Shadows cast darkness over the beach, but around us is a bubble of sheer light. Not light—but energy. The humming presence of his aura protects us from the wave of darkness.
He angles his head. “You’re welcome.”
“I didn’t thank you.” I wipe my bloody blade on my leathers and look around. “Prove useful, and maybe I will.”
He chuckles, looking up at a darkening cloud in the distance. “You’re a difficult one to save, Starfire. Let’s just hope this turns out better than the last time.”
The last time being when he died for me in the prison.
The thought of Wilder dying protecting me a second time makes my stomach clench. Or maybe it’s the thought of him dying at all. Anything that ends with him no longer being here is unbearable.
A scream tears through the darkness—deeper than any night. Angrier than any storm.
“We need to get to Greer.”
Wilder glances down, and I realize I’m gripping his arm. Thefabric of his shirt is thin enough to feel the heat of his magic radiating off him. It burns so hot my palm sizzles, but I don’t let go; I simplyfeelit.
“Stay near me,” Wilder says.
I know better than to believe he’s protecting me because he cares. If I die, he dies; we’re tied. And if that isn’t a good enough reason, there’s the slim hope he’s clinging to that I’ll choose him at the Rite.
He’s protecting me for my magic, that’s all, I remind myself.
Wilder turns, but a bolt with no form surges toward us, so he pulls me down to the sand. “Gods damn it.”
He laces his fingers through mine, and my skin tingles at the vibration of his storm magic moving like a current through his veins as he tugs me to my feet and we start to run.
“You think I’m a storm wielder?”He pulls me along beside him, aiming for a mass of tents and guards.
“Is now really the time for you to be picking apart my thoughts?”
“It helps me focus.”He’s in my head, but his gaze is on anything else, watching as we cross the beach, avoiding what feels like an oncoming wave of trouble.
Ravagers circle, refusing to take their physical form. And I worry there are too many of them for the Guard on the beach to handle, especially if we can’t fight them.
“What are you then?”I ask, trying to think about anything except what we’re about to face.
“Since when do you care?”
“I don’t care. I’m distracting myself from imminent death.”
“It’s not imminent. Not with me by your side, Starfire.”He glances at me long enough to wink, and I roll my eyes.
“Your ego is ridiculous.”
Wilder chuckles, and it makes my spine prickle.
We reach the line of tents, finding half of them on fire. Pillars of smoke stretch up into the darkness like the pyres onAlyssium. My gaze cuts to the ocean, where right now a matching beacon of death could be burning, and my heart tugs.
“Down.” Wilder pulls me against him, shielding me as he throws out a hand.
Lightning rains from above.
“Not lightning,”he corrects me, and our gazes meet. He’s so close I can feel him breathing. I can see how thick his lashes are when he blinks. I can absorb the full depth of his golden eyes. The shimmer on their surface is an illusion because they go far deeper than being just one color. Every layer is another shade of gold. His eyes are the heart of their very own realm.
Wilder smirks, probably reading my thoughts, and I shove him off me.
“Get out of my head.”
