Pressing my lips to the flat of the blade, I turned my back on the body. I lifted my gaze to meet Amélie’s, and she held out her hand, her mouth curving into a tiny smile.
When I reached her, she pulled me close, wrapping her arms around me. “I’m so proud of you. You’re so strong, Hemlock. So fucking strong.”
“Hemlock?”
She nodded, her smile widening. “Mmm. Only a few in the cirque earn a new name, and even fewer choose to accept it. But you…if anyone has earned it, it’s you. You’re not that scared little bird anymore. You faced your demons and conquered them. You’re incredible. What do you say? It’s up to you, of course,but you deserve this. Tonight is both an ending and a new beginning.”
I had no words of my own, shocked to my very core as her words stripped me bare and remade me. She had seen into the deepest part of me and known exactly what I needed. As she said my new name again, it was as if the final strings tying me to my past had been cut. I was free. The last of the poison had drained away.
Our lips met in a kiss, and as I lost myself in the delicious, slow slide of her mouth, I was suffused with a happiness I’d never known before, something that made me feel breathless and weightless and indescribably good.
“You’re right,” I said when I drew back to breathe. A smile curved over my lips. “I earned a new name, and I claim it as my own.”
Amélie returned my smile before pulling me into another kiss.
I truly was a new me, reborn and remade on this night.
I was no longer Wren.
I was Hemlock.
11
Amélie
The big top was dark and empty, illuminated only by a single, soft golden light high above us. Almost three weeks had passed since my little bird had faced her demons and slayed them, and she was like a different person. The underlying fragility that had lingered had gone, moulded into something strong and certain. She had chased away the shadows that followed her for good, and now she was here—happy, light, free, and undeniably, breathtakingly beautiful.
We reached the centre of the ring, and I gestured upwards, to the two long lengths of aerial silk hanging from the rig, the deep crimson fabric barely visible in the low light.
“I thought…” I began, turning to face Hemlock. “I thought maybe we could try something new. Something that’s just ours.” My gaze trailed over her body, lingering, and her eyes widened, her lips parting.
“Oh,” she breathed. “Oh.”
“Only if you want to. I know it’s different. But I thought, maybe…to be up there together, nothing holding us except the silks and each other…flying free…”
She looked up at the ribbons, then back at me, heat flaring in her gaze.
“Yes,” she said. “Fuck, yes. I want to.”
“Then let’s do it. And anytime you want to stop, just say the word.”
She smiled at me as we kicked off our shoes and discarded our top layers until we were both clad in only our sports bras and leggings.
From my bag, I pulled out a small, antique knife with an ornate golden handle—one that Florin had helped me to purchase after a barrage ofincrediblyintrusive questions. The blade was razor-sharp, perfectly balanced, and polished to a mirror shine. Hemlock’s eyes widened slightly when she saw it, but I could clearly see the intrigue in her expression.
“Trust me?” I asked softly.
“Always.” Her gaze turned serious. “You make me feel safe. I know I’m safe with you.”
I nodded, too overcome to speak at her show of trust, and she wrapped her fingers around my wrist, pulling me towards her so she could brush her lips over mine. “You’re safe with me too,” she whispered.
I finally found my voice. “I know.”
Drawing back, she glanced up at the silks. “Then let’s do this.”
When we were both securely suspended, I pulled myself closer using the silk, bringing us near enough that I could lean in and kiss her. “Okay?” I murmured against her lips.
“More than okay.”
