“Wrap your arms around my waist,” I whispered to Edan. “And hold on.”
We shot out of the water, my skirts blooming like a lantern as it floated us to shore.
Once we landed, the fire inside me extinguished. I let go of everything and collapsed.
• • •
A familiar heart beat against my ear, steady and gentle, in a rhythm I’d heard many times before. As I stirred, a warm breath tickled my cheek. A thick cloak was draped over me, a comforting arm wrapped around my waist.
I couldn’t have been asleep long, for it was still night.
I twisted to face Edan. His collar was damp, goose bumps rising on his exposed skin.
“You’re shivering,” I said.
“My clothes will dry,” he replied through his teeth. “Don’t worry about me,xitara.”
“I’m not cold,” I said, only to realize it wasn’t true. The air was frigid, and for the first time in weeks, I tasted the frost on my lips when I breathed in. The only thing that kept me from shivering was the blood of stars.
“What are you—”
I pulled my dress over my head, unknotting its buttons. Without my scissors, there was no elegant way of undoing them.
I ignored Edan’s protests and wrapped the dress’s folds around us both, summoning warmth into the shimmering fabric.
Slowly the color returned to Edan’s skin, but I helped hasten the process by kissing him. It was only dawning on us now that we’d won.
Bandur was dead. His tower on Lapzur had collapsed.
The whispers had stopped.
I breathed in, relishing the silence in my head. I could finally hear myself breathe, could hear my heart racing so fast and unsteadily every beat echoed in my ears. The throbbing in my temples had ceased, and my eyes had stopped burning. And pain—I’d felt pain when we crashed into the waters.
Did that mean I was free?
I tilted my head, lips brushing against Edan’s. Heart hammering, I tentatively brought my gaze up to match his. I was sure I’d see two glowing red pupils reflected in his eyes, devastating as the blood-red seals on the letters pronouncing my brothers’ deaths during the war.
But…nothing.
My eyes did not even glitter under the moonlight. They were earthy and brown, like the chestnuts I used to buy with my brothers in Port Kamalan. We’d roast them over charcoal and sprinkle precious cumin over the meat—Keton’s favorite. Baba used to get angry with Finlei for wasting his earnings on a spoonful of cumin, just to indulge Keton. But Finlei and Keton were a pair, just as Sendo and I had been.
As I remembered all this, my eyes watered with emotion. I’d nearly forgotten.
Edan reached for my fingers, covering them with his. “Your hands are warm.”
“So they are.” I squeezed his hand, so happy to hold it again. I looked down at the dress of the stars. The brilliant colors of the fabric had become muted, matching the deep-violet sky. My amulet no longer sat heavy on my chest.
“I think I’m free,” I whispered. “I think…I think it might have worked.”
“So you’ll not forget me again?” he asked.
“Never.” I inhaled, and began humming our song. The song his mother used to sing to him, I knew now. “Not even if it means this tune is stuck in my head forever.”
The song died on my lips as Edan brought my hand to his mouth. His breath tickled my fingertips. He kissed my fingers, his lips traveling across my palm, then to the back of my wrist. Every kiss sent tremors of pleasure shooting through me, like the stars that burst across the night above us.
I rolled atop him so our chests were aligned, and we sank into the sand, drinking in one another. And just before we fell asleep, for a few blissful moments, I thought that the worst wasover.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
