Page 16 of A Sea of Fate and Starfire

A hand grasped mine, and Kye pulled me into him. My tail wrapped around his hips, bolting us both under the gentle waves. We didn’t need oxygen, and it occurred to me that we could just stay forever. Curled up under a silver ocean.

Kye nuzzled against my side, into the crook of my neck. His fingertips trailed the small dips and angles of my arm all the way to my shoulder, spreading out across the column of my neck, turning my jaw so he could kiss directly under my ear.

I almost didn’t make it. I sent the words into his mind to see if I could now that realms no longer separated us. To see if he heard them. If he’d answer me back.

The sound of my voice screaming his name shattered the quiet walls of my mind without warning. Kye went still, and I wondered if he’d heard that, too.

His nose brushed hair away from my nape, his mouth a quiet blade against my skin.

I had no doubts that you would.

Starry water sent my hair flying as it rolled over the top of us. Kye tugged me over him. Golden brown hues drank me in as my tail wound around his waist, an anchor I wasn’t willing to forfeit. A bright flicker flashed behind his eyes, primal and impatient. Hands carving through my hair, he pulled my face into his.

A lifetime of torrential wind passed between us through that stare. His thoughts shot like stars, vivid streaks against a black night, a rapid fire I couldn’t catch. I held onto him under the gentle current, the muffled noise of a stardust sea over my head. Latched to sculpted shoulders, a hard abdomen, solid thighs. Real, real, real. Here, here, here.

Under my fingertips.

Mine.

It feels like it’s been years since I touched you, he murmured into my mind.

I gave a slow shake. It’s been three days.

It’s been an eternity.

I smiled, though the words were a sharp edge in my chest.

I watched you bring down the mountain. Kye slid a thumb across the corner of my jaw. I tried to stay. I’m sorry, Leihani.

You cannot deny Death when he comes to collect you. I tilted my head, tracing the ridge of the vein that traveled the side of his neck. One I had studied plenty of times before. A smooth bridge from heart to head, one that I’d spent hours watching tick. Planned to silence it, once upon a time. Then, to kiss it. Caress it. Lean against it and let it drum over my temple, a steady rhythm I would recognize across time and space.

It didn’t tick now. It simply sat embedded in the muscle lining his throat. Stagnant. Silent.

All of a sudden, it didn’t feel real.

Kye was here. But he wasn’t whole.

Neither of us was.

And this place gleamed with luminescence everywhere I looked. But no warmth sat over my shoulders. No songs from dancing trees, chirping birds. The air was not fresh, the taste of water not brisk and clean and salty over my palate.

Here, we were safe. But we were also no more than dust.

Kye laced his fingers into mine. Pulled them away from his chest and to his mouth, where he planted a firm drop into my knuckles. We could stay.

I stared at him as the tide swept away, sending my hair over my shoulders again. Is that what you want?

Kye’s thumb delved into the center of my hand. He drew a slow line across my palm. Distant screams echoed back to me. Desperate and fraught with pain. My voice. Kye’s name. Over and over and over, until the thought snapped off, a lid slammed over a box.

His gaze fell away, studying the inner curve of my hand. Death does not scare me. Mortality does.

Inevitably, human, you will abandon her to a life without you.

Nori’s words bloomed in his head, echoing in mine. Kye blinked at hearing them, even more determined to avoid my eyes. An ache drifted through my bones.

I settled back, leaning into his hips to better look at him. What do you want?

Kye slid a hand down my hip, fingertips soft as they glided over the bumps and ridges of my scales. If we go back, I can never see you like this again.