Page 16 of The Obsidian Curse

“Why are you helping me?” I manage to ask as I climb into the craft.

Safina’s eyes meet mine, determination shining in them. “Niara is my sister in all but blood. She risked everything to save you, and I would do anything for her. Now go. The spell won’t last forever.”

She cuts the rope tethering the little boat, which immediately begins to move, cutting through the water at an unnatural speed, away from the burning wreckage and toward shore. Toward Niara.

I collapse at the bottom of the craft, fighting to maintain human form as the distance between us begins to close.

Hold on, Niara. I’m coming.

13

niara

I awoketo a tickle of smoke against my nose. One by one, my other senses came back online. I lay on the sand, but my head rested on something more solid. I could sense light against my eyelids, and I blinked them open to find the magenta glow of dawn cresting the horizon.

Next to me were the dying embers of a fire that still produced enough warmth to cut through the early morning chill. And above me, Keeran’s face peered down. Dark eyes crinkled in a soft smile.

The events of the day before rushed back to me. I’d been floating aimlessly on the small raft given to those sentenced to the Unmooring. The sun’s rays beat down on me, searing my skin. Pain wracked my body in waves. I knew I would need to ration my one day of supplies and had been taking only small sips of water from the canteen, but my shaking hands had spilled it on the boards of the raft.

Melancholy had been an anchor around my neck, making me perhaps closer to Morros than I ever had been, when I spotted something cutting through the waves swiftly toward me.

Fear trapped a scream in my throat, but I quickly recognized the tiny boat as one of ours. Then I spotted him. Keeran. His expression was one of fierce determination as he raced my way.

My scream turned into a squeal of relief. The pain faded immediately, and I embraced him when he reached me. He lifted me into his arms and sat me on his lap—the only way we could both fit in the small craft. He told me of Safina’s aid and how she had stayed behind. I worried over the consequences she would face.

As her spell had run out once he located me, Keeran had to row us to shore, which was still visible in the distance, thank Morros. We ended up here on the beach, where I collapsed. Both of us were exhausted. We split the rest of my rations, and I fell immediately into a deep, dreamless sleep.

Now, fully awake, I sat up to face Keeran. He yawned, stretching. He wore only a scrap of fabric tied around his waist—the remnants of some kind of bag. My cheeks heated. I wasn’t sure where to look; there was just so much of him.

His densely muscled chest, smooth and nearly hairless, was lightly covered with sand. Powerful thighs and thick calves begged to be admired. His wings were just a ghostly apparition of fire behind him, nearly invisible in the light.

He reached out and stroked my face gently, his expression more than just one of fondness. There was admiration there as well.

“You came for me,” I whispered.

“Of course.” He dropped his hand and averted his gaze. “There’s something I must tell you.” At his pause and body language, my nerves grew. “I had been fairly certain before, but when we were separated, it became undeniable.”

“What did?” I asked.

His eyes found mine. They were so dark, I felt lost in their depths.

“You and I are fated mates, Niara. We have begun the twining.”

I blinked, searching his face for any sign he was jesting.

“That is why it hurt so badly to be separated,” he continued. “Especially at this early stage. Even a mile is too much. It will get better within a few months, and especially after we complete the ceremony—that is,ifwe complete the ceremony,” he said, looking away again.

I was frozen, unsure how to respond. Of all of the stories I’d read about Ember Fae mates, none of them had included a partner who was not Fae.

“How can we be fated when I’m a Water Mage?” I finally asked, pushing the words out of a throat grown impossibly dry.

“The only theory I have is that you must have Ember Fae ancestry somewhere. You’ve been struggling with your water magic? I’ve heard it spoken of around the camp. Perhaps the water and the fire in your background have been in conflict.”

I was all too aware of how easily every other initiate to the Order took to magecraft and how difficult it had always been for me to conjure anything simple. Each failure of my trials had been a cause of such misery and shame. If therewerean Ember Fae in my family lineage, it would all make so much more sense.

Due to the conflict between our peoples, there had not been unions very often, but it must have happened occasionally. I’d never known my grandparents, and my parents had been gone for well over fifteen solars—there was no one to ask, and our family had not been auspicious enough to be tracked in the curators’ records.

Suddenly, Keeran shuddered. His eyes flashed brightly with the molten fire of the beast. He gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, the veins in his neck standing out in bold relief.

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