Fallen Flame by JM Miller

While the tingles in my red-orange skin slowly ascended into pain, the air biting as everything started to reform, a hard clanking noise outside the back door drew my attention. I slid into my thin underclothes, grabbed hold of my sword, then rushed toward the door. Knowing that sound was out of the ordinary, I was prepared to scour the garth and small area of trees behind the house, even search the neighbors’ land to find the cause. I hadn’t expected to open the door and find Xavyn standing a mere foot away, hood drawn and arms crossed as if I’d kept him waiting too long at the narrow back doorstep.I pointed my sword toward his chest and glanced around him, scanning the darkness. “What are you doing here?”“Following up.” The words were slow. As his hand reached up and removed the hood, his human eyes traversed my face, swallowing the details of my reforming skin in an intense, almost penetrating way.I realized then that I had no cloak, no mask. And for some reason, I wondered if I should take the time of throwing them on … before ending his life. He’d seen me in this state on Prince’s Night, but that was an instant, a moment amid darkness and chaos. Not this closely. I growled at him, digging the tip of my blade into the black leather at his chest, my regrowth pain dissolving as my anger took control.“Are you going to let me in or would you rather call attention to your treason?” he asked, his voice still holding a softness that grated me.“Quit staring at me that way and you can come in.”