The world rotated around her too fast for her to grasp one thing in her focus. It all smeared together like paint on a canvas—the muddy ground, the cracked trees, the thick canopy, and the blue sky—over and over and over. Selene hurtled toward the ground, and she braced for the pain of landing.
Out of nowhere, Augustus caught her—his arms around her, his body beneath hers. Her world didn’t end in pain, but in the warmth of the man who had come for her. He sheltered her as they rolled, the world spinning once again, only this time, sticks broke against her back, and stones cut into her spine by turns.
Then, the entire world stopped breathing.
Nothing moved.
All sound vanished like smoke.
Selene parted her lids and saw only filtered sunlight and the careful, fluttering descent of leaves from above.
Augustus groaned.
Her heart lurched, and she sat up only to find her legs tangled with his.
Augustus pulled her onto his heaving chest and wrapped her in his arms. His blue and brown eyes darted across her face. “Tell me this is real.”
Hot tears stung the backs of her eyes. “It’s real.”
His mouth found hers, and she was enveloped in his sun and sea and wind.
A hand smacked Selene on the shoulder, and Petrina dropped to her butt with a grunt. “You did good.”
Selene followed her nod to where the beast lay in a heap, surrounded by broken trees and her exhausted friends.
Augustus sat beside her, one arm holding her tight to his side. A shudder went through him.
“I’m only half-surprised you survived,” Petrina said, her lips quirked up to one side. Then she popped to her feet. “Can we get the fuck off this island now?”
Selene met Augustus’s eyes and smiled. “Yes. Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter
Thirty
Augustus wanted to set sail on theEntiathe moment they reached Okos, but exhaustion anchored them to shore. No one fought it. Not after what they’d been through. They needed sleep and proper baths.
Rooms were acquired in the city—not the best, but better than what the ship could accommodate. The stone walls had only a single, narrow window to allow sunlight through, and the dark wooden beams added a faint perfume of cedar and smoke that mingled with the tang of salty air drifting up from the docks.
Straw mattresses topped the beds; the linen sheets were thin, and the woolen blankets were coarse. Augustus wanted more for his first night back with Selene, but comfort was the last thing on her mind. She curled up to one side and fell instantly to sleep.
As tired as he was, he couldn’t take his eyes off her.
She was like smoke—any moment, she could vanish. And he’d clawed through mud, blood, and bone-deep fear to hold her again.
He didn’t intend to let go.
She was also changed in a way that had nothing to do with how dried sweat plastered her hair or mud spotted her skin.
A scar marred her freckled cheek.
DidThorne do this to her? Did the man have no shame? His war was with the Triarius family—Selene had nothing to do with this.
Maybe Lili was right. Selene was better off without him.
The moon was high when he finally allowed exhaustion to take over. He doused the room’s single oil lamp, curled into Selene, and let sleep take him.
In the dream, his mother sat beside him on a crate, tying knots into a rope while he watched. As much as he tried to mimic her fingers with his own rope, he couldn’t quite get it.
