“Hold on,” I say, breathless, sweeping forward, toward the statues, as though my body is not prickling and I am not aloft on the possibility…the chance…thehope. “It must work on people, too. Then. Then…” Then I will know the shade of my mate’s eyes, and she shall be the first to tell me what she thinks of the shade of mine, and…
I stop before a stone woman, her face marked with a tear. Holding her stone eyes, I will myself into the hands of my mate’s bidding.
The stone cracks, and that’s enough for me. It works.I can undo the magic. I have the power to control it, the power to fix my own mistakes, the power to see my Heather.
Twirling, I slam the door on the statues before the woman is fully free and meet Heather by my desk as she rises, stumbling blindly toward me. “I felt a shift in your magic. You did it, didn’t you?”
Her excitement hits mine, and my flesh tingles.
I whisper, “I did it. I can do it.”
The sensation of that knowledge arrests me, surreal and distant. An age of choices, an era of powerful powerlessness…unwoven. Unraveled.
“Can I see you now? Please?” Heather begs.
Fear pricks my mind, suggesting that the world may yet be so cruel as to rob her from me. This taste of hope feels frail still. So I reach into my robes for the knife Pollux gave me long ago…as my parting gift. It used to be his. He’d made it himself out of pure nightmare fuel and steel.
When he gave it to me as a goodbye, I thought he intended I kill myself with it. I wondered for a long time if he knew how tormenting the essence of his magic on the blade was. I suspect he has no idea how I sobbed when the very last of it faded away, like a scent.
Now, I fit that precious blade in my soulmate’s hand.
“Wha—”
I cover her lips with a kiss and lift her grip into a position before my heart.
“Castor?”
“Precaution,” I say. “If this does not work…please let me die in your hands.”
Her emotions sink, and I hate myself for having destroyed her thrill, but healing does not happen in a moment, and I am still a long way from trusting that any good thing can be mine for long. If the universe in its cruelty turns my angel to stone, I will follow, marrying my blood on her hands and hoping that either I find death or I join her in the same prison.
Perpetually immovable.
Perpetually together.
Her resolve returns, and she grips the weapon, letting the tip prick my chest. “Wherever we go from this moment, it will be together.”
“Yes,” I whisper, cupping her cheek. “Together.” I lay a gentle kiss on her pink lips. “Open your eyes now, my love.” My heart seizes, but I persist. “Lookat me.”
Blue appears, fearless, sky-shaded,beautiful.
My mouth goes dry as my lips part, and I stare. I stare at a clear day painted in love. Unbearable amounts oflove.
Awe consumes her, and she drops my blade, letting it clatter to the ground. Perfectly mobile, her arms lift, her hands reach, her fingers frame my cheeks, and her mouth falls open.
Hoarse, I say, “I’ve never been able to tell what color they are. I know they’re red when I’m a snake. But…whenever I’ve been able to bear looking at myself in the mirror…I can’t tell. And whenever I’ve cut them out one at a time…I can’t tell. I don’t know what to make of them.”
“They’re…everything,” she whispers.
“Everything?”
“They’re…beautiful. This one.” She touches the corner of my left eye. “Is deep earth and forest rimmed in silver. It’s like a nightscape. And this one.” She fixes her attention on my right eye. “Brighter. Blues. Sky and sea and circled in gold. Like sunlight. You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen, Castor. They’re entire worlds.”
Behind me, a woman screams, and my dear sweet soulmate jumps.
“Ah.” I wet my lips. Something crashes, and my jaw locks. “That’s…probably not good.”
“Probably not,” Heather concurs, dazed, hypnotized by my eyes, getting closer every moment. “Do you think we can cancel the rest of our plans for today?”
