Page 77 of Lux

Having him in my body.

On my skin.

Or in my head.

In my soul.

I feel a shiver run through me as he steps closer. His chill is more comforting than any heat. Any fire. Any new thrill the mortal world could offer me.

Except…

For one thing.

“I found this,” I say, reaching into my pocket. I still gasp in awe when I unfold the drawing. In faded light and glimmering shadow, it’s even more beautiful. An image created for me.

One that he created.

“It’s beautiful,” I say, aware of him leaning over my shoulder, staring intently. “So beautiful. Thank you.”

He says nothing, but lets the silence linger. He does not know how to react to this: creating something beautiful and watching someone enjoy it. It causes a strain in him—like an old muscle being stretched taut, long after it’s atrophied with disuse.

It is a greater gift than any I ever deserved.

Great enough to sacrifice a piece of myself in return.

“When you go to kill Cassius… I will come with you.”

“No,” he says, but we both know he doesn’t mean it. He is relieved, so relieved. Cassius can’t crawl inside his skull if I am there, and I will be.

“I promise you, I will be.”

“There is something I found,” he says next, but his tone is wrong. Too serious for this bright happy moment. Our reunion of souls and minds. There is something weighing on his. Something heavy, and dark that threatens to usher in a wave of turmoil.

Something that will usher in far too many questions.

But this is a game that I started. One of honesty and sharing.

I gave to him.

So, he will give to me. A small blue stone that glows brilliantly when clasped in his fist.

A fae stone, so small and lonely all the way out here.

But why?

Who brought it here?

My heart flutters. “It was a necklace,” I say thickly, fingering the delicate chain attached to it. “Someone wore it.”

A young fae, perhaps, who stole a piece of fae magic to enter the mortal realm. She found a way to skirt the rule Altaris warned me about.

She truly was here.

Yet she left her only way out behind.

CHAPTER 27

Caspian

---