Page 49 of The Withering Dawn
She swallowed hard, her hands lightly gripping my biceps. “It will not be pleasant. If you—”
“I’m staying.”
There was a flicker of relief and anxiety quarreling for space behind her eyes. I knew she was afraid. I also knew she didn’t want to go about it alone, despite the shame I felt in her rigid muscles. I pulled her close, my palm flattened against her back. She held my gaze for a while, silence reigning, and then I felt her whole body shudder against me. She gritted her teeth, her neck muscles going taut.
“Do not leave me,” she whimpered, her tone pleading.
It made my desire to stay that much more prominent.
Her fingers curled against my arms as she gasped, her eyes screwing shut.
“Why must it be like this?” she strained, suddenly throwing her head back with a choked cry.
Under my hands, I felt her body writhe. I felt the snapping of her bones vibrate up her spine and heard them breaking, moving, and reforming beneath the water and all around me as her long fin changed shape. Aeris wheezed for air, dropping her head to my shoulder and muffling another cry against me. Around us, the water turned red as blood filled the once crystal-clear water like a storm cloud forming beneath my feet. I felt the absence of her tail around my legs and instead, her feet were reaching for the bottom of the pool, her hands still clinging to my arms.
She lifted her head from my shoulder, a gentle sob leaving her lips as she slumped against my chest. I knew she could not drown if I let her slip beneath the surface of the pond, but I still did not want to let her go. Instead, I gathered her up and walked out of the pool with hercradled against my chest. She wrapped her arms around my neck, hiding her face against me as she shivered.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “You did not need to see that.”
I chuckled, gently setting her on her feet and making sure she did not waver now that she was back on two legs.
“I have seen all manner of ugly things in my life and that was not one of them,” I told her, reaching for the new dress.
I unrolled it before her, watching as her eyes skimmed over the moss-green cotton. The pain of her transformation was all but forgotten as she reached out, her fingers tracing the beaded trim along the neckline and down the bodice.
“Is this for me?” she asked.
“It is more your size I think.”
I gathered the fabric in my hands, lifting the garment above her head. She raised her arms as if she’d been dressed by others many times before and slid into the new dress with ease. The material draped over her lithe frame with much more grace than the dress she’d been wearing. Once she was settled in, I started to tug lightly at the thin leather string that laced up the front, tightening the bodice until it hugged her waist and chest. Once I’d tied it into a bow, I paused, watching a drip of water run in a slow line from her hair, down the side of her neck, and toward the small separation between her breasts.
I wanted to touch her, but refrained, imagining there would be a better time.
“There,” I said, pulling my hand away. “How does it feel?”
“Good,” she nodded.
“Then let me take you back to the Amanacer. This port is not a place I want to stay.”
“Did you find anything about Antonio?”
“Yes. And if Kristoff holds up his end, he will come to meet us in the morning to acquire his lost treasure. And we will be waiting.”
Aeris was enjoying her dress, I could tell. Perhaps not the way a human woman would enjoy a new dress, but something about the way she played with the fabric of the skirts told me she’d never worn anything suited to her. She kept feeling the way the bodice hugged her body, too, and it was far too sweet a thing for a monster to be doing.
After I made sure she’d eaten, I provided her with a fresh roll with honey. Even after a full meal, she ate it, savoring the sweet taste in the same way she did last time. I took pride in thinking she enjoyed honey, even if she wasn’t hungry, because the subtle look on her face when the golden sweetness touched her tongue was priceless.
Once we were both full, I changed into a dry shirt and breeches and tied one of my many silk scarves around my waist in anticipation of my very special meeting coming up. In the morning, everything would change. I thought I would be more consumed by the thought of finally driving my sword through Antonio’s gut, but I was distracted by Aeris at every turn. Even the way she walked barefoot across the deck under the bright blue light of the almost full moon made me pause. Maybe my body knew that a great burden would be lifted by morning and the excitement was drawing me to her.
Or maybe she was outshining that nagging need for vengeance that had been driving me for years. Either way, watching Aeris stand at the railing, her long, blood-red hair cascading like a waterfall down her back as she looked up at the moon, made my core pulse with desire. A desire to find relief. A desire to make her feel pleasure. A desire to just touch her.
I walked to the middle of the deck and groaned as I lowered myself down and laid back to stare at the sky. It had been a long time since I had done anything like that. My mind was always untethered and untamed and unable to stop. That night, however, I knew something was coming. A change that would throw us all off course. I was at peace with it and I just wanted to savor the calm before the storm.
Aeris appeared beside me and sat down, smoothing her dress with her palms. I slid my hands behind my head, crossing my ankles, and turned my eyes toward her as she peered up into the night sky with me.
“What do you see up there?” I asked her.
“Lune.” She pointed up at the shining moon. “The goddess’ eye looking down at us.”
