They are real,she reminded herself. Her heart pressed firm against her ribs, like it was reminding her to breathe.
“Isn’t this the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen?”
When Stone didn’t answer, she turned to him, a flush rising to her cheeks when his eyes were already on her.
“It’s a very close second,” he said. His hand tightened on the back of her neck, a gentle squeeze that traveled clear down her spine.
The light from the moon and the moths danced over his face, but when it caught his eyes again, her thoughts disappeared. All she could see was him and all of the reasons she’d told herself to stay away from him didn’t matter. He was distracting. An Odega.
He was also handsome and smart and–
“Can I kiss you, Aesira?” He leaned closer, his forehead resting on hers. His breath was sweet, like the lemon squares Bee had given her earlier. “I know that I shouldn’t. That we'd forget anything ever happened…” His fingers flexed on the back of her neck again. So tentative. Like he was unsure if he should be touching her at all. She liked that he was nervous. It made her feel like she was still somewhat in control.
She tried to remember her plan. Tried to think of how he was nothing more than a distraction for her. Tried to scream at herself that getting tangled up with someone, an Odega no less, was the absolute last thing she needed to do right now.
But her traitorous heart pounded in her chest and her stomach flipped and even if she could lie to herself most of the time, she didn’t want to tonight. Not when he was so close and the Lunaris moths were dancing and the new moon brought so much hope and his hands touching her was the only thing that seemed to keep her head on her shoulders.
She closed the gap between them, her lips closing in on his. Her hands moved over his chest, his muscles tensing under her touch, then relaxing before he kissed her back. Still gentle, but he moved with a purpose. His fingers slid up from her neck and buried in her hair, nails scraping lightly against her scalp.
He kissed her again, firmer now and Aesira couldn’t stop her body from leaning into his touch, couldn’t stop her lips from parting and her hands finding their way to the nape of his neck. He pulled her tighter, kissing her harder.
Perhaps he needed the distraction as much as she did, or maybe it was something else, but it didn’t matter because all there was to do on this mountain, on this journey was overthink and Stone was giving her a few minutes of relief from being inside her own head. Her fingers ran lightly over the back of his neck, down to his chest, catching on one of his scars peeking out from the top of his shirt.
She leaned forward and kissed it. “Did somebody do this to you?” Stone tensed again and she leaned back to see his face. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have asked.”
“It’s okay,” he said through a smile. His hands slid down her body until they anchored at her waist. “I’ve had the scars for as long as I can remember.” She frowned and he must have seen because he pressed his knuckles under her chin again and tilted her head up. “They don’t hurt. Not anymore.”
She breathed a sigh of relief and leaned forward to kiss him again when something soft tickled her hand; a tiny moth had perched there, its furry legs stretched out beneath its body. She held it between them, the bright light of the Lunaris moth tinted Stone’s face a light purple.
“We’ve made a friend,” Stone said. Aesira raised her hand, urging the moth to fly away but it stayed anchored to the back of her hand, its light growing dim. “I think you’re putting it to sleep.”
“Sleep?” Aesira stroked the back of the moth, admiring the softness in its scales.
Then it hit her.
All at once, a heavy sense of familiarity rushed her, like walking into a room you’ve never been in but recognizing the layout, the curtains, the scent.
“I’ve seen these before,” she said. “These moths.”
Stone shook his head, stroking a gentle finger down one of the moth's wings. “It’s unlikely. They only breed and live here. On this ridge. So sacred to the mountain my book didn’t even have drawings of them, only where to find them.”
Aesira glanced at the sleeping moth again. The large expanse of its wings. The markings adorned on them, like tiny crescent moons. As if Celestria created them herself. But it was in the markings that she knew what she’d seen.
“No, I’ve seen this before, Stone. Not in person, but in one of Desmond’s journals. Kamari showed it to me the day we came to see you. He’d drawn at least a dozen of them on a single page.”
Stone’s brows pinched together. “Maybe,” he said. “It’s possible he could have seen them in a book. Vargah does have a much more expansive library than the Outpost.” The moth fluttered on Aesira’s hand then took off through the air, a dizzying orb of silvery light.
It was entirely possible that Desmond had seen a Lunaris moth in a book and became fascinated with them. Maybe he knew they’d be here, on his way to Ravki. Which only meant he’d planned his journey ahead of time. For months, maybe, without Kamari knowing.
Stone’s fingers drifted up her back, bringing her thoughts shooting straight to where all the places their bodies were still connected. Bee’s distant laugh sounded behind them, echoing off the ridge.
“We should get back to the others,” she said.
“Right.” Stone nodded and her eyes dipped to his mouth. Still pink from their kiss, still parted like he was waiting for another one. Would it be so bad to kiss him again?
Yes. It would be bad, she decided. Because if she kissed Stone again, it wouldn’t stop there. She would keep going and she would use him just as she’d used all her past lovers and she didn’t want to do that with him.
And the realization struck her through the chest.
