Page 7 of Waves
“Lovely name.”
“Lovely name for a lovely place,” he retorted, glancing over.
“Why are we going there?”
“Well, it’s really just a massive sinkhole on the edge of Nowhere, but I think the name is fitting—even if I made it up.” His fingers squeezed mine and his tone deepened, the light cheer evaporating for a moment when he added, “Not that I feel down often, but I find that when I do, seeing that massive pit makes my problems feel small.”
I squeezed back, honored that he’d share that little sliver of vulnerable truth with me. Clutching that small acknowledgment like it was a diamond, I was greedy for more. Royals didn’t often find true friends or honest tongues–at least, that had been my experience in Evaness.
“If you don’t mind me asking…when was that?”
He towed me along for a while in silence, thinking about his answer, opening his mouth and closing it several times. I’d never seen him so uncertain. Behind him, the white dunes of the Umra Desert rose and fell, the water above them empty as far as theeye could see. Around us, the current blew and danced, ruffling his hair.
If it weren’t for the guards in the distance, it would have felt like we were the only two souls in the ocean.
Finally, he turned to me with a sheepish shrug, his amber eyes squeezing with regret as he said, “I thought I was in love once.”
The confession took me aback because he wasn’t much older than me. “Really?”
“Yeah. I was young. Fourteen maybe? Far too young for anyone else to take it seriously. Even her. But damn…I did, for a while.” His tone and gaze grew wistful even though I didn’t get the feeling he wanted to relive the moment, merely that he couldn’t help it.
“Why did you think it was love?” I asked.
“The pull…it was magnetic. I was just drawn to her. I can’t explain it. But it was like she took over my mind.”
“Sea witch?” I asked…wondering about the end of the story.
“I wish. Then I’d have an excuse for the sappy shite I became. No. Just a dumb boy falling for a girl with a great smile and a great set of…brains.”
I chuckled. “Hope you like my brains.”
He glanced lasciviously down at my chest in the sheer top and my nipples hardened from his attention. “Yeah, you’ve got great brains. I bet they’re two handfuls.”
“I am so glad no one else can hear us right now,” I muttered, blushing furiously even though I found him stupidly amusing.
“Me too. Wish they couldn’t see us either,” he murmured. But he pulled me closer anyway, spinning me lightly in the water until I faced him. Letting go of my hand, he reached up to stroke the side of my neck and his touch doubled my pulse.
“I’m also glad that other girl let you down,” I told him softly as we hovered in the water.
“Me too. Sometimes, life has a better plan than you do.”
“Truth.”
With a smile still stretched across his lips, Keelan leaned down and kissed me gently. And all the colors of sunrise seemed to rise inside my hollow chest at once, filling me with a soft rainbow glow.
Chapter 4
Avia
Two mountain peaks made of ebony stone loomed over us, looking as though they had been poured out like honey and then solidified. There was something unearthly and deeply intimidating about the idea of liquid rock that made my stomach churn—made the environment seem hostile instead of welcoming. Or maybe it was the lingering scent of sulfur in the air.
Around us, the current was colder. Denser. The blue deepened until it smudged into a navy-black abyss beneath our floating feet. We hovered above a cliff near the first peak. It seemed to extend downward endlessly, beyond my line of sight, and my muscles tensed.
“Are you alright?” Keelan asked, and I realized that my grip on his hand was bone-breakingly tight.
I loosened my fingers, cleared my throat, and apologized, “Sorry. This is one area where my sky breather upbringing hits hard. Right now, my body isverycertain we’re going to fall.”
“Trust me, queenie. The only falling you’re going to do is for me,” he boasted with just the right amount of hubris to set me off.
