Kade squeezed him. “Yeah. Both of us. We’ll be back together soon.”
They hugged for a minute longer, then Florian pulled back and stood on his tiptoes to kiss Kade. Kade released one arm from his waist to cup Florian’s cheek, kissing him fiercely, and Florian desperately hoped it would not be their last.
“I’ll see you soon,” Kade murmured against him when they finally parted, his eyes still closed. “I promise.”
Florian managed a wobbly smile. “I’ll see you soon.”
Kade walked him to the front door, and Florian went through without looking back, too afraid that if he did, he’d go running back into the house to hold him or kiss him again; and he wasn’t sure if he could bring himself to leave a second time.
Koji was waiting at the gate—the yard was full of villagers and Kade’s family members alike, watching them with varying expressions of curiosity, or sympathy, or something else that was entirely unreadable. Florian ignored them all, trudging through the snow-covered walkway to Koji, who looked first at him, then past him. He must have met eyes with Kade, as he gave a small wave goodbye before turning to Florian again.
But Florian marched right past him. “Let’s go,” he muttered, certain that if he stopped, he would immediately look back and start crying in front of everyone. Silently, Koji fell in step beside him as they headed out of the village and into the forest.
They didn’t really need to go so far, but when they were alone in the still, silent woods, Florian felt marginally better. The thought of all the wolf shifters watching him, knowing who he was, what he was to Kade—it only made him feel worse, when he already felt so raw and vulnerable. But here they were alone. No footsteps marred the blanket of snow around them, except their own, and the village was no longer visible with the trees surrounding them.
He finally stopped, and Koji stopped just behind him. For a moment, the only sound he was aware of was his own ragged breathing, and Koji’s breathing near him, slow and calm compared to his own.
“Sorry,” he muttered, feeling his face flush with embarrassment. “I didn’t mean to be so...”
Florian trailed off, unsure of what to say, but when he glanced over at Koji, the dragon shifter gave him that same easy smile as always.
“No need to apologize,” he replied, his tone light in stark contrast to Florian’s dark mood. “I know this must be difficult for you. For both of you. I’m sorry you’re having to deal with this now.”
Florian managed a small smile back at the other boy. Yet again, he was glad for Koji’s presence, and thankful that he had at least one friend who would be coming with him. He couldn’t imagine how he could have left Kade behind if he were alone.
Resolutely, he scrubbed at his eyes, wiping away any trace of tears before looking at Koji again.
“Ready to go?” he said, holding out a hand. Koji nodded, placing his hand in Florian’s; and with a snap, the snow and trees around them vanished.
They were now standing on the dark beach at the bottom of the cliff behind the Winter Court, bits of snow falling off their shoes as they sank a few centimeters into the black sand. Florian turned to the ocean, but Koji glanced up toward the cliff.
“You don’t want to see your aunt?” he asked, sounding unsure, and Florian shook his head.
“No,” he sighed, taking another step toward the water. “I don’t want to see anyone. I just want to get this over with.”
Koji gave him a long look, his expression unreadable, then he shrugged and started to follow Florian. “Alright. Let’s go.”
It was early in the morning Earthside when they stepped through the curtain, but by the time they’d taken the ferry back to the mainland and gotten into a Lyft, it was getting warm enough that they both had to pack away their winter coats again. Florian texted both August and Nadia, letting August know that he and Koji were heading to the kraken kingdom without Kade, and telling Nadia he was sorry to be leaving all of a sudden again, but that hopefully he would be back soon. Neither replied right away, so once they were settled in the backseat of the car and heading toward LAX, he set to work finding them a flight to Norway.
“Shit, there’s nothing until tomorrow afternoon,” he muttered darkly, showing Koji his phone.
“We could go back to your uncle’s place then,” Koji offered, but Florian shook his head.
“No, we’re already on the way. It’s fine. I’ll just get us a hotel by the airport, I guess,” he sighed.
Luckily, it was a simple matter to book a night at a nearby hotel and buy new plane tickets from his phone, so he could spend most of the trip with his eyes closed and his head pressed to the cold windowpane. He couldn’t sleep, but it felt close enough to resting that he didn’t mind.
It was still a few hours until check in when they arrived, so they wandered around the area until they found a decent-looking restaurant for lunch; their hotel had a sushi bar, but Florian doubted Koji would be all that impressed with it.
“They have a swimming pool,” Koji blurted out after they’d checked in. The hotel pool was visible through the window just outside the lobby elevator. Florian chuckled at his enthralled gaze.
“You can swim, right?” he asked, and Koji nodded.
“We’re taught to swim in the river. But only for survival; the water is too precious to keep for recreation. I’ve heard of swimming pools, though,” he said, stepping closer to the window to look down at it. A family was sitting along its perimeter, a mother and small daughter splashing in the shallow end. Florian stifled a smile—he supposed it did look rather idyllic with its bright blue water gleaming in the sun.
“We can go check it out if you want,” he said, and Koji nodded quickly.
Despite Florian’s dour mood, Koji’s excitement was infectious; and by the time they had dropped off their things and were heading back down to the pool, Florian even felt a little eager, too.
