The snow.
Even the ground had something to say, not that I understood any of it.
I frown, threading my thumb through the loop that was connected to the chain of others I took it from.
“Perhaps you should have it made into something to put around your finger,” Fallon suggests, and my frown deepens as I consider.
I like that idea …
“Look, Raeve.”
At the excitement in Fallon’s voice—the argent light now illuminating her beautiful face—I turn my attention to where she’s pointing. A cleft tears through the clouds, like they’re soft fabric that just got ripped wide, revealing the dark beyond and the distant hint of a small silver dragon bundled high in the sky. Shielding its face and chest with a wing that looks a bit little for its size, just like Fallon drew.
My eyes sting as I take it in, cheeks filling with a smile so big it hurts. “It’s just as beautiful as you said.”
“Yes …”
I tighten my grip on her hand, squeezing. “I’m sorry it’s not the colorful ones. I know they’re your favorite.”
“Don’t be. That one is … special.” I feel the swell of her cheek against mine, her words soft, but thick, like she’s speaking past something sitting on the back of her tongue. “You should make a wish, Raeve.”
My face scrunches as my eyes squeeze shut, releasing tears thatice against my cheeks. “There’s only one thing I want.”
The words wobble. Broken, shattered things trying to hold themselves together.
I turn, bring my hand up to cup Fallon’s cheek, and tip her head to face me. “I thought I lost you …”
She frowns, searching my eyes as the cold swaddles us. As I run my burnt and blistered fingers through her hair, easing it back behind her ear with the nick in it. A small, rounded notch I’m going to cut into my own just as soon as I find something sharp enough.
“Fallon …”
“Yeah, Raeve?”
My face threatens to crumble again, exhaustion eating my bones.
Deeper.
The very stuff that makes me …me.
“I don’t know if I can do this anymore.”
I just want to close my eyes and not open them again. To let the cold embrace me all the way until I feel nothing else.
“I’m so tired.”
Fallon pulls me close, planting a kiss between my brows, her next words like icy puffs murmured against my skin. “Remember what I taught you about the things that hurt?”
Push them down.
Do what you must to survive. To keep moving forward.
“Yes.”
“This world is big and beautiful.” She eases back enough to meet my stare, hers harder than ever. “But it’s also ugly and cruel and unjust. There’s only so much a heart can handle before it gives out. If you carry everything with you, all at once, you’ll break.”
I think I’m already broken.
Her gaze softens, making me wonder if I spoke the words aloud.
