She downed the rest of her drink.
‘You didn’t pour me one?’ Will’s voice was hoarse – a mere rasp over the crashing of the waves against the cliffs. She turned to see him leaning against the doorway, his hair mussed, a pair of fresh black cotton pants sitting low on his hips. An angry red mark marred his side, but his skin was clear of blood. She’d made sure of it.
‘I left water by your bed.’
Will plucked a glass from the dresser, holding it up so she could see the brown liquor. ‘I know. So I helped myself instead. Some caretaker you are,’ he teased as he made his way to her, his steps stiff and tight. His jaw locked as he braced his forearms on the balustrade.
‘Are you hungry? I can send for some dinner,’ Aya asked. She started for the door, but Will caught her wrist, holding her in place. His gray eyes were solemn as they flitted across her face. ‘What?’
His fingers shifted, his thumb pressing into the center of her palm, in that space where her oath once was. ‘I know you healed me.’
He was lucky to be alive. Andshewas lucky – lucky that no one had seen that flare of light from her palm as she tried to knit his flesh together enough to stave off the bleeding until the healer arrived. Lucky that pulling her healing affinity forward had felt like trying to find light underground instead of the raging well she’d felt just moments before.
‘You were bleeding out.’
‘You risked healing me, and yet you didn’t touch your power during that attack. You were willing to die,’ he muttered. ‘You could’ve easily used your power to free yourself from that hold. And don’t tell me it was because they were human. We were under attack.’
Aya frowned as she tried to read what was on his face. ‘I told you, I can’t use too much—’
‘I’ve watched you decimate an entire square without taking a breath.’
Aya tensed as she tugged her hand from his grip. ‘Is that what you want me to do? Kill everything standing in my path?’
‘If it means that you live to see another day then yes, that’s exactly what I want you to do,’ Will ground out. ‘He would’ve killed you had Aidon not arrived—’
‘Iwould have killedyouhad Aidon not arrived!’ The words ricocheted between them, the truth leaving her lips before she could stop it. It settled into the growing silence like a stone.
She had no doubt it was the truth; that had she unleashed her power, it would not have cared who lived and who died. She folded her arms across her chest, suddenly cold despite the humid night.
‘I don’t believe that for a second.’ His voice was soft as he turned to face her, his hip leaning against the balcony.
‘“You and I both know it’s not light that drives you.” You said that to me.’
Will’s face was grave. ‘I was angry,’ he confessed. ‘I didn’t actually think—’
‘Stop,’ she demanded. ‘Stop pretending like I’m not a danger to anyone who gets close to me. To anyone I care about.’
Something shifted in his gaze at that, and he took a small step toward her as he set his drink on the balustrade. His hands slid up her arms to grasp her shoulders, his head ducking to meet her gaze.
‘I see you,’ he said roughly, giving her shoulders a light squeeze. ‘I havealwaysseen you. And nothing I see in you is dark, Aya.’
But he didn’t know that secret she kept buried so deep; the one she hadn’t told a soul, not even Tova. Just as he didn’t feel the tempest of raw power inside of her – the way it threatened to devour until there was nothing left.
I will destroy everything I’ve ever loved, just as I always have.
She shook her head, emotion swelling in her chest, but Will pulled her closer. ‘I’m here. To pull you back from whatever edge you’re so afraid of falling over.’
‘You can’t promise me that,’ Aya breathed. ‘We don’t even know where the edge is.’
There was nothing but uncompromising will in his face. ‘Then I’ll go over it with you. To the seven hells themselves, if we must. No matter how far the fall.’
Aya blinked up at him. This honesty between them … it was still so new. But his words felt like a promise. An oath. She brushed her thumb across the bare skin of her left palm, and Will slid his hand down, his thumb pressing against where that mark once was.
‘You miss it,’ he surmised. She still hadn’t grown used to her healed skin – the smoothness that replaced the bumps and ridges from her years in the Dyminara. She’d almostbeen willing to keep a scar from where Aidon had cut her, if only to feel more like herself.
If only to serve as a reminder that she was not what the world had hoped for.
‘I do,’ she agreed quietly as she brushed a hand over the mark on his side, watching as his muscles jumped at her light touch, his skin prickling as she trailed her fingers across the scar.
