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Just mentioning a kiss made him speechless. Wow, how far we’ve come. My smile falls. How far wecame.
“Or maybe I should be kissed by someone else since we’re friends,” fourteen-year-old Skylenna clarifies with a blush dusting her cheeks. I raise my eyebrows. Damn, I knew how to push his buttons even then.
“No.” His voice carries through the forest, echoing off the cliff walls. “I mean, no. I’ll be your first kiss.”
“Really?”
He nods, certainty coloring his expression.
“Will it be from you? Or one of your alters?” She watches him closely, clearly not afraid to bring that topic to light.
Kane considers this. “One day, you may find yourself wanting them too, and that’s okay. But I’ll be your first kiss, Skylittle. I am your oldest friend. I am the boy who has watched over you since I was six years old.” He clears his throat. “I will be the first man that kisses you. But not now. When we’re both adults, and you want me as more than your friend. I’ll bring you under that waterfall and kiss you.”
She looks away hesitantly, a little embarrassed that they’re talking about this topic so openly. “Promise?”
He smiles, the one with dimples and warm eyes. “I promise.”
And they vanish. Like smoke dissipating through the wind.
I turn my head to see Kane sitting against the giant red oak tree hovering at the edge of the cliff. Skylenna sits next to him, holding his hand, looking into his eyes with a seeping desire to ease his pain. They look about fifteen and twelve.
“Just tell me what happened to them,” she begs, straightening her white sundress. “I can handle it now.”
Kane stares down at his hands. “Not today.”
“Please. I’ve asked you for years. Something triggered a memory, didn’t it?”
And for the first time in my life, I watch Kane cry. She’s never seen him cry either. I can see it in the panic that widens her eyes and straightens her back. It’s painful, too, the way he gently falls apart into the palms of his hands. A silent sob, shaking his shoulders, cutting deeply into my heart.
He couldn’t tell her about Sophia and Arthur’s death. It broke him. Held him captive. That must be why it took so long for Dessin to tell me. Kane never could.
Suddenly, the sky swarms with bulbous dark clouds and the rain floods the Red Oaks, drenching me head to toe in earthy scented water.
The sight that catches my attention in the midst of the red trees stops my heart. Flutters in my lungs. Fills my eyes with sudden tears.
Kane, wearing a white shirt and suspenders, looks about nine years old; Skylenna, in a long red sun dress, maybe six. They spin, twirl, laugh, and dance in the pounding rain.
I—remembered. The time we played in the fountain in the Chandelier City. I saw flashes of this moment. Iremembered.
The urge to cry is powerful. A twisting sensation in my gut.
The way Kane chased me around, both times. I watch the children splash in the mud, slipping and cackling. And I can’t believe I could have ever forgotten these precious moments. I hardly had any time with Kane, Dessin, and the other alters. And the time I did have, I’m only just remembering.
This is cruel. It’s painful. It’s being just out of reach of the only thing in this world that I truly want. I trulyneed.
But the memory disappears again, and I have the floating sensation like I’m levitating to the next.
I’m ten, and Kane is thirteen.
“Hands up, Skylittle. You know this,” Kane barks, legs shoulder width apart in a fighting stance.
That nickname. Something warm and gooey sticks to the bottom of my belly.
“It’s no use!” Skylenna throws her arms down, pouting. “I’ll never hurt my daddy! When he gets mean, I just… close my eyes.”
Kane’s arms fall to his sides. “I know,” he breathes. “But one day, you’ll be strong enough to use everything I’ve taught you. You’ll be strong like Dessin.”
“I think you’re making him up. He sounds like an imaginary friend,” she taunts.
