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I remembered how to breathe as I looked back at him. “I love you, too,” I whispered, feeling all the sorrow, the joy, the passion that knowledge gave me.
He rocked backward to get rid of the last of his clothing.I love you,I thought as he positioned himself over me, allowing me to feel all his weight. All his strength.
I love you, I thought as he nuzzled me, kissing my jawline before he aligned us.I love you,I thought again, even as the penetration made me take a sharp breath. He exhaled slowly in response, and for a moment, neither of us moved. I wondered if we could stay like this forever.
Then he raised himself back up over me and started to move. I lifted my legs, wrapping them around his waist and crossing my ankles behind the small of his back. He smiled at me before he leaned down and kissed me again.
I love you, I love you, I love you.
“Fenris,” I whispered quietly, when we had both finished and caught our breath. I felt boneless, sated, but I couldn’t fall back asleep. I reached over to touch his hair. “Are you awake?”
“Mhm.” His amber eyes fluttered back open and met mine.
“Fenris,” I said again.
“Celeste.”
“I love you.”
“I know,” he said, and rolled onto his side to give me a kiss that said everything I needed to hear.
Chapter 25
Celeste
The Wilderness
Andes Mountains, Peru
Time Until the Eclipse: 1 Day
Fenris held me as I caught my breath, and for a time, I was able to pretend this was any other night. I imagined that we were back at his home on Isla Lobo, but it wasn’t the gentle waves I could hear; it was the trees rustling overhead. There was no salty scent of the sea, but the heavy, earthy smell of the jungle’s floor. The stiller I was, the more I became aware of the life all around us—not just the insects and birds sleeping in their homes, but our friends and allies in the tents around ours.
Deeper in the forest were those loyal to the Solar Sovereign, hiding and waiting for their moment.
I swallowed hard and tried to cling to my last remaining sense of calm. I wasn’t doing a great job.
Fenris stirred and stroked his hand up and down the length of my spine. “I know you have to be careful with what you say,” he said quietly, “but if there is anything youareable to say toassure me that you’ll be safe by the end of tomorrow, no matter what happens, I need to hear it.” He paused. “I will be protecting you with my life, and while I’ll do whatever I can to prevent the Solar Sovereign from killing me by using you, I’m more concerned about losing you in some way.” Fenris sighed. “I know you haven’t told me everything. That you’re not able to tell me.”
I said nothing, running my tongue over my teeth as I racked my brain for what Icouldsay. Of course I didn’t want to trigger the death mark when we were so close to the eclipse, but I didn’t want to lie, either.
Fenris exhaled heavily when I didn’t answer right away. “I get the feeling you are expecting a different outcome than I am in terms of what tomorrow brings,” he said, his hand stilling on my skin. “I just…I need you to be okay, Celeste. I am trusting you with more than my own life. I’m trusting you withyourlife, which is infinitely more important to me.”
It was all I could do not to burst into tears in that moment. As if the stress of the eclipse weren’t enough, that was one of the kindest, most heartfelt things anyone had ever said to me.
I took a deep breath, pressing my face into his chest. “I just…I just wish I was able to figure out what my mother was telling me in my dream,” I whispered. It wasn’t the whole truth, but itwastrue. Enora had clearly been communicating with me, but I still hadn’t solved the riddle. I kept having dreams about Zyanya as a dragon and the eclipse and…
My grimoire!
I bolted upright as I remembered how I’d opened my grimoire in the dream. I fumbled it off the bedside table, clutching it against my chest.
‘The answers you seek will be found under the moon and stars, you realize.’
Was that more literal than I’d thought?
I turned to Fenris, ignoring that he was looking at me like I’d just grown a second head. “Is there somewhere we can go where the jungle canopy isn’t so thick?” I asked. “I need a clearing.”
He stared for a second. “Right now?”
