Liquid Heat

TALIA POV

Lucius struck a spark against dry tinder, nursing the tiny flame until it caught the shredded remnants of our blood-soaked clothes. The fabric hissed and blackened, sending acrid smoke drifting up into the dark canopy. I sat on the frozen dirt, shivering near the heat and wrapping my bruised arms around my bare knees. Two minutes passed in silence before my brain rebelled against the qu