Both of them stared at the contact for several long seconds. She heard a hitch, and a quiver in his breath. But neither moved. Vi’s gaze dragged upward to meet his.
Their shade of green was even more astounding in person. It was the only thing of brilliance in the dark world she now found herself in.
“You’re really here,” he whispered in wonder, despite the fact that he must have been taking care of her for days now.
“I am. Do I feel different to you in person?”
“Not really,” he confessed with a soft laugh. “I can’t tell if that makes me happy or sad.” His other hand lifted, cupping her cheek. Vi could feel the thin layer of grime on her skin that smeared under the pad of his thumb.
“Why sad?” she dared ask.
“Because you came all this way and endured so much…maybe you summoning me through the watch was just as good.”
“It wasn’t.” Vi placed the cup off to the side, shifting her hands so they covered his. One on her face, one in her lap. “I don’t need magic to see you now. Your presence isn’t governed by glyphs. Now you can be by my side whenever I need—every moment of the day.”
“Only if you permit it.”
“I’d permit nothing less.” Vi closed her eyes, tipping her head forward to press her forehead against his. Taavin stayed there, giving her comfort without needing to be asked. “Besides…” Her voice trailed off, sandpaper covering her throat, her soul.
“Besides?”
Vi shook her head slowly. She needed him to help hold her together. Far from home, he was all she had right now—the only familiar thing in a strange land.
But somehow, needing him felt like weakness. It felt terrifying for a reason Vi couldn’t describe.
“Besides,” Vi started again, clearing her throat and leaning away, distancing herself from the moment and the sensation of frailty. “My coming wasn’t purely social. We have work to do.” Vi slowly raised a hand to her watch.
“We do,” he said in solemn agreement.
“What do we need to do now?” she asked. There were two reasons she’d struggled and fought and killed to get to Meru, and this was one.
“I don’t know yet… May I?” Taavin held a hand right before the watch. Vi ignored his closeness. How soft she knew his lips were.
“Go ahead.” Vi rubbed the back of her neck, debating if she should just take it off.
The watch was the last connection she had to the world she’d been born into—to her family. It was perhaps the only thing that could prove she was, in fact, Vi Solaris. Even as her fingertips rolled over the screw-lock that held the chain fast, she couldn’t bring herself to undo it.
A different sensation distracted her—the feeling of shorter hair than she was used to. Vi remembered the start of her escape from Adela—smashing a flame bulb and using the remnants of the fire to try to burn off the gag they’d forced on her. Some of the hair had singed away, and now it was shorter at the back of her head than the rest. She fussed with the ends that now extended barely past her shoulders.
The hair the West had so loved… she’d need to cut it. Like everything else, the thought passed through her mind with a dull ache and little other feeling.
Ignorant to her various internal battles, Taavin’s fingers closed around the watch.
The moment the metal touched Taavin’s skin, magic sparked, exploding out like tiny fireworks from the contact point. Glistening specks sparkled through the air and clung to the barely visible outline of glyphs unknown. Noise filled her mind—so loud and instantaneous that Vi couldn’t tell if it was music or voices, singing or screams. Her breathing quickened. She may have even let out a small shout.
The colors and shapes overtook Taavin as well, encompassing them both for what felt like hours but surely must have only been seconds. His eyes flashed brightly right before the room returned to its dim light—though in the wake of such strange magic, it seemed darker than before.
Taavin’s breathing was heavy. Vi’s heart raced, and she was more alert than she’d felt since she’d woken. They both seemed to be waiting for something else to happen. Yet nothing did.
When Vi could no longer handle the silence, she dared to ask, “What was that?”
“I take it that hasn’t happened before?” The intense stare he’d been impaling the watch with was now turned to her. A sensation similar to the first time he’d ever laid eyes on her crawled up her spine and Vi subconsciously leaned slightly away.
“No… What… what was that?”
“I don’t—” A knock on the door interrupted him. Taavin looked back to her, his eyes frantic. “My wards broke.” The words fell from his mouth, not an answer to her question but several times more horrifying.
“Your wards?” Vi breathed, trying to match how softly he was speaking. Her attention fell with his to his wrist—the glyph that had been there earlier was gone.
