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I scream as we are knocked back together under its crushing weight.
Stillness follows. I struggle to breathe.
With a groan and a cry of exertion, the kaligorva is rolled away.
I scuttle back, eyes wide as the figure stands and turns to face me, broad shoulders heaving.
Belwyn.
“What—what are you doing here?” I cry, finding I do, indeed, have the strength to stand.
He stares at the beast, at his hands, then at me with wide eyes. “I came for you,” he huffs between breaths. His mouth opens to say something else, but I run into his arms before he has a chance. He stumbles, and we both sink to the ground before we fall down the slippery bank of the stream.? I bury my face in the warm leather of his jacket and sob, then laugh, then sob again. His breaths puff hot against my head, and he shakes with the aftereffects of adrenaline.
“You shouldn’t have followed me,” I say after a while, and his arms tighten around my back.
“And you shouldn’t have left without me.” His stern voice makes my stomach spiral. Warm fingertips find my jaw and turn my face toward him. His eyes search mine. “Why would you do that?”
I lay my palms against his chest and push him back. “You don’t understand. I have felt alone my whole life. And my father ...” I gulp against the tears burning the inside of my skull. My head shakes too fast. “I can’t bear the thought of anyone else hurting because of me.”
The fire in his gaze dulls to a warm glow. “And I’ve spent my whole life afraid of standing up for what I know is right. But you were the one who gave me the courage to do that.” His voice drops to a whisper that stirs a tingling sensation deep inside my core. “I feel it, Amyrah. Can you?”
My fingers tense against him. “Feel what?”
His lips pull into a soft smile. The ring in his nose glints. “Whatever happens after this moment, we’re meant to face it together.”
47. Belwyn
BELWYN
I BELIEVED NOTHING COULD RUIN ME like the thought of losing Amyrah.
But as we curve together beside the clear, flowing stream and it whispers to us, I know I am wrong. I am ruined by the way her head nestles into my shoulder and the night wraps around us like a blanket. I am ruined by the subtle rise and fall of her chest, like waters lapping on the shores of Loch Skythe. As my hand moves over her hair of its own accord and my fingers lose themselves in their lengths, I am ruined.
She sighs heavily, ending the ephemeral moment. I resist the urge to tighten my arms around her, to keep her always next to my heart.
“The sola,” she says as she sits up. “I need to see it.”
I nod and get to my feet, reaching a hand to her, but I draw it back slightly when I remember how she rejected it last time.
As she flicks her hair out of her face and looks up at me, a curious expression twists her lips. “Wasn’t this how we met?”
The corner of my mouth twitches with a roguish smile, and her laugh flits through the night on bird’s wings.
She slips her hand into mine.
The crumpled body of the sola lies on the other side of the stream. I splash across the water and crouch next to Amyrah.
I can find only a couple large wounds emitting glittering light as the blood drips from them. It’s impossible to know how many more internal injuries the wolf sustained.
Fresh tears slip down Amyrah’s cheeks as she reaches a trembling hand to the creature. A moment before she can touch it, its chest lurches, sending both of us sprawling back.
“It’s alright.” She laughs breathily.
I close my eyes for a beat and plead with my heart to quit trying to kill me.
Amyrah approaches it again, slowly slipping her fingers into the dense fur.
The wolf’s breaths, ragged at first, fall into a steady rhythm. Amyrah pushes her palm even deeper into the fur, leaning forward and whispering into its ear. I can barely make out what she’s saying, but it sounds like a story.
