“There is!” he shouted. “Even if shecando it, there’s no guarantee of what that will do toyou! To…to your minds…” He closed his eyes and sighed, and I actually felt sorry for him for a moment. “The mind is such a fragile thing. Memories are socomplicated.”
“We know,” said March. “We’re the ones who lost them. We’re all livingcomplicatedas we speak. And we’re all willing to take the risk.”
“So, what’s it going to be, Master Talik?” Silas said without missing a beat. “Will you take us to see Vesta so we can try? Or will you cower at the idea of getting caught by your queens?”
“Silas, that’s enough,” Kohen said, while Damon turned his head the other way to hide his smile.
“No, that’s all right. He’s a boy—he thinks he knows courage and cowardice. He’ll grow up,” Master Talik said with a wave of his hand. “Yes, Silas, I will take you to Vesta if you’re certain that that’s what you want. But I will insist that you take this day to rest, to think, to make sure you’re all twelve-hours certain of this before we make any preparations. That is my condition.”
Mouths opened but nobody said a single word.
Master Talik was right. Even though I knew that I wasn’t going to change my mind about this, I still wanted to sleep on it. It was always better to sleep on any decision, Father said, and he was usually right.
That—and I still needed some time alone with March before I could think clearly.
So, I stood up. “I could use some rest right now. Let’s talk again at dawn.”
Suddenly, everyone stood up at the same time, including the Timekeepers.
Damon looked amused. Master Talik looked on the brink of tears. And Kohen looked…just calm.
“Very well. You have cots. Go make good use of them,” he said.
So, we did.
24
The moment we walked into March’s room again, and I saw the glass floor and the old gears underneath, I went for him, took his face in my hands, and kissed him.
No word, no hesitation, no guarantee that he’d kiss me back, but he did.
We stayed there, frozen in that kiss, my hands on his cheeks, his over them. We absorbed one another, the feel of our lips pressing, of our breathing slowing down, falling into the same rhythm.
Then March stepped back, took my hand in his, and pulled me to the cot.
He sat at the very edge of it, looped my hands around the back of his neck, and wrapped his arms around my thighs as he hugged me. His head was pressed to my stomach, and my fingers immediately found their way into his hair, and it was such an intimate moment I feared I’d cry if I thought about it too hard.
But I didn’t—there was no need. Our bodies knew exactly what they were doing.
Eventually, March leaned back and pulled me with him, sat me on his lap, then settled us both on the cot, just like before. Except this time I was lying on his pillow, and half his body was over mine. His arm was underneath my head, and he held himself up on his elbow, his hand around my neck, gently stroking my skin as he looked at me.
In those moments, nothing existed except him.
He said, “Do you want to sleep?”
I shook my head slowly. No, I did not want to sleep.
The corner of his lips curled a bit. “Hmm. I wonder what else you’d want to do.”
Heat on my cheeks. Of course, he was teasing me and I knew it, but still. I couldn’t stop my smile from spreading all the way.
“Nothing. Just-just rest,” I muttered, and he knew it was a lie. That was why he was chuckling, and my toes curled, and there was a new warmth in my chest that came out of nowhere, but that was always there at the same time, waiting. Time’s Teeth, that might be the best sound my ears had ever heard.
“Just rest. Got it,” March said, and when I turned my head away to breathe for a second, he gripped my chin and held me in place. “Don’t ever hide your face from me,” he whispered.
“Okay.” I surrendered so easily it could have been a little pathetic.
March didn’t think so, though. “I don’t know what we did before, but I never want to stop looking at you. Do you have any idea how beautiful you are?”
