would not let her go. Not even if she begged. Because when I thought she’d died in my arms, I felt my soul reach for hers, and I swore to the gods that hers had reached right back.
