I help Taliesin unfurl his bedroll, where he collapses without ceremony, sleep taking him almost instantly. I sit back on my heels and watch the blue veins fade back into his skin. He should get more time to rest than a night. I should, too. All of us should.
But the world outside keeps burning, and it will not stop for us.
As everyone gathers around the small cookfire, no asks what comes next, because we already know. Whatever waits for us at the Observatory, whatever the Order is building toward, this is our last chance to stop it.
When we leave this cave, we either save this world or we die trying.
39
Sleep eludes me, so I sit at the mouth of the cave, listening to the sounds of everyone’s steady breathing while sketching a vague memory of a circular building hewn from ancient stone. Like a tower, it scrapes the edges of the clouds, but a domed roof opens to the night sky, allowing starlight inside.
And the sky is full of it.
With the point of my silver stylus, I scatter the stars across the parchment in a wild, instinctual pattern that feels inexplicablyright. Like I know exactly where each belongs, even though there are hundreds of them. Thousands, even. The motion comes as naturally as breathing, my hand moving before thought can catch up.
By the time I’m done, my pulse thrums in my neck, like I’ve run all the way to Caer Draen and back.
Something shifts beside me. I look up just as Taliesin joins me, taking a seat on the stone by my side. The last traces of icy blue are finally gone from his skin. He glances at the drawing.
“Very good,” he says. “Is that the Observatory?”
I swallow. “I think so.”
His gaze searches mine. “Do you remember anything else? Oranyoneelse?”
“If you’re asking if I remember what happened in your dreams, I don’t.” My voice lowers to a whisper, my heart pounding harder. “Do you finally want to tell me?”
“You came to me, and we talked,” he says quietly.
“Hmm.” I arch a brow. “As little as I can remember, I do know it was more than that, Taliesin.”
The corner of his mouth twitches, though something like sorrow hovers beneath it.He reaches up to cup my cheek, brushing his thumb over my skin with aching tenderness. His eyes hold pain and something else. Something I can’t name but feel deep in my gut, pounding there like a second heartbeat.
“Only once,” he murmurs. “Months ago. You stopped visiting me after that. I assumed you regretted it.”
“Just once?” I breathe.
“Believe me when I say I wanted to for many years before that. Even in my dreams, it felt like we were bound—like fate was trying to force us together.” He releases a sigh that’s rough and heavy with longing. “And no matter what you said, all I wanted was to be close to you. That’s all I want now. Even if I can’t touch you, I just want to be near.”
“You can touch me,” I whisper before I can stop myself.
But I mean every word. I want him to touch me more than anything.
For a moment, I don’t think he will. Then he leans in, still cradling my face between his hands, and brushes his lips against mine so softly it feels like the kiss of wind across my skin. My heart trembles. Want and need crashes through me all at once. I clutch his tunic and pull him closer, kissing him back with a hunger I feel deep inside my bones.
A low sound rumbles in his throat. Then his control shatters. His mouth crashes against mine, and his hands slide to mywaist, pulling me so tightly against him I can feel every hard line of his body. The scent of leather and rowan surrounds me, dizzying and wholly Taliesin.
I slip my hand along his shoulder, tracing the shape of him, learning every inch until I reach his throat. My fingers splay across his skin there, and the rapid thrum of his heartbeat echoes my own.
His hand covers mine. He holds it there, like he knows I could stop his heart if I chose, and it doesn’t matter. Like he wants me anyway, in spite of what I am.
Desire flares in my core.
I bite his lower lip. He groans, his hands sliding to my hips and guiding me onto his lap. My knees settle on either side of his waist, and I feel him hardening against me. Another wave of want crashes over me with a burning heat.
He clutches me tighter, shifting his length against me. Stars blaze in my eyes. My nails dig into his shoulders, and his fingers bite into my thighs, and the fire burning through me is almost unbearable.
My breath catches as his hand trails down my thigh. He skims the edge of my core, stopping just short of where I need him the most. I gasp, pressing closer.
