Page 85 of On Broken Bonds

Gods. He's heavy.

Not because of his size but because the water seems determined to keep him. It drags against him. Against me. Against everything.

Every inch we move feels stolen.

Every step feels like a battle.

I dig my heels into the mud and pull. Nothing. I pull harder. My muscles scream. The swamp pulls back. For one terrifying moment, I think we're both going down.

Then I slip.

The world tilts.

Water rushes toward me.

I let out a startled cry… and something catches me. Strong hands. A powerful grip.

Seconds later, both Fenric and I are being hauled bodily toward the shore. Thorian. The demi-god drags us the last few feet through the mud and onto solid ground before collapsing to one knee beside us, breathing hard.

For several seconds, none of us speak. We're alive. Barely. But alive.

“What the hell were you thinking?” he asks, kicking the water off his boots and circling around to glare down at me. But the only thing I can see is Fenric in my arms. His clothes are torn and he’s soaking, but he’s alive.

Somehow, the blows Thorian laid on him before, on the other side of the swamp, are erased,. Fenric’s face is as smooth and handsome as before the punches that broke his bones and had him spitting out a tooth. In fact, with him this close, I can see the freckles dusting over his nose.

He opens his eyes, and I let out a noise of relief, of joy. The only other time I’ve ever made a noise like that was when sitting at Lyra’s bed, watching as the medicine took hold and eased her coughing fit, giving her another day.

“Nyx,” Fenric whispers, his voice hoarse, his pale green eyes searching mine. “You saved my life.”

Thorian drops down beside us and grumbles something about what a stupid choice it was, but Fenric doesn’t pay him any mind. He just stares right at me.

“Neither of us aged. Neither of us were affected too much.”

I avert my eyes. I guess my kind is more immune to the waters than I thought. “Must not have been in long enough.”

Then, in a move that shocks me, Fenric reaches up and slips his hand around the back of my neck. The touch is careful. Almost hesitant. As though he's giving me every opportunity to pull away.

I don't.

His eyes search mine for half a second, warm and uncertain, carrying a vulnerability that makes my chest ache.

Then he kisses me.

The kiss is nothing like I expect.

After everything we've been through with the swamp, the monsters, and the fear, I'd expected desperation. Something frantic and overwhelming.

Instead, it's sweet. Tender. Fenric kisses me like he's relieved I'm alive. Like seeing me standing here is a gift he wasn't entirely certain he'd receive.

I melt toward him before I can stop myself, my eyes slipping closed as his thumb brushes lightly against my jaw. His lips are soft, and despite the exhaustion weighing on every part of me, a flutter stirs low in my stomach.

It’s a feeling I don't have a name for.

Or maybe I do.

It grows when he shifts closer, his hand remaining at the back of my neck, steady and reassuring. The kiss deepens slightly. It’s not demanding, not hurried, just enough to make my pulse stumble. Enough to make me suddenly aware of how close we are. Of the heat of his body. Of the way his breath catches when I lean into him.

The entire world seems to narrow. The Trials disappear. The swamp disappears. For a few precious seconds, there's only this. Only him.