They stood like that for some time, crying in silence. Clutching with gratitude. Soaked and exhausted.
There was still so much left undone. She should find the Stormguard. Her mother.
But this mattered, too. This moment. This breath of peace.
Kai raised her head.
Atsadi met her eyes. His breath ghosted over her lips, warm and steady. He threaded fingers into her hair. His thumb swept an arc across her cheekbone. Silver lined his eyes.
Kai felt up the smooth column of his neck, the curve of his throat, over the thrum of his pulse. Fast…just like hers.
Fala’s arm tightened around Kai’s waist. Otherwise, she remained still. Content in their shared embrace.
Atsadi’s warm brown eyes posed a question as his gaze lowered to her mouth.
One she was no longer afraid to answer.
Kai nodded.
His nose brushed hers, once, twice, before his mouth pressed to hers. Soft. Patient.
She inhaled sharply, the world tilting around the point where their lips met. For a moment, there was only warmth and breath and heartbeats.
When he pulled back, their foreheads touched. Her hand was fisted in his wet tunic. She didn’t want to let go.
Fala pulled back gently, careful not to jostle the close hold they all had on each other. She kissed Kai, her lips damp and salty from tears. “Thank you, beloved,” she whispered.
Kai shook her head—whether to deny the thanks or banish the image of the flaming arrows she sent into that vent, she didn’t know. There wouldn’t have been a need to save Fala if she had found any other way out of the arena.
She swallowed hard. “Don’t thank me. I did this. I?—”
Atsadi gripped the back of her neck. “Usti did this. You—we—did what was necessary to survive.”
Fala stroked Kai’s cheek. “It’s okay. Whatever it is.”
It wasn’t okay. None of it. But that truth could wait until tomorrow. Tonight, she would gather her loved ones close and mourn those they lost.
Starting with her wife and husband.
“I love you,” she told them, meeting their eyes in turn.
Fresh tears streamed from her wife’s eyes as she nodded, then met Atsadi’s eyes as well. He held Fala’s face and bent to kiss her.
Kai held her breath, expecting the sting of jealousy.
It never came. Only warmth. And love.
Fala was happy, and Atsadi was where he belonged.
And Kai loved them both.
The village reeked of blood and salt. And now, thanks to the dronsian battle, smoke and fire devoured half of it. Thick, choking ash veiled the sun to a sickly orange-gray.
Selene moved through the battle on steady feet, poignard knives singing against swords. Around her, the two pirate factions clashed like a breaking storm. Thorne’s loyalists locked in brutal combat with the Triarius survivors. Every corner she turned held more blood. More fire. More death.
Even the sky was at war.
Little Gus and Turos met the Vorash in battle, fires blazing in twin trails. The Vorash screamed through the smoke, wings like a tattered shroud. The beast struck fast, forcing the smaller dronsian to scatter. Turos darted away, drawing the Vorash off-course, then returned in a sharp arc to slash at its exposed flank.
