VEXAR
IHOLD AMARA’S hand to my chest, where, just beneath the surface, one of my hearts beats in perfect synchrony with hers. It is a strange sensation, having two heartbeats when I have only ever had one. Strange and beautiful.
When I was young, I spent many afternoons dreaming that I might someday forge aZhyrrakbond. That I might find the one person my heart would awaken for. It was a silly dream. An impossible one. But I was young and full of hope, and somehow, that hope was not nearly as foolish as I was told.
Amara’s eyes open, and I drink in her beauty. She looks so much like the Goddess Xelora that if her skin were any paler, I might mistake her for the statue I kneel before every morning. Small round nose, full lips that turn down at the corners, and an uncanny depth in her eyes.
Stunning.
Darkness has consumed the desert outside, but the winds still howl, pummeling the Coliseum with sand, slowly reclaiming bits of the structure and returning it to the barren wilds beyond. It is the never-ending march of entropy. Theunseen hand that constantly moves us all towards predictable chaos.
These cycles have always been and always will be. They are resolute and reliable. And perhaps that is the way of all things, coming and going in dependable waves of chaos and reorganization. A pattern that only exists if you know what to look for. Amara is chaos, and instinct tells me to trust her the way I trust these cycles.
“My people have two hearts,” I say slowly. “One here,” I move her hand to the left, “and the other, here,” I move her hand to the right. “But this heart is meant to be dormant. Under normal circumstances, it should only beat a handful of times each day.”
“But yours is…” Her eyes flick up to mine. “Is there something wrong? Did you lose too much blood?”
“There is nothing wrong.”
“Then why is it beating like that?” Her posture straightens. “It’s getting faster. Is that normal?”
“It is matching yours.”
Her mouth pinches, and her brows furrow. “Why would it do that?”
“Because you are the second half of my soul.”
She rips her hand from beneath mine and glares at me with unbridled irritation. “Fucking hell, Vexar. Really? The second half of your soul?”
“I… Do you not feel?—”
“Feel what? Whatever weird alien wizardry you’re up to?” She shakes her hands out and takes another step back. “No, yeah. I feel it. I feel like my heart is going to break out of my chest. Like I’m losing my fucking mind!”
“Alien wizardry?” I ask.
“Yeah! Wizardry! Like you’ve put me under some sort of spell,or are dowsing me with alien pheromones. Wooing me with those perfect green eyes, and your witty but somehow poetic banter, and those deceptively gentle hands, and … and that fucking body!” She presses her palms over her eyes and starts to pace. “Oh my god!”
My heart warms at her many compliments.
“I can’t believe this!” she shouts, throwing her hands up. “You’re trying toscamme, aren’t you?” She glances at me and shakes her head. “Soul mates.Kings.Jesus fuck. How did I fall for that?”
I press my lips together, but I cannot hide my smile.
“Why are you smiling?” she shouts, her voice reaching a much higher pitch than usual.
“Amara, I am not ‘dousing you in pheromones’ or trying to ‘scam you’. I am not doing anything.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean? Are you trying to say that I’m doing this? Because?—”
“No,” I say, shaking my head while a laugh plays at the edge of my teeth, “fatedid this.”
“Fate?” Her face drops into an unamused expression. “You want me to believe that ‘fate’ is making your pants tent?”
I scrub a hand over my face. This is not going well, but she is all fire, and I love it.
Pressing my palms into my knees, I lean towards her, ignoring the pain in my side. “Do you really think the only thing happening here is me being aroused by you?”
“I…” she says, trailing off and biting her lower lip before throwing her hands up again. “I don’t know!”
