Page 63 of Waves
He knew what was most important.
Avia.
And while the selfish, cruel part of me didn’t want to share her—I knew I wasn’t what was best for her.
I might break her.
I’d wanted to do that. Even a few hours ago, I’d fantasized about her tears. But now, on the brink of losing her…I realized that the cruel fantasy was just that. A fantasy.
Lizza’s rotting face glanced up and I couldn’t tell the nature of her expression, probably because her muscles have decayed. But then she bit what was left of her lip. “I don’t know.”
Her words sucked all the oxygen from the water and the four of us held our collective breath.
All eyes turned to gaze at the unconscious sea sprite, sprawled on the bed, breathing what might have been her final breaths.
No.
Without consciously meaning to, my legs were driven forward. Bypassing Keelan and Sahar, I walked to the head of the bed. My heart thrummed harder than before, drawn to Avia. Staring down at her pale cheeks, the tiny glittering scales on them only highlighted her beauty.
Like the moon in the presence of the sun, I felt both eclipsed and utterly captivated at the same time—drawn in by her gravity, with no choice but to orbit.
She was everything.
I should have told her.
My hand reached out and I traced the line of her jaw, gazed at the soft sweep of her lashes. She looked almost peaceful enough that one could believe she was just asleep.
All of a sudden, visions of the future—tiny moments—flickered through my head, each one distinct and fluttering, like leaves in a breeze. Avia’s smile. Her hand in mine. Floating on the surface of the waves together, perched on driftwood and admiring the sunset. A child’s shriek and a shared smile—an inside joke. A slow walk through the kelp forest. Our hands together, gripping a knife and sliding it across a man’s neck in perfect unison.
Tiny moments.
Things I never wanted before.
Things that had seemed too small and insignificant. Worthless, but only because I didn’t know then what it was like.
I didn’t know what it was like to have one’s heart swell at someone else’s smile. To have one’s blood rush at the thought ofsomeone else’s pain. I’d shielded my djinn body from any of that centuries ago, seeing only vulnerability. Not recognizing those moments as life’s true treasures.
But then, all my tiny visions—those imaginary moments that I wanted to collect so desperately—blew away, dead leaves struck down by the wind as Avia’s breathing stuttered.
Desperation flooding my veins, I bent down until my face hovered just over hers. My heart rate accelerated, urgency driving it. “Don’t you dare leave. I’m not done with you.”
And then I kissed her.
Chapter 27
Avia
Astampede occurred inside my chest. A rough, harsh pounding that was so intense it almost felt like my heart was beneath my ribs again, back in its rightful place. So painful—but also, somehow, heavenly. I’d missed it.
I’d missed having my heart so near.
But as the hammering pace of my pulse slowed, I was able to feel the vibrations of agony wracking my entire body.
My back was on fire again, this time far worse than before. A percussive force shook my skull and liquefied my thoughts.
When I took a slow, deep breath, knives felt jammed into my chest.
But my ears were aware. Despite every other part of me feeling broken beyond repair, I heard them.
