Page 100 of The Song of Sunrise
It takes me another few minutes to clear my head of thoughts. I let the unhelpful commentary in my brain flow past until there is nothing but the calm beating of my heart and the distant hooting owl. I wait there another minute in total darkness and feel nothing. I open my eyes and glance at Atlys. He is lying still, arm propped underneath his head, eyes closed and not seeming to notice my slight defiance.
I tilt my head back and take in the star-flecked sky. Millions of tiny glimmering stars hang above, waiting, watching. Always present.
I imagine a hand reaching like tendrils of smoke, letting myself mentally reach skyward. There! I feel it. Like hundreds of pin pricks, each shining with a different yet similar presence. “I feel them!”
“Good,” Atlys praises me, and I hate the way my stomach clenches instantly in response, “now try to concentrate on just one, coax it into sharing a memory.”
I try stretching my mental hands farther than before, but reaching out to one star amongst so many is like trying to hold water. Just when I feel their presence drawing near, they slip through my fingers.
After a few hours, my head feels like mush. Thoughts collide and trip over one another, yet beneath all of the fatigue, there is an undercurrent of hope. Maybe if I can harness my Starwatcher powers in time, I’ll be able to use them in some way as an advantage for the Summit. Because there is no way in Hels that I’m not going back to the Watch to win this fucking thing. I have to. There are no other options. Marrow is gone, Row possibly too, but somewhere out there, my family is alive. And I will do whatever it takes to protect them.
I attempt one more time to reach my senses upwards to the star but fall short. A shaky breath escapes me.
Atlys turns on his side and raises a tentative hand to my cheek. His eyes harden. “You’re cold.”
Before I open my mouth to deny it and beg to keep practicing, my teeth chatter.
“I’m sorry, I should have realized.” Atlys pulls back the furs and stands, offering me a large hand. I take it and stand, missing the heat from his body and shivering once more. Snow glitters in the moonlight as we walk back to the cabin. The instant warmth is incredible.
Atlys stops in the doorway, leaning his large body against the frame.
With my mind fully exhausted, I cannot seem to think straight. All I can seem to focus on is the sliver of tattoos showing on his veiny forearm and what it might feel like to be wrapped by them. I clear my throat.
“You were amazing tonight, Akemi. But we will need to keep practicing these new powers of yours. The Source left unchecked within us can lead to terrible outcomes.”
“Then I’ll make sure I keep it in check.” I lift my chin and try to sound as dismissive as possible, yet the bastard smirks and I feel my core heat again. Damn it. I work to rebuild my defenses. I can feel my emotional pendulum swinging the other direction,protecting me from this predator. “I’m returning to the Watch tomorrow,” I add as more of an afterthought.Get it together, Akemi!“Well, this is it. Goodnight.”
Atlys just raises a silver pierced brow and lets his grin widen, showing teeth. He takes two long strides until his chest is pressed to mine. “And what if I’m not ready to say goodbye just yet?” He takes another few steps, and I retreat, not daring to look away. Something primal snapped in him just now, I can sense it.
“Seeing as I already said it, you don’t have too much of an option, I fear,” I say breathlessly. My heart thunders wildly against the patterns of our steps. For every one of his steps forward, I match, stepping backward until my back hits the kitchen counter.
Atlys prowls closer until we are touching, his breeches pressing into my long, thin shirt I borrowed from the closet. He curls down his massive frame until our foreheads are touching. Our hearts are a chaos of rhythms and beats.
He tilts his head, nuzzling my neck. His broad chest expands with each undulating breath, drinking in my scent. I’m frozen in place, half terrified, half aroused. His stance is deadly and mesmerizing at the same time. Never more have I felt like a small human, and yet I feel like I have all the power.
I arch into him, letting a breathy moan escape my lips. Gods. I want him.
He stills.
My heart ricochets off my ribs.
Slowly, Atlys turns until his mouth brushes against my ear. The heat of his breath raises the hair on the back of my neck. “Goodnight.”
Then without another word, he slips past me and earthwalks straight through the counter and wall.
I huff out a frustrated breath and attempt to quell the lingering fire from my veins, only to fall asleep tossing and turning with the same deep raspy word rumbling over and over in my head.
Goodnight.
Goodnight.
Goodnight.
35
Not Anymore
After checking the cabin for the sixth time that everything is tucked away neatly, I inhale one last time the familiar scent of pine and snow. Before flying back to the Watch, I ask Heru to take me back to Goldenpine. Seeing it in the morning light is so much worse than at night. I had held out hope that there would be some sign of survivors. A clue as to where they went. Tracks on the ground. Proof if they even escaped at all… but the fresh layers of snow covered the wreckage, eerily softening the charred ruins of a place I once called home.
