Page 60 of Secrets and Starlight

The fruit was rotten, filled with red bile and swarming with worms.

I woke in a sweat, my skin drenched and the sheets sticking to me. Behind me, Zayne burned like a furnace. Ignoring the heat, desperate for comfort from the dream, I snuggled further into him, wondering when in the night we had started cuddling.

His breathing was deep, evidence of the same fatigue that wore at my bones. I wiggled against him, and even in sleep, he hugged me close.

Last night I pushed him away, and he still wants me.

My head ached, my cheeks dry where tears had fallen. The nightmare still haunted the fringes of my mind. The fear and grief from the night before still didn’t feel that far way.

I hurt Ninti. She barely survived.

Closing my eyes, I willed myself back to sleep. Except the dream—worms and rotten fruit—played out again on the backof my eyelids. As the minutes passed, the damp sheets grew clammy, and I knew there was no more pretending.

Like it or not, I was awake.

Careful not to disturb Zayne, I slipped from the bed, grabbed my cloak, and stepped onto the deck. It was pitch dark, the sea seeming endless. In the distance, Vanessa sang with the waves, a swaying vision of blue light as she propelled the boat. Above, the stars glittered bright, the moons hidden from sight.

The midnight breeze swept through my hair, and I filled my lungs with it, cooling my body down. For a glimmering moment, the world felt beautiful.

And then reality crashed down.

Ninti.

Looking up at the dark sky, I glared at the brightest star, hating how it dared to twinkle, shining like it mattered when it was simply one of many.

My chest tight, I paced to the back of the boat, eyeing the pile of blankets where Ninti had built her den. It was empty. Of course it was. Lips quivering, I twisted my ruby ring.

A disaster like that couldn’t happen again, right? It had only happened because I was syphoning power from Ninti, I thought. I wasn’t truly dangerous… At least, I’d told Zayne that.

Still, it gave me little comfort, especially in light of Dusk’s warning,“For the sake of the Isles, you must learn to control your power.”

My temptation to accept the Starlit King’s offer grew heavier by the hour. My magic responded positively to his. It was reasonable my power had come from someone in his court, but shy of an ill-timed search for my father, he was the one offering to show me how to wield my magic.

He promised me the control I craved.

I didn’t just want a lesson because Dusk had asked me to learn control. It wasn’t even entirely because of what had happenedto Ninti. I wanted this because I was tired of depending on the powers of others when I had this vast supply at my disposal—if only I knew how to wield it.

Zayne would be furious when I explained.

The sea crashed against the boat, louder than ever, but it could not drown out the whirring of my mind. It was cold and damp, and all I felt was numb.

Uncertain, I left Ninti’s den behind and returned to the front of the boat. Sleep seemed impossible, and the long hours of night still stretched out before me.

I should eat something.

I had just reached for our food supplies when I heard the creak of the cabin’s door, the tether heightening with Zayne’s nearness.

He stepped from the doorway, unfurling his cloak and shielding his bare chest from the cool, ocean sea breeze. “Time for an early breakfast?”

My mind was crowded with thoughts of him, but now he had joined me, I didn’t know what to say.

Swallowing and shaking my head, I set the loaf of bread down on the table and closed the distance between us. “I couldn’t sleep.”

“I figured.” He glanced toward the horizon and then tried to meet my gaze. The tether whispered of his cautious approach. “Breakfast sounds nice, do you want company?”

“Sure.”

I busied myself, cutting off slices of bread, uncertain where to begin, the weight of my confession holding my tongue. In silence, Zayne brought forth jam from the cold box. Through it all, his presence, reinforced through the tether, was calm.

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