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His clothes are soaked, a downpour of cold water. He kneels down to grab a Skylenna-sized brown wool blanket from his bag; stretching it out, he turns his head and looks away.
I stand in front of him, turning my back to the blanket. The crisp wind stings my skin.
Kane’s hands linger after he untucks my hair. “You said my name. How did you know it was me again?”
My teeth chatter when I answer. “I just felt it.”
“How?” His expression is a locked chest of secrets.
I shrug. “When you open your eyes and look at me. It feels like the look of a man returning home. I don’t know; I guess I can’t explain it.” A violent shudder takes over, and I bury my face in the warmth of the wool.
He wraps his arms around me and kisses the top of my wet head. “I’d say that’s a pretty good explanation.” His chest moves with a sharp inhale. “Skylenna, you are my home.” He speaks, and it’s like hearing a thunderstorm in the warmth of my bed. A rush of pleasure burrows into my soul.
~
As I finish off the deer he cooked, I lie back and look at the stars. We’re close to the edge of the Evergreen Dark Wood, where the trees open up enough to see slivers of the constellations.
“Do you think about your family often?” I ask.
I hear him stop moving beside me. “My family?”
I nod. “Your mother and Arthur?”
He sounds like he’s holding his breath. “I try not to.”
“They’re up there, you know.” I point up to the stars. “They’re watching over us now, guardian angels.”
I look over at his face tilting up to the stars.
“Only the strongest of souls can endure what your family did. And that means they are guardian angels. I think your mother and little brother are with us everywhere we go.” I smile at him. “They keep us safe.”
He smiles, yet there’s a sudden weight of sadness in his gaze. A beacon to darkness, the way a vulture is drawn to blood. “Are all of the thoughts in your head so sweet?”
“Just the ones about you.” I shut my eyes immediately. Nice.
I lift my hand to smack it over my eyes, but it’s intercepted. Kane’s hand wraps around mine, pulling it toward him. “If that’s true, why don’t you voice them?” He softly kisses my knuckles. A hot, jittery feeling flushes through my gut. Scattered wisps of desire flood my thoughts, clouding my focus.
“I—well, because—” Nothing. I can’t think. Blank. My mind is pudding.
He folds my hand into his chest with both hands to keep it warm. My exhale turns into a quiet hum. “I want to hear all of your thoughts. All the time.”
“You and Dessin have that in common.” I blow out a nervous laugh.
“And you don’t like that?”
I shrug. “I just don’t think you’d really want to hear everything I think about.”
“You mean, you don’t want to say when you think about me.” I hear the smile creeping from his words. I roll to my side and place my free hand on his shoulder.
“That’s right.” I pause while the words work to unclog themselves from my throat. “You’re my friend. My best friend. I don’t want that to go away.”
He looks at me and unveils a smile that is the heat of a blueberry pie fresh from the oven. “Until hell freezes over.”
I grin back. “And even then.”
~
I wake up to the deep grinding of my own teeth and my face swallowed by a mass of black fur. The cool morning air kisses my arms, the back of my neck, my toes sunken in the dirt. I caress DaiSzek’s coat and smile. I’m about to greet him when I notice Kane on the other side of him, still sleeping.
