“Yes.” Darkness bleeds into my voice, and I can’t stop looking at her mouth. “But I also enjoy disobedience.” I catch her gaze as it darkens, then lower myself until we’re level. “I like breaking things.” My shadows brush her cheek. “Tearing them down.” Over her lip. “Piece by piece.”
Her mouth parts, cheeks flushed, eyes glassy.
“Watching things fight, and fall.” My hand slips around her waist, drawing her closer until our lips almost touch, her heated breath against my skin. “And they always fall.”
I feel the tremor in her breath, betraying how torn she is between stepping back and closing the last inch between us. The red of her eyes burns brighter against the dark threading through, pulling me in like a desperate moth—
“Good to know,” she murmurs, lingering, gaze sweeping from my mouth to my eyes at the darkness staring back at her, starving for her.
Then slowly, she slips back beneath my arm, my hand dangling over her shoulder. She catches it, threading her fingers through mine, and walks on as though nothing happened.
I bite my tongue, but can’t hold back my smile. I’ll remember every act of defiance, and I’ll savour breaking them.
***
Silence settles between us, the busy city blurring into the background as we turn the final corner and reach the promenade.
Her fingers slip from mine when she sees it, and I feel the sharp absence instantly. She steps ahead, towards the edge, hands curling around the metal railing.
The lake surrounds the district in a semi-circle. A man-made expanse of water designed to ensure only one side is accessible by land.
Far in the distance, I find the transparent barrier, crafted by several air elementals. Its shimmering essence bends the air, hardly noticeable, I only see it because I know it’s there.
“It’s beautiful.”
I’ve walked this promenade countless times over many decades, especially during my recent patrols, but never once have I stood still long enough to truly look at the lake. Never have I considered this man-made feature as anything more than a tactical defence.
Yet now, standing beside her as she looks at me with eyes so wide, filled with glee and wonder…
I have to agree.
I’m desperate to show her more. So much more. Places forgotten by time, untouched by others. Just for a chance to see that look again.
“So, this is where the river connects?” she asks, facing the water again. “Must’ve taken a long time to make it run through the atrium.”
“Not when you have skilled earth elementals,” I explain. “Most of the buildings you see in the district were created by earth elementals. A few hours to create a house, a day for more complicated structures, creating a new channel from here didn’t take long.”
“Wow,” she breathes, smiling as she takes in the view. “So how long did the Council building take?”
“A version of it was already in place when we arrived, but it’s expanded since. The atrium was part of the expansion.”
So were the cells, but I don’t say that. For both our sakes.
She turns, leaning against the railing to look up at me. “Has Kacey always worked there alone?”
I nod. “Necromancers are known for manipulating death, but some can heal too. At first, Kacey wanted to help heal others in the infirmary. It didn’t last.” Her brows furrow sadly, knowing Kacey’s affliction with people, and I hate it. “Julien proposed she tried healing animals instead, but the other workers didn’t agree.”
Her expression twists into confusion, then an angry frown pulls her features. “Why? She’s a gifted healer, and she truly cares for the animals.”
“Earth elementals believe they are directly connected to nature. That it’s their role to care for the world and its creatures. They see necromancers as the opposite of everything they stand for.”
I see her anger brewing at the injustice, the prejudice. Just one small example of the bigger issues in this world.
“Earth elementals draw their power from life. Necromancers, from death.”
“So what, they just refused to work with her because they didn’t like what she is?”
“Ezekial offered them a choice. Stay and work with Kacey, or take a position in one of the other atriums.”
