Page 33 of Sixth
“All who come.”
She turned on her side again and studied him. His eyes had gone hard in a way that meant he had already made plans. It would’ve frightened her at one point. It didn’t now. The flower’s heat had sunk into her. The world’s hush had settled in her bones.
“You don’t have to carry it alone,” shesaid.
“I know.” He lifted their joined hands and pressed his mouth to her knuckles. “I do not anymore.”
“Good.” She tucked herself back against him, head under his chin, leg over his thigh. The fit felt right. The world felt right. She could have stayed there forever in the fold of honey and color and quiet.
Sleep took her without warning. She woke to dimmer light and a pocket of cooler air where the petals had parted a little. Apex had shifted to brace the opening with his shoulder. Lume perched above him, her wings slightly spread, watching. The mote that had flirted with her earlier came back and bobbed near his ear. He didn’t swat it away. He never would.
“Are they gone?” she asked.
“Nothing hunts at the edge now.” He looked down with a soft focus, like being chosen again. “How do you feel?”
She grinned. “Like I fell into starlight and got carried to heaven.”
“Affirmative.” He sounded pleased. “That is how you look.”
She laughed and the bloom gave a bright answering flicker as if it enjoyed the sound. She pushed up on her elbow and kissed him. He kissed back with the same reverence he had used all along, as if every touch were an oath spoken in a language only they knew. Heat curled low and sweet. The world shifted toward it again. They didn’t fightit.
By the time they stilled, the petals had opened another handspan. Anotherpale thread of cool air slipped in. The scent changed again, less honey now, more green. Lume stretched and shook herself like a cat. The mote settled on the edge of the petal and blinked three times. She had learned that pattern. It meant morning somewhere else. Here, light came in pulses that had nothing to do withtime.
“We have to talk about the Valenmark,” she said finally.
“Very well.” He gathered her close. “What is your question?”
“It keeps getting stronger,” she said, glancing at the gleaming mark on her wrist. “The Valenmark keeps changing, pulsing harder every time we touch. We keep getting stronger. Is there a point where it starts to control us?”
“No.” He didn’t hesitate. “We control it. Together. If we do not agree, it weakens. When we agree, it amplifies.”
“Then we need to agree on everything.”
“We need to keep touching.”
Her laugh came out a little breathless. “I can do that.”
“Affirmative,” he said, very serious now. “You can.”
They dressed slowly, helping each other. Every brush of his fingers made a small thrill run through her. Every time she lifted his collar or smoothed a seam he watched her with that focused attention. It felt like a hand closing around her spine, the same fierce recognition she had sensed the first moment he looked at her and decided to keep her alive.
When they were ready, the petals drew back farther, giving them a view of the clearing. Motes turned lazy circles. The air held that very particular quiet that meant the forest listened and chose stillness. The wreck lay in shadow, half hidden by coils of vine that had grown since they ran. The ship looked less broken from here. It lookedsealed.
“We go now,” hesaid.
She nodded. “We go now.”
They stepped to the edge of the bloom and paused. Emmy looked back once. The interior smoldered faintly as if it memorized them. She lifted her hand and the light brightened.Lume chirred approval and skimmed past her cheek like a blessing.
“Thank you,” Emmy whispered to the flower and the world beyond it. The petals shivered like an answer.
They climbed down together, the ground steady. The hush that had wrapped them loosened enough to let the sounds of the forest creep in. Adistant drip. The whisper of leaves rubbing. The soft brush of Lume’s wings as she circled and then settled on Emmy’s shoulder.
“Soon,” Emmy said, mostly to herself. “We fix the ship. We leave. We live.”
“Affirmative,” he said. “We live.”
She slipped her fingers into his. He closed his around hers with that sure, quiet energy that had become home. The Valenmark beat once hard enough to make the air spark. The planet answered with a murmur and then went still again, like a great animal lowering its head to sleep.
The Core cut through the hush like a blade.”Inbound craft. Two ships: Aram Voss and the Head Counselor of the House of Sovereigns.”
Lume’s glow dimmed, and the petals shivered in response. The sky above the clearing flared red, awarning streak tearing across the horizon.
Apex looked up. The red point brightened and held. He didn’t blink. His arm locked around Emmy, pulling her protectively to his chest as the air began to vibrate with the distant thunder of descent.
He didn’t let hergo.
