Page 45 of Broken Star

Sure, he traded away his love for me. Sure, he’s infuriating, arrogant, and impossible. But I can’t just stand here while he faces whatever’s down there alone.

So, without a second thought, I launch myself off the pier and dive in after him.

Sapphire

The secondI hit the water, the crushing pain that’s been suffocating me since Eros’s arrow pierced my heart—the resentment, the betrayal, and the need for Riven to understand just how deeply he hurt me—melts away. Like frost in sunlight, and shadows at dawn.

In its place, something purer rushes in. Something devastating in its clarity.

Love.

And with it, the memory of the kiss Riven and I shared in the chamber’s pool after speaking our vows. The way he held me and looked at me with eyes full of promise that we’d fall in love with each other again, no matter what.

Now, he’s only a few feet ahead, his midnight hair shifting like ink in the dark waters.

Our gazes lock.

It’s like being struck by lightning. A violent, electric surge that shatters the walls between us, begging me to close the distance.

Then, we’re moving—swimming toward each other with a single-minded desperation, an instinct older than magic itself. And for a moment, we just stare at each other. Reallyseeeach other for the first time since that cursed kiss with the dryad, since Eros’s lead arrow, and since everything between us shattered into pieces.

The water wraps around us like an embrace, beating in sync with our hearts as Riven pulls me to him and rests his forehead against mine.

Then, his hands are on me. One gripping my waist, the other threading through my hair, tilting my face up as he crashes his lips to mine.

The kiss is searing. Wild, desperate, and raw as I arch into him, needing to be closer. Always closer.

Each brush of his fingers leaves trails of frost on my skin, and the longer we hold onto each other, wrapped in this perfect moment, the harder it becomes to imagine ever letting go.

Don’t forget this. Don’t forgethim,I think as I kiss him with even more passion, as if doing so will sear this memory into my mind so fiercely that when I surface, I won’t lose it like last time.

I don’t know how long we stay like this, wrapped up in each other in the illusion that everything is okay. That it’s always been okay. That we aren’t broken beyond repair.

But eventually, he slows, takes my left hand, and turns my palm upward. His eyes are locked on mine, and my heart races as I remember all the times in the past when he’s looked at me like this. Open, honest, andreal.

Then, he brushes his finger along the glowing band around my ring finger and begins to trace letters onto my palm.

I.

The first stroke sends a jolt through my veins, so careful and precise that I swear I could break from it.

He taps on my palm. A silent question.

Do you understand?

I nod, and he continues.

L.

Pause.

O.

Another pause.

V.

A glance at me, as my heart’s in the process of melting.

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