The Eternal Dusk (Daughter of the Phoenix Book Two)
Page 25
The woman sighed. “Normally I enjoy introducing myself. But I must say this rather takes the fun out of it. We’ve already met, anyway.”
An orange glow sparked to life on the far side of the room, and for the first time Fia could see—only a little, but it was enough to make out where she was. A bare rock room, no windows, only the bed in the corner with the rough blanket. A small gap opened out in the rock above the bed—right near the ceiling—an air vent, Fia supposed. It was barely a sliver, from where the orange glow emanated. “Lorn?”
“The one and only.”
Shit. What was Lorn doing here, trapped? “Why did you wait all this time to use your flames, I couldn’t see anything.” Fia shook her head in the shadows. Whatever room was next to hers, Lorn was inside it—and Fia couldn’t help but feel relieved that that there was a solid wall between them.
“Because it was more entertaining listening to you panic. And I’ve a feeling entertainment is going to be rather difficult to come by in these parts.”
Fia’s mind was racing. Dante had said Lorn had injured her. That it hadn’t all been a lie. So which was it? Was Lorn here as part of his plan? She had to know. “Dante. Please. Come and talk to me,” she called out, her hand resting against the door, but something told her it was no use.
Lorn’s flames snuffed out, and she laughed in the darkness. “You know that isn’t his name, don’t you? Whatever he’s told you, it was all a lie. Your precious Dante is none other than Erebus, ancient darkness, freed from his eternal prison, only to bring you and I here to rot.”
This was his prison? But how? How did we get here? It still seemed so strange to Fia—that the hurt young man who mourned his father could be an ancient darkness. That the one who’d healed her could be something so cruel. “Why are we both here?”
Lorn laughed again, and Fia could see a tiny flash of light, blinking off and on as if Lorn were playing with a lick of flame in the next cell. “One of us is the fire mother. Apparently, he isn’t sure which.”
Lorn said something else, but Fia didn’t hear it. She’d never truly believed she was the fire mother, but she still felt like she’d lost something, all the same. What was it Enne had said to her? She didn’t want to be someone capable of destruction, she’d told him. So don’t destroy then. That was all he’d said. Her heartbeat picked up again and thundered against her chest. She closed her eyes in the darkness out of habit. Just focus on your breathing. Stay calm. Just concentrate on your breath. She began to count. One, two, three. Just get through today, that’s what Altair had told her.
She wiped away new tears that rolled down her face, willing herself not to make any sounds now that she knew Lorn could hear her. Dante—Erebus—was injured, and Lorn had done it.
Do you know who you are? Okwata had asked her only recently, back in Ornax. I know who I want to be. She hadn’t known entirely then, but she did now. Fia’s eyes flicked open and she held her hands out in front of her, focusing on her breath as she drew her hands in and out. One. In. Two. Out. Three. In.
Nothing. Just focus. One. In. Two. Out. Three. Nothing. You can do this. One. In. Two. Out. Three. In. Four. Out. Five—
At first, Fia felt it. An intense heat in the palm of her hand. In. Six. Out. Seven—and then, in the midst of the darkness, she saw it. A tiny spark of light, no bigger than a grain of sand had formed between her two hands.
And it wasn’t orange, like she’d expected. It was blue.
Find out what happens next in Fia and Alexander’s story…
The First Dawn: Daughter of the Phoenix Book Three
Read the whole series:
The Angel’s Calling: Daughter of the Phoenix Prequel
The Third Sun: Daughter of the Phoenix Book One
For a map of the world of Ohinyan and more go to
www.victoriajprice.com
Copyright ©2020 by Victoria J. Price
Editing services provided by Melanie Underwood
Cover illustration by Natalia Sorokina | Instagram: @jwitless_art
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright holder.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
www.victoriajprice.com
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Where to begin! Thank you first and foremost, to you the reader, for picking up a copy of this book. I hope you love Fia and Alexander as much as I do and I’m so grateful to everyone who tells me they’re following along with the story.
As ever, there are so many people who have helped shape this book and I am incredibly grateful for each and every one of them. I’m very fortunate to have made some wonderful friends since starting down the indie publishing route, and I feel very lucky to have found them. Special thanks go to the following:
Brie Tart for the hours and hours of chats and reassurances. For the story critiques, the brainstorming, the feedback on all the random aspects of indie publishing, you are amazing.
Chrishel Smith—thank you for always cheering me on and for always being so eager to find out what happens to Fia and Alexander.
Kayla Maurais for all your help. You have such wonderful insight and always spot something I hadn’t noticed before.
Amy Eversley—for the feedback, the chats, the emails, the memes, all of it, thank you.
To my WBBQs: Belle Manuel, Holly Hoffmann and Jozanne Fernandes. Thank you for making my days a little brighter, for the feedback, the sprints, the memes and the letters. You are all wonderful humans.
Ellie (@readtoramble)—thank you for your kindness and continued support. It means a lot, truly.
To the many beta readers and ARC readers, thank you so much for your time, your feedback and for all being wonderful. I’ve been very lucky to always find amazing people and every day I thank my lucky stars for that—for you!
Extra special thanks to the Twitter Writing Community and all the friends I’ve made there. You know who you are, you magical, wonderful creatures. What an adventure you have made this—thank you.
Melanie Underwood—thank you for being wonderful to work with, for answering my questions, and for spotting things that no one else had spotted.
To Natalia Sorokina, thank you for creating another incredible piece of artwork for the cover. You are incredibly talented and I am so grateful to have discovered you and your amazing work.
And finally, Ali. Saying thank you a thousand times wouldn’t cover it. Thank you for the endless hours of story chats and in-depth discussions over characters, for your unwavering support and encouragement, for your belief in me pursuing my dreams. Thank you for painstakingly listening to every word for a final read through, for all your clever insight and helping me make this story better. I couldn’t have done it without you.
About the author
Victoria lives in leafy Surrey, in the South East of England. She loves fairy tales, myths and legends, and grew up creating stories both in words and pictures. When she's not writing you'll find her exploring with her husband and their two dogs, searching for beautiful hidden places and secret picnic spots.
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