Free From the Embers (The Born in Flames Trilogy) by Candace Knoebel Page A

heard?”
    Fenn stopped and turned to look at me, still laughing. “Rory, I hate to break it to you, but Soothe is a Seer.”
    I immediately threw a hand up, shushing him. “Say no more.” It seemed no matter where I turned, there was no privacy. No chance to drop my guard and let myself go. I didn’t know how much longer I could take it.
    He laughed harder and pulled me into a room lined with bookshelves, reminding me of the Hall of Knowledge. “It’s right over here,” he mumbled, scanning through a row of books. “Not you, not you, ah-ha, there you are,” he called, pulling a book towards him. A portal instantly opened where the last bookshelf was. “Here it is,” he proclaimed.
    “How did you know?”
    “While you were gone, I spent a lot of time…” he paused, his hand covering his mouth, and coughed out, “reading in here.”
    “Reading? You?”
    He looked slightly offended. “Hey, I do know how to read, you know?” He reached for my hand, and I gladly took it, letting him pull me towards the portal. “It made me feel closer to you.”
    I paused to look up at him, feeling nothing but admiration and love for him.
    “What?” He was grinning.
    “Nothing,” I answered with a soft smile as I followed him through the portal.
    It was dark on the other side. I snapped my finger, igniting the flames along my fingertips, and held them out to see.
    “Light this,” Fenn said, holding up a torch.
    I pressed my finger against the bristle and watched as the flame grew. He touched another torch to the fire and then handed it to me.
    “Really?” I held up my flaming hands.
    “Right.” He laughed awkwardly. “Take it anyway,” he said, shoving it toward me. We started down a narrow set of stone stairs, brushing cobwebs aside along the way. “It’s right around this corner.”
    “So do you think he was hinting at something?” I asked, breathing in a cobweb. I coughed and swatted at my face, grunting in aggravation.
    “Who?”
    I frowned. “Soothe. Do you think Soothe was hinting at something? He said that I would find this place ‘helpful.’ It sounded like one of his cryptic messages, don’t you think?”
    Fenn shrugged. “I guess so. I’ve heard through the grape vine that his voices have returned. So it’s possible he knows things again. You know him better than I do.”
    “How so?”
    Fenn threw me a witting look over his shoulder. “You guys have some sort of weird lingo. You exchange looks. If you think there was something more to his statement, then I’m sure there was.” He stopped. “Here we are.” He extended his hand and stepped out of the way to help me down onto the dusty cobble-stoned floor.
    He touched the tip of his torch to a small crack in the wall, and we watched as the flames raced past us and around the room. That’s when the treasures before me really shined.
    I gasped. “Look at all this stuff!”
    “Neat, right?”
    I stepped past him and skimmed through the various items, seemingly placed with no rhyme or reason. Large golden sculptures littered the floor. Trunks were filled with coins and gems. There was furniture, weapons...everything that could be coveted. Everything that was sacred.
    “This is insanity,” I said. I had no idea where to begin.
    Fenn came up behind me, running his hand sensually over my back and down my sides. I spun into his arms. “Still in the mood?” He sounded so hopeful.
    I giggled. “Are you kidding? After all that? Not really. At least not in here.”
    He frowned, but it was fake. “I agree,” he said, kissing me softly. “But we will be finishing where we left off later.” I shivered in anticipation.
    “So, umm…” I said, trying to steady my voice, “what do you think we should look for?”
    Fenn snorted as he went to work on a small white oak chest.
    I laughed. “I figured you would say that.” I glanced around. Finding Soothe’s non-existent clue felt more like a nightmare than a godsend.
    I did the only thing I knew