Page 18 of Eight of Swords, Part Two

Away.

Away.

Other suns.

Different stars.

Starmap.

So you can find your way to safety in the dark, the bodyguard had said, guiding Mimi’s fingers over each carving.

He closes his eyes again.

Not to hide.

But to feel.

To feel his way home in the dark.

He touches Lachlan’s face.

And there it swells, because the mind may forget, but the body never does, and if there is a Starmap for him in this world, it’s Lachlan Tanner’s skin beneath his fingers.

The shape of love.

Nose. Cheeks. Jaw. Lips. Eyes. Hair. Skin.

Smell. Feel. Sound.

Nowhere I wouldn’t find you.

He is his map.

Lachlan is his map.

Your mind will always think it’s better than your body. Your body can’t feel pride, only your mind can. Disconnect the two. Pride goeth before destruction. Always remember that.

Mind. Body. Disconnect. Remember.

He has it.

He’s holding it.

Twenty years.

They sit in his hands like golden pebbles, gleaming, his.

He just has to swallow them. Jules just has to—

It fades.

It leaves.

It leaves Kade behind, taking Jules.

Trickles away like water in cupped hands. No amount of gripping, no strength, can keep it there. He sobs, helplessly bereft.

‘It’s OK. You’re OK, just breathe.’