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Ryneth blinked, flushed and dazed, his mouth swollen from Daven’s. “Now?”

Daven’s mouth curved. “Now.”

Taking Ryneth’s hand, Daven led him toward the open terrace doors. They moved into the night, the heavy curtains snapping in the wind and wrapping around them for a beat before the air broke over them.

The terrace curved out into the void, a shelf of stone and glass hanging over the glowing sprawl of Helion. The wind met them at once, still carrying the last trace of rain. Ryneth’s breath hitched as the city dropped away beneath them in ribbons of light thousands of feet below. Daven walked him toward the edge but didn’t reach for Ryneth’s clothes. He stopped there, his silhouette cut sharp against the glowing emerald veins of the city, and held out his hand, palm up.

I’ll keep you forever.

Ryneth stepped forward. The second his boots left the terrace, the air changed. Wind surged up beneath him, solid as stone, curling around his ankles until the height steadied. Daven’s hand slid to his waist, pulling him toward the invisible line where the terrace ended and the void began.

“Eyes here.”

Ryneth looked up into Daven’s amber gaze.

Daven’s hand tightened at his waist. “I’ve got you.”

“I know.”

“Then stay with me.”

Daven took another step, walking backward into the open air. Ryneth followed. His grip tightened hard in Daven’s hand the second he realized there was no floor beneath them. They were suspended thousands of feet above Helion, and the only thing keeping Ryneth there was Daven.

He reached for the light below and pulled it up into the dark. The colors fused, creating a suspended field of light in the heart of the sky.

He’d never shown this to anyone.

The light beneath them flared brighter, changed shape, and spread wider under their feet until the path in the void looked almost solid. Gold and blue fused into something he’d never made.

Ryneth turned toward him, breathing hard, eyes wide. “Daven?”

Daven looked down at their joined hands, at the light holding under them, at the way Ryneth’s power had threaded itself through his without tearing it apart. “I’ve never seen it do that.”

Daven forgot how to breathe.

Ryneth’s fingers tightened in his.

“I was trying to show you something.” Daven looked at the light under them, then back at him. “You made it ours.”

For a second, he couldn’t look away from the path beneath their feet.

He’d never brought anyone out here. Never wanted to. This had always been his. His sky. His height. His private place above the city where nobody could touch him and nothing could ask for more than he was willing to give.

But the light under them had changed the second Ryneth stepped into it.

It hadn’t broken. It had opened.

Daven looked back at him, something rough catching low in his throat. “I don’t think I want it any other way now.”

Ryneth’s breath caught. Then he reached up, his fingers brushing Daven’s chest. Static snapped between them.

Something in Daven’s chest tightened hard enough to hurt. He pulled Ryneth in, their joined hands trapped between them, and kissed him slower this time, deep enough to make Ryneth melt into him.

Ryneth made a broken sound into the kiss, then came back harder, his fingers digging into Daven’s shoulders.

The light under them flared brighter.

Daven tightened his grip, one hand locked at Ryneth’s waist, and kissed him until Ryneth was shaking against him.