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"You like that I'm holding you," she said with a knowing smile.
"That's a perk, sure." I nodded. "But, come on, look at that view."
The tree in the middle of the building was something straight out of a science fiction movie. Its trunk glowed, green and purple vines twisting around it. I felt like we were on some distant, radioactive planet. We were high enough to see other suspension bridges below us, decorated with yellow lanterns. Not many people were here, so the place nearly felt abandoned.
I got so comfortable, I became daring enough to peek over the side. Sage's grip tightened on me, suddenly more afraid than I was about me falling.
"I'm good," I said. "I just wanted to see how high up we are. It's not…too bad."
She kept a protective hold on me as she peered over too. "No, not bad at all."
I looked at her, eyes widening. "Wait, are you nervous now too?"
"What?" She blew out a breath. "That's…no."
"Sage."
"Okay, maybe a little. Maybe I only came once because I got a bit freaked out. Maybe I forgot about how high these things went and I kept going because I was trying to be brave for you. Because I knew how much you'd love this tree. It reminded me of some of your work in your fantasy comic, the one about the dwarfs and forgotten woods."
"Sage, that comic's on my old Tumblr. Deep in the archives." I'd abandoned it years ago.
"I might have needed some content when I ran out of your chapters on Inkmic. Sue me."
I laughed, too flattered to care about how it made the bridge rock. "Want to take the elevator down and eat somewhere not suspended a hundred feet in the air?" I asked.
She laughed. "Could we?"
"As long as you lead the way and don't let go."
"Done and done," she promised with one more kiss.
Chapter Seventeen
Sage
The concern I’d felt for Noah wasn’t like the one for my family. It didn’t squeeze my chest so tight that I couldn't breathe, but it did settle in my stomach, twisting around my insides so I didn’t get reprieve unless she was in my line of sight.
She was pushing herself too hard. The fire burning in her eyes was the same one I had years ago, but instead of wanting it again, I remember how dangerous it’d become. I want to warn her about how fast it could spread and how much damage it could leave in its wake. I didn’t, though, because if she was anything like me —and the more time I spent with her, the more I realized how alike we were—she’d push me away. Noah ate, slept, and breathed her stories. There was no end in sight until next month, when the finalists were announced and we sent off the first issues of Leisah for final edits.
“Here.” I placed a mug wrapped in a cozy on Noah’s desk. She was hunched over her tablet, hand moving quickly across her work. Gone was the woman who'd been laughing in my arms on a bridge. She barely looked away from her screen as she murmured a thank you.
I almost went back to my desk before noticing sweat on her brow. “Hey?”
“Hm?” There was a splash page on her screen. She was drawing the tiny details of Leisah’s new super suit.
“Are you getting sick?”
Noah looked up at that question. She realized her brow was soaked and pulled out a few tissues from a pastel pink plastic box. “No. I’m good. I get a little overheated when I’m excited.”
She didn’t look excited, though. There were dark circles under her eyes. Her nails were uneven and chipped with lavender polish.
I looked around the office before whispering, “Maybe you should take a break. I can take on the rest of the panels you need to finish for the day.”
“And let you take the credit?” Noah scoffed. “Not a chance.”
The words were supposed to be teasing… I think. The little bite around the edge had me wondering otherwise.
“This isn’t about credit. I’m…worried about you.”
