Page 25 of The Scattered Bones

He bit my lip and pulled away with a proud smirk, both of us realizing we were in danger of plunging off the edge. Part of me wanted to protest his departure, but I recognized his control was for my sake. I detested his discipline, but he knew my body almost better than I knew myself. Kaid’s care was absolute, and he understood I needed to process my emotions, to calm my racing heart, and think through my decision. With a sweet kiss on my cheek, he pushed me back until I sat on his knees. We were still touching, but I could no longer feel his arousal, and my pulse calmed.

“I love you so much, Sellah.” He stared into my eyes. “You’ve ruined me. I’ll never be the same.”

“Neither will I,” I whispered.

“Did you like it?” He traced my lips with his thumb, and I nodded emphatically as I kissed his fingers. “It wasn’t too much for you? I don’t want to frighten you, but I lose myself in your presence.”

“Your tongue?” I asked, my embarrassment flooding my cheeks, and he laughed at my bright coloring. “Is that… Is that something lovers normally do?”

“It is.” He brushed my hair behind my ear. “The tongue can do many things. Things I wish I had the time to show you.”

“Don’t.” I pressed my hand to his mouth, silencing him. “Not tonight. Can we pretend my future doesn’t exist tonight?”

“I’ll do anything for you, you know that.”

“Good. Then love me and forget my fate for a few hours. I want a lifetime of your kisses before the dawn sends you away.”

He wrapped his arms around my shoulders, and I let myself imagine a life where I didn’t disappear. Where I could leave and spend every night in Kaid’s arms. I wanted him to show me all he could do with his tongue. I wanted to see him bare and feel him between my thighs. I wanted a future.

“I could live forever in your embrace and die an old man between your legs,” Kaid whispered my own thoughts out loud, yanking me closer now that my heart rate had calmed. “Tell me truthfully, did you really like that kiss? I know it shocked you, but don’t pretend on my account.”

“I loved it.” I peppered tiny kisses all over his jaw until he laughed. “It was surprising, but kissing you is better than I imagined.”

“Then may I do it again?”

“You can do it all night,” I teased, and he granted my wish, kissing me so hard my lips bruised.

Eight

The imposing cliffs loom so high, their greyness blots out the sun. Nothing touches this land, save rocks and shadows. No vegetation. No life. No color. Just harsh stone and jagged edges. Yet this task is one I don’t fear. The threads binding our hearts led me here, and for the first time, I stare at the danger with confidence. I can climb and climb well. How many nights did we spend skirting the walls of the temple? How many hours did he train my fingers to hold the small ledges and crevices? He prepared me for this quest, gave me the tools to face a peril most never lay eyes upon, and I silently thank him for his training. My love didn’t send me into the darkness unprepared.

“What’s up there?” I ask the empty air. “What’s on the other side?”

“No one knows,” The Stranger answers in my mind. “No one’s ever crossed the Verdens Kant. It is the end of the realm. The edge of our world.”

“Not even the gods?” I ask. The Verdens Kant is a stretch of uninhabitable mountains and cliffs that mark the boundary of every map known to man. No one has ever climbed these ridges and survived to discover what lies beyond, but because his pull dragged me here, Valka at least ascended part of the way to hide his bones. Perhaps the realm of the gods hides behind this natural fortress. Perhaps I’ll find Hreinasta’s true form waiting for me. Oh, to see her true self face to face and let her witness what became of her favorite vessel. I’m scarred and starving. Sunburned and frost kissed. I’m not the beauty I was when she claimed me. I am a savage. His savage, and if my fall from grace returns him to me, I’ll accept every blemish and disfigured scar this brutal life offers. May the Pure One look at what I’ve become with shame. Shame that it was her selfishness that brought me so marred to her feet. I would allow her shock to settle before I strangled her, though. Blasphemous as it may be, I know it in my soul. If I ever lay eyes upon the true form of Hreinasta, I’ll test just how long the primordial goddess can survive with my fingers around her throat.

“Who’s to say what the gods do and do not know,” The Stranger answers. “Their minds and knowledge are not for us to question.”

I snort at his comment, but his tone is playful as if he only half believes his words. “Is this truly the end of the world?”

“Climb and find out, my child.”

I strain my neck to see where the monotone peaks disappear into the colorless clouds. To scale this height will take days. Days where my entire survival will rely on what I can carry on my back. The Verdens Kant is a barren citadel of stone. No life grows along its harsh ridges. No fresh-water pools in its crevices. My only hope of water is the rain, but if the heavens open up and weep, I won’t count that as a blessing. Rain will make the rocks slick and my fingers unsteady. To quench my thirst means to sacrifice my security, so I must pack enough supplies to last the climb. If I bring too much, it’ll weigh me down, the razor-sharp peaks offering me no comfortable rest, but if I carry too little, my shriveled bones will join his atop the greyness. My confidence suddenly vanishes. These heights care little for my skill. Their intensity will break me the same as all who came before me, hoping to defy the realm’s borders.

“You’ll stay with me?” I ask as I step to the rising cliffs.

“I’m always with you, my child.” His answer is instant. I’ve lost track of how long it has been since I fled Szent in disgrace. I think it’s been over a cycle. Maybe longer? And during these painful days, The Stranger’s been my only companion, my only constant. If not for his voice, I would have descended into silent madness. This cloaked and hooded man I’ve barely seen tethers my voice to this earth. The more of his bones I find, the closer I get to discovering if the Stranger is capable of his promise, and it’s a true testament to my brokenness that I dread our time together ending even if he’s lying. I don’t want him to leave me.

“Always?” I ask because I’m tired. I’m scared. I’m weak.

“You know the answer to that already,” he says, and I pause, my fingers inches away from the sharp stone. “Do not delay, my child. The Verdens Kant is adversary enough. Don’t allow foolish thoughts you know are lies to add to your trials.”

“Can I do this?” I ask as I begin the endless climb no mortal has survived.

“Can you?”

“I have to.”

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