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She inhaled, her nipples pebbling as her skin broke out in prickles. “And if those memories turn me into something awful?”
“You could never be awful,” I whispered. “The way my heart beats around you tells me you’re worthy and good and—”
“Forgetful.”
I laughed under my breath. “Yet another thing we share. But perhaps...together, we don’t have to be that anymore.”
She shivered. “But what if I don’t like who I am?”
Swift pain lanced me. I hated her doubt, her fear. I would do anything to make her whole and happy. “I like you. Isn’t that enough?”
She smiled but it didn’t reach her eyes.
Cupping her cheeks, I flinched as the burn between us magnified, blood deep this time. Spirit deep. Past this life and any other, slipping beneath my mortal senses to an instinctual part of me that already knew everything it needed to know.
She’s mine.
“I want to remember. Don’t you?” My gaze got lost on her glistening lips. “I want to have a name...just like you. I want to share whatever we’ve forgotten with someone who understands the pain of not having a past. I want to know who I am so I can make the choice on who to become. Only you can decide who you want to be, Runa. No one else.”
She held my stare.
I tumbled into her, transfixed by her mouth.
With a soft sigh, the tension in her back melted, and ever so warily, timidly, she placed her hands over mine, willingly touching me while I touched her.
I’d never get used to that.
Never stop wanting more.
“You’re right. It’s better to know so we can protect our Destini, instead of blindly running toward it.”
My heart pounded with hope all while I recognised that word. “Destini also known as Karma.”
“Yes.” Slowly, she pulled away, granting me another heart-skipping smile as my hands slipped from her cheeks, and we broke apart.
Summoning the tiny flame in her palm again, she watched it as it cast flickering light on her face. “My name is Runa, and it seems as if I’m a fully-fledged member of Quelis.”
“Quelis?” I asked, tilting my head. Yet another word from the language we shared. “Why use that word for fire when the other tongue you use, Firenese, has their own name for it?”
Her belly flexed as she stiffened. “The language we speak is forbidden. It’s a dead language. We shouldn’t know it. We shouldn’t know that Runa means bee or life giver. We shouldn’t be able to speak to each other so fluently.”
I didn’t know what to say.
How was a language forbidden?
She took my silence and filled it with more words. “Quelis is fire, Lokath is earth, Rivoza is air, and Vetak is water. Those are the only words from our tongue that are remembered and used.”
“Why are they more important than all the rest?”
“Because they’re the names for the four elements that make up the four kingdoms.”
“Kingdoms?” I shook my head. “I’ve never come across kingdoms in my travels.”
“Solin said they exist.”
“Solin also thinks you’re Quelis and that you’re meant to be his mate.”
“Mate?” Her eyebrows soared upward. “No, I told you before. He’s not interested in me like that. He would never—”
“I’ve seen him watching you—”
“He wants me as his acolyte,” she blurted. “He said as much in the trance.” She fidgeted with sudden agitation. “I need to see him. To assure him I’m okay.” Her amber gaze met mine, imploring. “I need to return to the Nhil camp. To see for myself that I’m truly alive and not imagining this entire strange day.” Her voice wavered. “How else can I explain how I’m here when I ought to be sitting beside Solin? Who knows if my body is there with him...dead, all while my spirit walks here...with you.”
“I can’t tell you how you’re here, Runa, only that you are.” I grabbed a handful of her muddy hair. “I feel this.” I tucked the strands behind her delicate ear. “I feel you.” I pressed my fingers beneath her chin. “You are as real as I am.”
Stepping back, she rubbed her arms as I dropped my hand. “That might be, but I still have to go back. They’ll be worried.”
“You can’t go back there.” I kept my temper in check even as the faintest shadow appeared by my knee. “Make the choice to stay here. With me.”
She studied me for the longest moment before stepping back into me and touching my balled hand. The shadow by my knee instantly dissolved, and I exhaled heavily as I unfisted my fingers and entwined them with hers.
“Come back with me,” she murmured. “That was always my intention. I went ahead with the trance with Solin to learn who I was but also so I had a name. The Nhil will adopt me now and grant me a naming and spirit ceremony. Once I’m Nhil, I can request you become part of our family, too. You can live with us instead of...” She trailed off, looking at the sunbathing wolves and the plump happy pups as they tumbled from the den.
