Petrina stood half in front of her, and the man on the other side peered around, his hands raised.
The first time Augustus ever looked at her, it was like being struck with knowing. He was the sea and sun and wind, and his eyes an endless blue sky and fresh earth. He was the moments before the storm.
This man was the storm that struck.
The moment after rain met ash.
Smoke curling off scorched cedar.
Earth that remembered fire.
Roman,the wind whispered.
Selene shrank at the sound, and his name slipped like a faulty noose from her tongue. “Roman.”
Petrina shot a look over her shoulder. “Do you know him?”
Roman smiled. “Of course she does.”
“No, I don’t. But…”
Selene knew his gentle hands. His kind, penetrating eyes. Knew he would put his body in front of hers.
She knew?—
Nothing. She didn’t know anything. Where he’d once lived in her long memory, there was nothing but the bottom of a deep, endless ravine. And she was lost there.
Selene didn’t know when he’d gotten past Petrina’s defenses, or why she’d deemed him safe.
Only that he was there, his fingertips grazing her cheek.
Firelight on stone.
Lips promising forever.
A knife glinting in her own hand.
Selene startled, newly alert following the flashes.
“It’s okay,” Roman said, blue and brown eyes filled with unshed tears. “You’re okay.”
“I don’t know you,” she said, voice catching.
“You will, my love.”
His hand curled around hers, a lock finding its key.
And somewhere inside her, a part of her soulclicked open.
The vast emptiness of Stoneheart Hall was a rare thing to witness. Sometimes, when Kai wished to be alone—to the point of vanishing completely—this was her sanctuary. No one had a reason to be here outside clan meetings and ceremonies. The hall was cold and dark and eerie otherwise.
Atsadi’s silhouette appeared in the carved entryway and paused, backlit by torchlight.
Kai sat in the black shadows, untouched by the distant blue glow of the mountain’s bioluminescence, and watched him. Fala once referred to him as gentle beneath that tall, strong exterior.
Today, Fala flinched at the sound of his name.
“Kai?” he called into the dark.
