A Fire in the Flesh (Flesh and Fire, #3)

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Hardships didn’t always happen for a reason. Sometimes, the Fates didn’t have a greater plan. But even when it began to feel like a chore one had to force themselves to complete, life was still worth living. Even when it was unfair and heartbreaking, dark and full of the unknown, life was still worth living.

Darkness always gave way to the light if given time, and while some heartbreaks may never completely heal, living allowed there to be space for new sources of happiness and pleasure.

Because death was final. The absence of choice. And life was a collection of new beginnings. Full of unending choices.

“I never felt alive until you,” he whispered, “And I should’ve known then what you were to me. That you were the impossible. The one thing that could return a kardia, scratching itself together from the wound its removal left behind. My heartmate.”

“Take as long as you need to rest,” Ash told me. “I’ll be here, waiting. I’ll always wait for you, Sera.”

“I am yours. All of me. My body. My blood. My soul.” His voice roughened. “My heart.”

He was a Primal of Death, but his blood…his blood was life.

“And I will lay waste to Primals, gods, Kings, and men if they even try to hurt you, and I will feel no remorse for doing so.” His tongue soothed the skin he’d scraped. “I will give my life for yours.”

“You’re my everything,” he said, cheek pressed to mine as his hips pounded. “My world. My salvation. My redemption.”

“Fates, Sera, I…” Ash’s chest rose sharply as he cupped my cheek. “I love you.”

“I will spend the rest of eternity making sure you never doubt what I feel for you,”

The embers of life were me. I was the Primal of Life—the true Primal of Life. The…the Queen of the Gods.

“An Ascension is a powerful transition for a god. But a Primal? It’s even more so. As the eather grows, changing the body while in stasis, it can affect the mind.”

“Kolis was already weakened before your Ascension. You rising as the true Primal of Life not only has him holed up in Dalos nursing his wounds, but every god and Primal in Iliseeum felt your Ascension.”

“I’m sure most of the Primals are in shock and don’t know what to make of your Ascension, even those loyal to Kolis.”

We’re of the same soul.”

“Of the same soul?” I sat back. “Like mates of the heart?” Ash nodded.

So, not even death of the body or the heart and soul—the kardia—can break such a connection.” His gaze returned to mine. “And the joining of our souls has brought up something never seen before. A Queen of the Gods.”

“It means you did it.” Ash dipped his head, brushing his lips over the curve of my cheek. “You stopped the Rot, liessa. Here and in the mortal realm.”

“I trust you,” I told him. “Irrevocably.” A small smile appeared, softening his features. “I know, but this…I think this is a different kind of trust, one that allows us to share everything with each other. The easy and the hard—especially the hard.” Only a faint glow of eather pulsed behind his pupils. “The kind of trust where we know we can be honest and feel comfortable knowing that anything we share will not change how we see each other.”

“I know who you are, Sera, and what you mean to me. And that is everything because you are everything to me.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “And that will never change.”

“You’re…you’re simply my first, Sera, and you will be my last.”

“Anyway, he said that broken thread of mine was unexpected and that fate was as ever-changing as the mind and heart. He was speaking of your heart. He told me that love is more powerful than the Arae can imagine. It was like he was trying to tell me not to give up hope.” My nose scrunched. “Because he knew…he knew you could love me.” “He likely knew I was already in love with you, Sera.”