I threw my clothes to the side as I slipped into the warm river.

Warm baths were unheard of in Sifa. It was either ice-cold water or nothing.

I ran my fingers through my wet hair. I'd been covered in soot and blood for days. It was wonderful to feel the remnants of that night wash away.

My chest tightened as I thought of Sev and Caspian.

The waters had calmed down, so I knew he wasn't being tortured.

But I had no way of knowing if Sev was even alive. I found myself wishing she had died from smoke inhalation. That was better than torture.

I pushed the thoughts away. I'd find her, no matter the condition she was in.

I heard rustling in the trees and turned. "Veya do you- oh." Eres' hands flew in front of his face.

I covered myself with my arms as quickly as I could, but the damage was done.

"For fucks sake Eres."

"I'm sorry, I thought you were getting water." He held his hands up in surrender but that gave him a full view of me again.

I moved behind one of the larger rocks. "Were you raised in a barn or a palace?"

"A palace." I answered.

The thoughts in my head would suggest differently.

She was a different person when she was telling me the stories earlier, and there was something about her then that made my head spin.

It was probably just the fact that I hadn't gone this long without sex in years. I'd gotten used to Elyse's constant presence and willingness.

But this? This was different. It was stronger than anything I had ever felt with Elyse and wasn't really the same.

And now I knew what she looked like...

My mind couldn't handle it.

I put it down to being horny and pushed the feelings and images away.

She rolled her eyes. "Are you just going to stand there and stare?"

I cleared my throat. "Do you want me to start the fire?"

She shook her head and a small smile crept onto her face. "No, you'll probably burn everything down."

I nodded and started to turn but she called out to me.

"Eres, wait. Can you hand me my clothes?"

I grabbed the small pile of clothes and set it on the rock in front of her. When I looked at her all the color had drained from her face.

"Veya?" I crouched down in front of the rock. "Are you alright?"

She didn't answer me. She just fell back into the water.

I jumped in after her without thinking. Something was wrong, very wrong. She could drown.

I covered her as much as I could and held her close to my chest as I ran back to the camp.

I set her down on a blanket and covered her with another one as soon as we got there.

She wasn't breathing. She'd been under the water for like three seconds? Why wasn't she breathing?

I thanked my past self for taking the emergency classes and started chest compressions. She could not fucking die. There was too much at stake.

For her and me.

The words of Kalheim's top surgeon repeated through my mind.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Breathe...

Her eyes snapped open and she coughed up the water.

She grabbed onto the collar of my shirt but I don't think she realized it. "Back up." Her voice broke.

I grabbed her hand to pull it away from my shirt but flames erupted from her palms and burned my hand and neck.

I pulled her hand away and jumped back, stunned. "Sorry I-"

She shook her head. "Not-"

The water dripping from her hair sizzled as it hit her skin and a large rash started to form across her chest.

The earth cracked beneath her hands. Shadows wrapped around her throat. It was everything dangerous about a magi, but it was happening to her.

I just stared in horror. There wasn't anything I could do.

Golden waves washed over her skin and she sat up, panting. "You saved my life."

I nodded slowly. What is going on?

She frowned. "Turn around."

"Why?" I turned around.

"I would like to put clothes on."

"You do realize I carried you here from the lake, right? I've seen everything already."

"And you are going to be polite and forget those images."

Easier said than done, especially when you look like that. "I'll try my best."

"You can turn back around now."

I did and she walked over to me. I raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be like sitting or something? That looked like hell."

She had already started the fire too. This had to be taking a toll on her.

She gave me a warm smile. It was the most affectionate thing I had seen from her since we met. "This has happened to me before, it was much worse then. I'm alright now."

"It's happened before?"

She picked up my burned hand and inspected it with delicate fingers. "Don't worry about it, I'm fine."

"Do you know why it's happening? Is it just you?" I pressed further.

She shook her head and pulled me over to sit beside the fire. "I said don't worry about it."

She pushed me onto the ground and set my head in her lap. I pushed down all the thoughts fighting to resurface. "Why won't you tell me?"

She pursed her lips. "You're a better man than I thought you were."

Her fingers grazed over the burns as if inspecting them. She frowned. "Do you want a scar across your face?"

I hadn't realized the burns touched my face until her fingers traced the area. "Not particularly."

She nodded once. "I think I owe you a campfire story."

She pressed her fingertips to the burns. I winced. "This is going to hurt like hell, I'm sorry."

"Wait-"

It felt like my skin was being pulled off and burned all over again. I could barely hold back my screams.

"I know, I'm sorry. It will be over soon." Veya whispered.

She grabbed my uninjured hand with her free one. I squeezed hers in response.

Her fingertips traveled down my neck as she healed the rest of the burn. The pain dulled and eventually vanished.

She smiled down at me. "That wasn't so bad now was it?"

I laughed. "That was the most painful experience of my life."

She pressed my good hand to my cheek. "But look, it's all healed now."

There was no evidence I had even been burned. The skin was completely smooth. "Is my hand going to hurt that much?" I glanced down.

She shook her head. "I'll let that one scar." She ran her hand across it and it was healed.

"How does that even work?" I stared at her with wide eyes.

She laughed. "I basically have to undo the wound in order to stop it from scarring, healing is easy. Plus the burns on your hand weren't as bad."

"Like I said, how does that even work?"

"I love how clueless you are." She rolled me over onto the ground. "Right, story."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm very smart for your information. But continue."

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