Finally, it was over. Airess toppled over and sat on the boat floor, the sun beating onto her. She shifted in front of Taryn, sweeping a strand of hair out of his eyes, “Are you okay?”
His eyes met hers with an intensity– apowershe hadn’t seen within him before. It was so powerful, she recoiled.
“I feel…Iphysicallyfeel better. My mind's still a little slow,” he explained. Taryn stretched out an arm and examined it. Airess knew exactly how he felt–her entire body feeling stronger, more powerful, than it ever had before.
Taryn stood, leaning on the boat railing for support and punched a gust of wind from his fist that sent him stumbling backward. The boat swayed in response as Airess gripped the railing.
“What was that? You could have flipped this entire boat!”
Taryn only examined his hand, his expression shifting as realization dawned on him. “That energy surge… did you feel it? It felt likeMagick. My abilities are stronger.”
Magick?
She looked down to her palm and contemplated.
Airess tilted her head before lifting her hand to try–
“Airess!” Taryn exclaimed as he limped towards her. He grabbed her wrist, pointing it away from the boat. “The last thing we need is this boat being burnt to a crisp if you try outyourMagick. It would make for a hell of a journey the rest of the way to Rune.”
“Oh,” Airess said, “I’m sorry. You’re right.Gods.”
Taryn laughed, his head tilted back with that pearly grin. Airess noticed each crease that surrounded his eyes and mouth, memorizing them. The sight of it caused her to crack a smile. His laugh was her weakness.
The laughter faded between them until they were both staring at each other–their first real moment of peace since they arrived in Judla. So many questions, so many words that hadn’t been said swirled between them. She still hadn’t told him about the dreamwalker, Ima, and how she led Airess to Taryn. Could she tell him now after how close they had grown, after all they’d been through?
Her gaze slid down to his lips.
The kiss.
Airess couldn’t believeit really happened. She was still drunk on it, forever haunted by the ghost of his touch after his mouth left hers. Taryn had tried to bring it up, but she had brushed him off. She had never been so emotionally involved with anyone in her life. The vulnerability terrified her. She knew it made her a coward.
“Don’t look at me like that,” he said, eyes darkening.
“Like what?”
“Like you think I’m a good person. Like you want to kiss me. Like I deserve you.”
She straightened her back at his words, at the acknowledgement of what happened between them. She willed herself to be bold, to live unapologetically, and took a step forward.
“And what’s so wrong with that?” Airess asked. “You seemed to have no problem kissing me at the Inn.”
There it was.
Taryn’s eyes fluttered closed briefly. His jaw ticked, and when he met her gaze again, there was a longing she hadn’t seen before. Her heart twisted with so many emotions, her head began to spin.
“You deserve better than me.”
“What?” Airess said breathlessly, not expecting his response.
“Airess, you don’t know what I’ve done in my life,” Taryn said, lifting a hand to touch her face before yanking it back, “I’m not the male you think I am.”
Airess thought back to when she dreamwalked into one of his older memories. Back when Taryn was fourteen and had freshly joined the Guild, forced to kill another man in his home to become initiated. She knew that could have only been the beginning of his troubled past, and she had no doubt Taryn was ruthless enough to commit other crimes. But she didn’t care. She wanted to know what he had done. Airess wanted to accept every dark corner she hadn’t explored yet, so she could see him for who he truly was.
In order to do that, she needed to be honest with him. She needed to tell him the truth about Ima.
“There’s something I need to tell you–”
Taryn jolted forward, gripping the railing as his knees buckled. He hissed in pain as he fell to the floor.
