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“Take your breath, Luke.”

Luke obeyed, inhaling long and deep.

Syrus pulled him under.

LUKE

Luke let himself be pulled under the water.

By all rights, he should have been terrified. It was only earlier today he’d seen a man taken under who’d never come back up. And it was dark and cold, even with the extra warmth created by Syrus’s large form and his suggestive voice. Luke could feel the currents pulling at them as they sank. If Syrus let go, would Luke even make it back to shore?

But Syrus wouldn’t let go. Luke knew that as surely as he knew anything. And maybe it was that knowledge, or maybe it was the fact that nothing could compare to the terror Luke had felt earlier that day when both he and Colby were in danger, but there was no fear now. Or, at least, nothing Luke couldn’t handle. Nothing beyond the animal instinct in his body that told him this wasn’t an environment where he belonged.

But then Syrus didn’t belong on land either, and he made do. He did it for Luke. For Colby. Luke could do the same for him now.

He’d closed his eyes when his head had dipped below the water, but a touch on his cheek had Luke opening them again. He ignored the sting of salt and kept them open.

He could see, despite the murky dark. He could see because Syrus was…glowing. His tail, his spurs, the blue of his ears. They were all luminescent under the water. A bright, electric blue.

It was eerie and beautiful all at once, Syrus’s sharp, gorgeous features thrown into definition by that strange light, everything else around them dark and dismal.

Luke barely had time to process it before Syrus ducked forward, pressing a light kiss to Luke’s lips. He flashed Luke a sharp-toothed grin, leaned back, and opened his mouth. A song poured out of him, a multitonal melody.

Holy. Shit.

Luke forgot all about the cold. He forgot about the dark water surrounding them. He forgot about the fact that at any second he’d need to breathe.

The song was unlike anything that could possibly come from human vocal cords, and yet Luke knew it. He knew it deep in his bones. And not just from having heard it before, floating across the highway to pull him from sleep.

Luke knew it because it was them. Luke and Syrus. Luke didn’t know how he knew—there weren’t any words he could understand, just those strange, haunting moans and cries—but he knew. It was all them. The pull between them neither could deny. The teasing and the attraction. The safety Luke felt when Syrus was near.

There were bits of them as individuals as well. Parts of Syrus Luke had only guessed at. His loneliness before he’d found Luke. His need for someone to come help him. Someone kind, who wouldn’t hurt him or turn him away in his time of need.

And there was more than that. Deeper feelings wound around every note. The love Luke had yet to voice out loud. The love Syrus felt for him in turn, a truth Luke had only guessed at before now. It was all right there.

This was the song Luke had answered? No wonder Syrus was so sure of everything between them.

He was still holding Luke, an arm around Luke’s middle as he sang. His tail undulated gently, warm and muscular against Luke’s bare legs. Luke closed his eyes and rested his head on Syrus’s shoulder again, listening carefully, letting it soak into his very being.

As the song went on, it changed, became something…more. Like Syrus was laying out a map, a guide to the life they’d share, the one they’d make together. Their future, shaped in notes and melody.

Luke was pretty sure he was crying now, but the tears were swept away by the salt water around them. He didn’t feel the need to take a breath. He didn’t know why, and couldn’t find it in himself to care. More of Syrus’s magic, it seemed. Like the magic of singing a song made out of their love before they’d ever even met.

They stayed that way for a long time, but eventually Syrus’s song tapered off into silence.

Luke lifted his head and looked at Syrus. The salt water didn’t sting Luke’s eyes anymore, and Syrus’s gaze was a swirl of gold and electric blue. With one arm still banded around Luke’s middle, Syrus cupped Luke’s face in his hand.

Luke opened his mouth when Syrus leaned in. The kiss was warm and soft and tasted like copper, as if Syrus had bit his tongue at some point. And while Syrus was usually cautious with his sharp teeth, Luke felt the sting of his own tongue getting sliced. It didn’t stop him from kissing Syrus back, a bloody exchange of spit and what Syrus would call “essence.” Luke’s chest swirled with warmth, something light and bright and wonderful sparking there.

Syrus broke the kiss and hugged Luke closer to him. Luke was warm now, just as Syrus had promised. Syrus kept him close and brought them up to the surface in one smooth glide.

Luke gasped as his head broke through the water. They’d been under for long enough that, for a moment, the act of breathing seemed foreign. Quiet, gentle waves lapped around them, and while the night was pitch black, Syrus’s tail was still glowing under the water, providing them with the smallest bit of light.

The current rubbed Luke’s body against Syrus, bare skin and scale brushing against each other. He felt strangely serene and mildly aroused. The latter was a little surprising, or maybe it wasn’t. He’d never been able to resist being surrounded by Syrus.

“How do we complete the bond?” Luke eventually asked.

He was ready. He wanted it, the promise in Syrus’s song. The future he’d painted with his strange croon. Luke wanted it more than anything. He would have drunk the melody like water if he’d been able.