Indira looks over her shoulder at Nadya. “In exchange for what? Oh! Oh, never mind. I don’t want to know.”
Nadya gives me a wink, closing the door behind them.
I let out a sigh of relief, whirling around to where Dante was standing, but I still don’t see him. I dart to the balcony doors, but before I can open them, Dante’s voice sounds out from behind me.
“What the fuck just happened?”
I turn to see him sitting on the bed, and my breath catches in my throat. “Oh. Hi.”
His black shirt is unbuttoned at the collar, sleeves pushed up to his forearms, revealing the lean muscle beneath. His hair falls in loose waves around his face, but it’s his eyes—stormy and intent—that hold me captive. “Is Indira losing her vision or something?”
“Right. That.” I clear my throat. “Nadya has been practicing some… magic.”
He looks… wrecked. Beautifully, achingly wrecked. He rakes a hand through his disheveled hair, his shoulders slumped. “Magic? What do you mean?”
I move forward and sit beside him on the bed. “There are witches from Bastos in her bloodline. When we were there, we visited her great-aunt, and she gave Nadya a book of spells to practice. In Messanya, Nadya made an apple disappear. It only lasted a minute, but it was completely cloaked. Invisible to the eye.” I watch his reaction. “I guess she’s getting better.”
He searches my face, as if waiting for the punchline of a joke. Then his brows come together. “I was invisible?”
“I turned around, and you were gone.” I let out a soft chuckle and shake my head. “And it’s a good thing because Indira would have either kicked you out herself or reported you to your father.”
He nods, but then his gaze drops to his hands.
“What?” I tilt my head to see his face better. “What is it?”
His eyes find mine. “I don’t know what it’s going to take to get you to stop risking your life for me.”
Oh. This is about me using my magic at the trial. “First of all, when I was active as commander of my regiment, I was risking my life almost every day. Second, we don’t know that using my magic is necessarily risking my life. It causes pain, yes. But as you can see, I’m perfectly fine now. It’s just a temporary cost to an extremely important cause.”
He looks like he’s about to argue, but I touch my finger to his lips.
“And thirdly,” I continue, “that was the last trial. You’re finished. I won’t have to risk it anymore.”
A beat passes between us, and then the tension fractures. His hand lifts, fingers brushing my jaw, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear. “You don’t know what it does to me, knowing you’re willing to tear yourself apart for me. Willing to speak up for me. Celeste, you’re my everything. Don’t you see that?”
It feels like my heart is swelling inside my chest, filling me with a comforting warmth that makes my body hum.
He leans closer, his forehead touching mine, and I let my eyes fall shut. I tilt my face up just as his mouth meets mine.
The kiss is slow at first—sweet, unhurried, as if he’s savoring every brush of my lips. But when I thread my fingers through his hair, tugging him closer, something in him snaps. His hands slide down to my waist, pulling me flush against his body as the kiss deepens, hunger coiling between us.
I curl my hands into the front of his shirt and pull him to me as I lean back on the bed, answering him with another kiss, fierce and full of the longing I’ve kept locked away when watchful eyes are around.
A sharp crack splits the air. I jolt, breaking our kiss, my heart hammering against my ribs as I reach instinctively for the dagger tucked beneath my pillow.
Dante’s head snaps toward the balcony doors. “What in the—”
Another explosion thunders through the night, followed by a cascade of light flaring against the walls. My pulse spikes, and without another word, we move. I slip off the bed with dagger in hand as Dante jumps to his feet. We reach the balcony together, shoulders brushing as I push open the doors and step into the cool, night air.
The sky is ablaze, just like Nadya said.
Brilliant bursts of color bloom across the heavens—scarlet, gold, violet—each one brighter than the last. Trails of shimmering sparks rain down like falling stars before vanishing into the dark. Another blast follows, louder, shaking the stones beneath my bare feet.
I loosen my grip on the dagger, exhaling softly. “Gods,” I whisper. “I thought we were under attack.”
Dante chuckles low beside me, but there’s a note of wonder in his voice. “So did I.” His forearms rest against the balcony’s stone ledge as his gaze follows the next eruption, a silver fountain spilling across the sky. “I’ve never seen anything like this before.”
“Neither have I.” I lean forward, captivated as the sky lights up again in a dazzling spray of emerald and gold. “I suppose Mersos keeps a few secrets of its own.”
