Page 59 of Envious Of Fire
“I think I miss you, Tristan.”
Not enough. Tristan goes in for a kiss.
But Markadian stops him with a hand to the chest.
The two become a statue on the world’s tallest wall, a work of ancient art, eyes upon eyes, lips hovering before lips, ripe with certain tension.
Tristan winces.Too soon…?
Markadian just stares back, the illusionary sunlight burningin his eyes. Then he looks away, a ghost of satisfaction in his eyes as he gazes into the horizon he created. Tristan, after a lingering look at Markadian, admiring his handsomeness and strength, soon does the same. There the night leaves them, two men who once sat atop the world together, staring into the beautiful unknown.
13.
Give Me One Night of Your Life.
—·—
“Run away from the sun,” recites Kyle to himself for the tenth or eleventh time. He has been scouring the arid stretches of land outside Nowhere, far away from any highway or sign of life in the dead of night, for what feels like hours, but is likely just been half of one. He walks as quietly as he can, yet with all the crunchy sand and tiny rocks, stealth isn’t easy to maintain. “He has to mean head west. The sun rises in the east, so heading west would be like running away from it. Right?” Kyle presses on, hoping he didn’t misunderstand the annoyingly unspecific riddle Lazarus left him. With each step, he feels less sure.
Ten minutes later, he reconsiders. “But it could also mean heading east,” he realizes, “since the sun sets in the west, and of course the only time I’d look for him is at night … so running away from the sunlight would be heading east.” Kyle clutches his head in frustration. “Or is it still west?”
Kyle’s skill level in solving riddles was never something he bragged about or planned to put on any résumé.
And the farther he travels across this sprawling stretch of dust and nothing, the more he worries. The nights are only so long. Once the sky starts warming with the inevitable dawn, he will find himself in a dire situation. There is absolutely nowhere to hide out here from the sunlight.
And Kyle knows firsthand what it feels like to endure that cruel and merciless sun out here in the desert.
The only light he doesn’t mind is the moon, and with it atits fullest tonight, it blankets the desert in its pale, milky color, making the sand look like snow.
“Fuck it,” he blurts, then starts heading east instead—with increased urgency to his movements. “And fuck you and your dumb riddles,” he adds in a growl as well, breaking into a sprint as he makes his way across the dry, hard ground. “We’ve got technology, you know. Could’ve dropped a fucking pin on my phone if you wanted me to find you so badly.”
Another hour later, Kyle is nowhere closer to encountering any sign of some secret vampire hideout, and exhaustion starts to pull on his legs the more he runs.
If he gave up on his quest right now, would he even have the strength to head back home? Or the time?
“Find us hiding beyond a dark mouth,” mutters Kyle under his breath, recalling the words, “itself armed with teeth.” He has moved on to making sense of the second half of Lazarus’s instructions, as the whole “running away from the sun” part is a total gamble as far as Kyle is concerned. “Dark mouth? Is that like a cave or something? Sounds like a cave. Are y’all a bunch of fucking vampire bats?”
Then Kyle stops, his Reach finding something. Frenetic, sparkling, electric, utterly untethered. Like a fly bashing against the walls of a honey jar in its desperate pursuit of a way out.
It is unmistakably human.
Then he spots a speck in the distance—a human being.
Running.
Kyle takes off in the direction of the human. The earth flies under his feet as he gains ground, closing the distance between them, certain that the human is a sign.
The closer he gets, he realizes the human is terrified and running for his life. Running from what? Lazarus? Did Kyle catch them in the middle of a hunt? What’s a human doing out here in the desert in the middle of the night, anyway?
Can Kyle save his life if he reaches him first?
As Kyle grows closer, with a substantial amount of distance still between them, he realizes it’s a totally naked man, which in itself creates a whole new list of questions.
Then the man stops.
Does he see Kyle?
The man frantically waves his arms in the air, as if signaling a rescue plane to his deserted island. Now he changes course, running straight for Kyle. “Help!” he cries across the distance. “Please! You gotta help me!”
