Page 14 of Of Blooming Embers
We moved through the twisting boardwalks of the city. I shook my head, trying to dislodge the bittersweet recollections as they flit through my mind, but to no avail.
During a beautiful spring day two turns ago, Seryn asked me to walk with her to and from the village. Later that afternoon, we walked home through the grymwoods. I didn’t wish to be away from her, so I foolishly asked her to sit with me awhile and watch the stars paint the twilight.
She talked about adoring the night sky—about Asteria, the Ancient of Stars, weaving her burning ember through the aether.
“I’m sure the stars would worship at your feet … Asteria,” I said.
Fuck.
She’d smoothed her thumb over the crease between my eyebrows, teasing that it would permanently etch into it as fear and longing spun through my mind.
“If you’ll keep touching me, I’ll make sure of it,” I murmured absently.
Fucking Fuck.
One thing led to another, and we collided, the gravity of our orbits too powerful to resist. In a fit of passion, we’d kissed, grasping at each other, and as she rocked against my clothed erection, I witnessed our undoing as she came.
After, she cupped my jaw tenderly and simply whispered, “Finally.”
“Finally,” I rasped in hopeless agreement, the word laced with shame and fear, knowing I would destroy her.
A sharp twinge in my chest brought me back to the present. I scrubbed my hand over the aching scar over my heart. I glanced at Seryn as we walked, and my fingers twitched with the need to touch her now.
But I couldn’t.
I’d lost that privilege.
Long ago, I had stomped on what we had. Tearing the roots up with my bare hands. My nails dug into my palms.
Back then, we’d never fully consummated our relationship.UnlikeSeryn and my brother. A burning knot pulled tight within my chest at the thought. The muscle in my jaw pulsed, and I squeezed my teeth together until they ached. She was free to do whatever she desired. It’s all I’d ever wanted for her, but it didn’t stop me from wanting to tear my fucking heart out because it wasn’t me.
Last night, when she’d asked me to stay—when she allowed my arms to wrap around her—I could have passed on. Given my physical form to the dirt and gone to Surrelia, sated and content.
“Which way?” Seryn inquired as we arrived at a crossroads, her eyes still avoiding mine.
I inclined my head slightly to the right, moving in that direction.
She sighed, following me as we made our way through the winding boardwalks. Closer to the edge of town, we hastily bartered for some dried foods, supplies, and a set of smaller knives with the merchants.
Seryn slipped the sheathed blades carefully under some straps on her tall, black boots. I swallowed as she stood, my fingers twitching as soft light caressed her curves. She surveyed Ceto’s gentle beauty, her eyes pensively following a fisherman’s rickety boat as it drifted under the bridge we were crossing.
Jaw ticking, she froze. My hand went to the dagger at my waist as I followed her line of sight. There, in the window of a shop, was a tall banner. Melina and the Elders’ likenesses were drawn in admirable detail. Their hair fluttered as if they stood in a gentle breeze, their gazes gallantly staring off into the distance. In big, bold lettering, the slogan “Through Dormancy, we blossom!” was scrawled.
Seryn moved toward the propaganda, and I stepped into her path. She sneered; her collarbone painted in angry pink splotches.
I cleared my throat. “We should—” My words fell short as a flash of velvety pewter caught my eye near the merchant stands on the other side of the canal. Scooping Seryn around the waist, I pulled her into a narrow alley between the shops and pressed my body into hers against the chilled wall. A garbled sound of distress shot from her lips.
“What the void, Gav?” she hissed, her fingers digging into my sides. “You really need to stop dragging me around like a doll.”
A half-smile ghosted across my lips as I cautiously peeked around the edge of the building. Two males stalked toward us—a stocky Akridai and a lanky, young Draumr—following the pointed fingers of the weapons merchant.
Damn him.
The enforcer’s metallic cape flapped in the morning breeze. “Melina sent reinforcements,” I whispered.
Seryn gulped, her fingers clinging to the sides of my tunic. She shivered, breathed in deeply, and then nudged me away and lined up her spine in a column against the wall. Her chin lifted as she finally met my eyes, hers frosting over as we moved deeper into the alleyway. “Let’s go.”
We reached the other end and veered down another path along a different canal. Our boots slapped against the planks as we ran. Seryn stopped abruptly, and I nearly collided with her before she spun around, her head angled toward the way we’d come.
