Page 214 of Cursed Evermore
I glanced up at Wolfe. The moon's glow outlined the sharp chisel of his jaw, the long, wild locks of his dark hair, and the hard cut of muscle beneath his jacket.
His gaze was still transfixed on our lanterns, and I thought I saw hope in his eyes. What was he thinking?
He might have missed the last Luminar festival, but he'd done this before.
Feeling my pensive stare, he looked down at me, gazed at me a moment, then tilted his head.
“What is it, Ziyka?” The question was like an open invitation to spill the thoughts from my mind. I wondered if he knew how dangerous that was since I had so many questions.
“What was your last Luminar like?”
He looked away from me and returned his gaze to the sky. Our lanterns were still visible, but they'd blended into the sea of the others, making it difficult to tell them apart.
Silence filled the space between us, and I wondered if he was going to answer my question. Maybe the question was inappropriate and insensitive since his parents were both alive then. I almost wished I could take it back, until he cleared his throat and glanced at me.
“The night was colder than this.” His voice pierced the silence, thick with emotion. “It even snowed.”
“Really?”
“It did. We don't really do so well in the snow. I thought it might ruin the festival. But when the wishes rose, they melted every flake before it could touch the ground. It was like watching winter surrender to magic.”
“That must have been amazing to witness.”
“It was a sight to behold. The lanterns even created their own aurora with ribbons of every color imaginable dancing across the sky.” A faint smile touched his lips. “I'd never seen anything like that in my life.”
He took a breath and continued. “I was... grateful my mother insisted on us attending, despite the weather. She said the moon and our people needed to see our devotion.” He paused again, his jaw tightening. “My parents were all about duty over power. They loved serving the people, and they loved Galaythia as much as their own children. Most of all, they believed festivals brought us together and made us all one big family, no matter what you were. Fae or not. My mother especially loved the Luminar because of the peaceful feeling that came with it.”
“She sounds like she was amazing.”
“She was. She would use her magic to make people happy. I swear, during that Luminar, the Phantom Moon shone brighter just for her.”
The way he spoke about his mother gripped my heart, and I couldn't help but reach out and brush my fingertips over his hand.
He glanced down at our hands between us and surprised me by lacing his fingers with mine.
A rush of heat shot through me, pooling low in my belly, making my pulse thunder in places I didn't know I could feel. I was sure I would spontaneously combust from his touch. I had to focus with everything inside me to calm my body.
Wolfe's eyes found the Phantom Moon, his voice soft with wonder. “As our wishes soared into the sky, it felt like the moon had been waiting an eternity for that moment.”
“Did the moon grant your wish?”
“No,” he said, his voice rougher now, tinged with old disappointment.
“I'm sorry.”
“It's okay.” The hollow in his voice made me think his wish had been something he'd desperately wanted. “That night felt different. My mother was different.Everythingwas different. Too good to be true. And it was like my mother knew it might beour last Luminar together as a family.” His voice grew quieter. “She was right. She was gone well before the next Phantom Moon. My father was so distraught he didn't have the heart to attend the last Luminar. Neither did I. Except I did.”
“You went? But Kaem said?—”
“No one saw me. I stayed in the shadows. I didn't make a wish and I didn't bless the people the way my parents did. I just went for my mother. To feel closer to her.”
He sounded like a broken soul, his voice fractured by grief that time hadn't been able to heal. I could hear the lonely boy he'd been that night, the grieving son standing in the shadows while his world crumbled around him.
My heart broke for him, and I squeezed his hand, gripping a little tighter, letting him know I would stand in those shadows with him if he needed me to. I wanted him to know that some wounds were safe to carry with another person.
He seemed to feel it. I sensed something in him shift, something in his darkness loosen to let me in.
There we stood together, hand in hand, silently sharing the weight of memories and wishes in the silver-touched quiet. In the tranquil intimacy, the rest of the world felt miles away.
