Page 86 of Wilds of Wonder
We sat by the lake, our backs turned to it, and she shivered, her tunic and trousers still soaked, staring at the ground. I couldn’t get her to tell me what she’d seen. Her eyes were puffy and red, her cheeks blotchy. And she was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen.
The wind blew again, dust swirling up and sticking to her cheeks, smudging them with black.
“I wish I had sky elemental powers right about now,” she said. “I’d command this wind to stop.”
A memory surfaced, one of Annalee. We’d been sitting in the courtyard of our home, Annalee telling me her latest dream about the Wilds.
“I almost fell off a cliff chasing that pesky rabbit,”she’d told me.“But in the Wilds, everything is always listening. Including the wind.”
She’d said that all she had to do was whisper, and the wind listened, keeping her from falling over that cliff.
“My sister taught me a trick.” I eyed Emory. “Might as well try it.” I cupped my hands around my mouth, then whispered, “Calm.”
The wind instantly settled around us, no longer blowing, the dust falling to the ground.
Emory’s eyes widened. “That’s quite a trick.”
“Annalee has no idea how many times her stories have helped us in this strange, strange world.”
Emory swallowed, the brief light in her eyes dimming again.
When I’d first come upon her, lifeless in the water, I’d feared the worst. I’d thought she was dead, and I knew in that moment, I couldn’t lose her. I couldn’t live without this woman. Not since the day she came into my life. I couldn’t live without her sarcasm, her taunting, her courage, her ferocity. She made me better, more.
She was everything, and I needed to tell her. I couldn’t wait any longer. If the Wilds had taught me anything, it was that the next day was not guaranteed.
So I would lay my heart bare before this woman and hope that she felt the same way. Except... I knew she felt the same way I did. It was obvious from the way she looked at me, eyes shining and full of happiness. The way she opened up to me about her past. It was in the way she touched me and kissed me, like she needed me as much I did her.
I wasn’t afraid she didn’t return my feelings. I was afraid she’d run from them.
I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her tight to me. She buried her head in the crook of my arm.
“You don’t have to talk about it,” I said gently, “but if you need to...”
She shook her head, nose rubbing against my chest.
I pressed a light kiss to her wet hair. “Hey, can I talk to you about something that’s been on my mind?”
She sniffled and nodded, scooting out of my hold.
“This probably isn’t the best time to do this,” I started.
“Do what?” She wrinkled her nose.
I licked my lips. “It’s just that we’re always in danger. Every singlefucking day here could be our last. We’ve almost died about a hundred times since we got here. You almost just died.”
She swallowed.
“When I saw you in that water, and I thought you were dead, I felt like my heart had been ripped from my chest.”
“Maverick,” she started, but I held up a hand.
“Just let me get this out, and then you can say whatever you need to.” I took a deep breath. “The thing is, we belong together, Emory.”
She sucked in a sharp breath.
“We always have. You’re my person. You get me in a way no one does. With you it’s okay that I obsess over my work, that all I want to talk about is nerdy history things, as Driscoll would say.”
Her lips ticked up at the corner.
