Page 69 of A Sea of Fate and Starfire

I let a few seconds burn before I took it from her. “Morning.”

She nodded at the water. “The air tastes colder this morning than it did yesterday. Will you be all right?”

Her tea was warm and biting, not the smooth, bold taste of what Hadrian had shared the night before. I wondered if she had gathered her own leaves in the nettles up shore. “If we can take short breaks for Aitne to warm my blood, I’ll be fine.”

Clear blue eyes studied me for a moment. Then she gave a single nod. “Let’s get moving, then.”

Fifteen minutes later, the river lapping at our feet, I folded a strip of silk over Kye’s eyes. My fingers trailed the knot and down to his arm, lacing into his hand as I led him forward.

His stubble had grown dark in the days since we’d left Calder, a mischievous shadow surrounding his mouth. “Do you enjoy blindfolding me?”

My mouth curved. “Do you enjoy asking stupid questions?”

Dark curls hung over my black sash, a flush of gooseflesh fanning from his neck and disappearing under his shirt, the texture of his skin so rough I almost wanted to smooth my thumb against it, or my tongue. I took another step, and he inhaled sharply as the water drank him fully to the waist. “What a clever way to avoid giving me an answer.”

I rolled my eyes, and though he couldn’t see it, his mouth widened arrogantly.

“I knew you’d probably like taking control of me, but I didn’t realize you like it enough to evade the question.”

I pulled him deep enough that my feet lost the river rock. “I didn’t evade the question. Come here so I can breathe for you.”

“Still evading,” Kye said, following me deeper. He was tall enough to comfortably stand, his mouth out of reach, and he knew it. His taunting smile delved into the side of his cheek, the small shadow of a dimple flashing. “Which part of me makes you most excited? Is it my shoulders? I have very nice shoulders.”

I shook my head, hauling him forward until he was up to his neck. “Come here, lout.”

His teeth were very white against the dark water. “The lines along my abdomen? I’m very proud of them. They point straight to—”

I yanked him down, hooking my arms behind his neck.

“Is it my hips?” he said, softer. Rougher.

“It’s your mouth,” I whispered, anchoring my weight against him as I leaned in and drove a slow kiss against his lips. “I get excited to silence it.”

“My mouth can do a lot of things while I’m blindfolded,” he murmured against my lips.

“Hurry up,” Aegir said as he stroked past to dive under the surface. “Let’s go.”

I turned back to Kye. Later, I commanded—or perhaps promised—guiding his head below the water so I could breathe into him. His arms wrapped behind my back, relaxed, his body languid against mine. I spun around, weaving his hands over my shoulders to rest against my chest, and found Kolibri waiting for us.

Perch wriggled in the mud below, leaving trails in jiggly lines. Trout nosed the rocks, waving patches of weed in search of rubbery worms. They darted as we approached, mouths open to stare up at us from their hiding places.

The world below the river was a spectrum of green and gray, silt thick as we passed the hours diving below, taking short breaks for Aitne to warm me. One day ticked by, then another. Rust announced itself along the riverbed in red and yellow patches, stained by metal knives and swords long since lost to the secrets of the water.

The cold stroked my hair and skin, my muscles constricting against the bite of it. I’d taken the lead with Kolibri, but something made me slow.

The perch and trout had vanished.

Water rushed past, dragging my hair and clothes like wind over a mountain. Sunlight filtered from above in broken strands. But the rest of the river was still.

Quiet.

Cold.

A cloud of disturbed silt traveling downriver stretched for us like a tendril of mist. Kolibri’s ears flattened. She lowered her head, tracking the haze as it expanded like a murky exhale. Her body went taut, and I pulled my weight to the side, guiding her to the river wall.

But there was no avoiding the gust of dark algae and sediment. It engulfed us, drenching us in cold.

Kolibri bucked.