Now they’d kissed again. Once at Vic’s, which even though he knew didn’t mean anything, kept him up the entire night, tossing and turning, replaying the touch of her soft lips against his until there was nothing left he could do but drop his hand and findrelease.
And then there was tonight, and it was tonight’s kiss that woke a hunger inside of him. A feeling he’d buried deep and tossed a torch to. That had him fidgeting and skin burning and fingers aching just to touch her again.
Why me?
But he knew the likely reason was because she needed a distraction. And if that’s all it was, he’d be the best distraction he could be, because he did not do things casually.
Aesira laughed, drawing his attention and he swore, as her eyes watched him through the flames, he felt that hunger broaden in his chest. Despite the impossibility of it, his heart made of stone began to beat.
“So they aren’t your real names, then?” Aesira glanced at Stone, then back to Birdie and Bee
“Technically no,” Bee said, stoking the fire. “But I’ve been called Bee for so long, I can't imagine going by anything else.”
“Same,” Birdie said. “When we were dragged into Vic’s, a new name was the first thing we were given. Make us understand that we were his. Melt us down to nothing and re-sculpt us.”
Aesira frowned. “Oh trust me, I know how that goes.”
Stone watched her over the fire. He wanted to dissect that sentence. Tear it apart, dig through the words until he could see everything in between that she wasn’t saying aloud.
See if the lies she told herself matched his own.
“But wouldn’t you want to take your old name back?” Aesira tossed a stick into the flames. “You know, now that you’re away from him.”
“For some of us,” Stone said, pulling Aesira’s attention to him, “there’s no going back to who we were. There’s no remembering a life that wasn’t the Outpost.”
Her brows pinched together again. “You don’t remember your name?”
Stone shrugged. Whether or not he remembered his name didn’t matter. He was Stone now and he’d been Stone for more than half his life. He remembered very little about his childhood before finding the Outpost, before finding Patch and Vic.
But what he could remember–being alone, dying of thirst in the desert–wasn’t anything happy. His scars itched as he ran a hand down his face, exhaustion seeping into him like water over sand. “Some things aren’t worth remembering.”
A bone-shattering chill ran down Stone’s spine, jolting him awake. He pulled his glasses from his pocket, wiping them on his shirt before slipping them on.
Bee and Birdie slept tangled together, the last remnants of the fire still smoldering, sending plumes of smoke into the night sky. He glanced to his right where Aesira was curled up under his jacket he’d laid on her after she’d fallen asleep.
A frigid breeze stung the few errant tears on his cheeks. He stood, dusting off his pants and peered over the ridge. The Lunaris moths were gone, likely hiding in the rocks to protect themselves from the cold.
More wind rippled through the air carrying a tune of soft chimes. The high peals reminded him of Soo’s bells. Then, a flurry of whispers danced around him, snaking in his ears.
“What is that?” Bee was up. Birdie, right behind her. Another gust of wind and the chimes sounded again, their high pitches growing closer. More whispers, more voices.
“Music?” Aesira joined Stone’s side. He hadn’t heard her get up, too focused on the unnatural wind and the sound of chimes and the voices he wasn’t sure anyone else could hear. “Is there a settlement on the Whispering Mountains?”
“It’s possible, but I don’t know for sure,” he answered truthfully. He wasn’t keen on not having answers, but he figured better to be honest than get them into trouble. He couldn’t recall any settlements being noted on the Whispering Mountains. As far as the maps went, it should be barren until they eventually descended on the other side, which would bring them to Ravki.
The chimes rang again, then the whispers, closer this time, swirling around them from all sides.
“Maybe a drifter,” Bee said. “Or rebels.”
“Maybe it’s the king.” Birdie smirked but a small stroke of worry landed in Stone’s stomach. Could it be King Desmond? A better person would hope it was Desmond so they could turn around and get him home safely but that would mean not reaching Ravki.
Not finding out if fields ofastrareally existed.
More wind, more chimes, more voices that said nothing, another chill down his spine.
“I’m going out.” Aesira marched past him. He caught her arm before she could make it to the mouth of the cave.
“We don’t know what’s out there,” he said. “Think of the Strix. Of her song.”
