The weight of everything seemed to pull me deeper into the abyss as Fen lifted me into his arms, his strong hold a lifeline amid the storm inside me. My body ached with the burn of the fire, but nothing could match the hollow pain in my chest, the emptiness that had taken root where hope used to be. My skin healed more slowly than normal, maybe because the burns were so extensive. My clothes completely gone in the fire, my naked form pressed against his chest. Someone brought me a blanket as I shivered, which was unusual for a shifter since we tended to run hot but was probably an after effect of being burnt alive.
He didn't say anything at first as he carried me through the burning streets, the chaos around us like a cruel backdrop to my devastation. The flames still licked at the edges of the city, but they no longer had the power to reach me—not when the fire inside me was burning so much stronger.
