Page 60 of Lich's Mate

I shift in bed, looking into Kavian’s closed eyes, his warm breath a comfort in this chilly room.

You could protect me, couldn’t you?

If everything went to shit, and my whole world collapsed again? You would fight for me. Wouldn’t you?

My home, or the home I once knew, is in ruins and shambles.

And I can’t ever go back to that.

But even though I don’t want to admit it, there’s part of this place that feels like home, though not like a home I’ve ever known before.

It’s in the wings and hidden rooms of this mansion I’ve never explored—that Kavian hasn’t filled with furniture.

It’s in the inhospitable red sky lurking just outside the threshold, a desert beyond these walls both exhilarating and foreboding.

But mostly, it’s in him.

The thought of waking up without him terrifies me. And I suddenly realize that the weight in my shoes wasn’t the strange world beyond these doors—it was the emptiness I’d feel from being apart from him.

When did he become so important to me?

I glimpse away from his dreaming eyes, toward the sky just outside the window.

Dots of red, green, and turquoise fill the night, with purple mists and white dotting lines.

Yellow comets pass over the red ambiance, shooting down toward unknown destinations.

And the shadow of a moon reflects a slight aura of blue into the crimson night.

Is that Neomia, or is that Edieae, I ponder.

I suddenly wish Kavian was awake to see this with me.

“Hey, Kavian,” I whisper quietly.

His snores overpower my voice.

“Kavian!”

A slight hitch in his snoring, and he goes silent.

“What is it?” he asks groggily.

“The sky—didn’t you want to watch it with me? It’s really beautiful.”

He chuckles.

“Don’t worry. It’ll still be here tomorrow,” he says. “Maybe we’ll watch it then.”

Before I can respond, his snoring has filled the room even louder.

I suppress the urge to laugh.

If I leave now, I’m going to miss lying out under the stars with him. How could I do that?

I shake him, and he’s unresponsive, still just as asleep as ever.

I close my eyes, letting his snores lull me into sleep.

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