CAI held his phone against the side of his head, the beeps echoing through the pain in his skull.
He burned.
His skin crackled in the heat and curled away.
His muscles were engulfed in flames.
His bones were an inferno made solid.
His blood was a living liquid made of fire.
The soothing sound of Ember’s voice slid into his ear. “Something is wrong with you. Cai, I need you to tell me where you are.”
“Penthouse.” Fire seared his throat. “But don’t come. You shouldn’t see me like this.”
He couldn’t tell her that he would call her later, because he wouldn’t. Tomorrow morning, he would somehow make his way to the casino’s roof, transform, and fly to the caves, if he still could. In his current state, he didn’t think Wyvern could navigate the Sierra Nevada Mountains in the dark and find the cave where he had waited with his father while he died.
The phone’s speaker emitted fuzz in his ear. He couldn’t concentrate on Ember’s voice or the lights overhead.
“I’m sorry,” he told her, and he was. “I’m sorry that I’m not the right guy. I’m sorry that we didn’t get more time to see if I could have been. You’re a beautiful, amazing, good woman, Ember. Even though some people think your elemental magic is a little bit yellow-light, I don’t. I think you’re as good as you are beautiful, and you are so very, very beautiful. Your soul has the sweet scent of jasmine, and it glows with as blue as a soul can shine. I love you, and I’m sorry I can’t see you anymore. I’m sorry I have to go. I love you. Know that I loved you. Goodbye, Ember.”
He dropped the phone on the floor, where it bounced and the screen went dark.
And he burned.