“It’s coming,” I say softly, gesturing across the canyon, and she turns to look. “Wait for it… wait for it… wait…”
“Ani, look!” Stevie gasps, and the first rays of sun hit the back rim, and suddenly the entire canyon before us ignites in a blaze of fire, as if the very rock itself has been lit by some god or goddess, destined to burn for eternity. I will never, ever tire of this view.
But right now, I’m not looking at the Cauldron of Flame and Fury in all its red-gold glory.
I’m looking at the woman next to me, her mouth caught between surprise and awe and pure joy, tears of wonder streaking her cheeks.
“It’s breathtaking,” she breathes.
“It is,” I say, not taking my eyes off her.
We stay like that for a long while, until the sun is over our shoulders and the canyon dimming back to its red-orange morning glow.
“The Ace of Pentacles,” Stevie says. “That was my gift.”
“I hope you liked it.”
“Liked it?” Dashing away the tears, she leans in and presses a kiss to my cheek, the touch of which I’ll carry with me forever. “No one has ever given me the sunrise before, Ani. I loved it.”
“What a coincidence. I’ve never given anyone the sunrise before.”
Her eyes narrow, almost imperceptibly, her brows drawing close as if she’s trying to puzzle something out. But then she smiles again, and all is right in the world.
“Thank you,” she says. “Not just for the sunrise. But for everything. For always making me laugh. And for understanding me—trying to, anyway. For not pushing me. For not making me feel weird for falling for more than one guy.”
“You’re talking to a fire-blessed, Stevie.” I stand from the blanket and reach out a hand to help her up. “As far as I’m concerned, the more the merrier.”
“I think two is more than enough though, right?”
“Why limit yourself?” I haul her up a little too quickly, and she stumbles into me, stopping her fall with her hands on my shoulders.
Goddess, this woman… How the hell did she sweep into our lives so fast, so ferociously?
“Sorry!” Stevie giggles. “I lost my balance. Clearly I need more caffeine—Ani? You okay?”
She’s still holding onto me, her face so close, her lips so delicate…
“Stevie, I…” I lose my words, lose myself in the glittering facets of her eyes. There’s so much I want to know about her, to learn, and so much more I want to tell her about myself.
Starting with the fact that I’m crushing on her. Maybe more than crushing. The secret’s been burning inside me for weeks.
We all agreed not to keep secrets about each other, but how can I possibly tell her I feel this way? That I want to claim one of those fingers of hers? Claim a place in her bed? Claim a place in her heart?
“Hey, you okay?” She cups my face, concern filling her eyes. “Ani?”
“Yeah, I just…” I blink, then pull back. Pull myself together. Give her a nice, bright, sunshine smile. Because if I don’t, she’s going to read it in my energy anyway, and I’m not quite ready for that yet.
“Just what?”
“Just… nothing. I’m good,” I insist. Then, wiggling my brows, “Let’s say we head down to the bottom, do a little exploring, see if we can find this zombie-making wand before the Dark Arcana use it to usher in the end of the world. Sound like a plan?”
She laughs again, a sound I will never tire of hearing. “Onlyyoucould make stopping the apocalypse sound fun.”
“It’s a gift. Come on.”
The trail that leads to the bottom of the Cauldron is steep and dangerous, but Stevie takes point, scrambling over the rocky terrain like a born mountain lion. By the time we reach the bottom, we’re both hungry for a little more fuel, so we take a quick break for lunch and water, then spend the rest of the day scrambling up and down the canyon walls, crawling over every crack and crevice in search of anything even remotely resembling the Wand of Flame and Fury.
I’m not sure how many hours we spend down here, but as the sun travels from one side of the bowl to the other, and the two of us become more filthy and tired with every step, I’m pretty sure we’ve reached a dead end.
