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Fern, damn her, must’ve seen that she was faltering. “I’ll fight you for it.”
“What?”
“In the morning, after you have some food and a rest, I’ll fight you for it on the practice field.” The Fae studied her nails. “Ground me without the use of your power, just once, and we all leave you alone. If you can’t, then you accept a gift and get to work.”
Why, in the Five bleeding Realms, did Lunara have to befriend an entire gaggle of warriors?
Lunara rolled her eyes. “I won’t leave Brand’s side until he wakes. And anyway, I’m not agreeing to that when we all know I don’t stand a chance.”
She never saw it coming.
Fern’s palm was a lightning strike against her cheek, the crack echoing down the mountain. “Snap the fuck out of it, Moonweaver. You razed an entire chasm’s horrors in one go. You’re a blessed curse, you just said so yourself. Time to actually fucking remember it.”
Well, then.
Lunara cradled her stinging jaw, blinking, no idea how to respond.
“You could probably decimate all of us at once with a single thought,” Hedda murmured. “What are you so afraid of?”
“I can think of a few things,” Lunara answered, turning away.
She didn’t need to say any of them out loud. Their worries and fears were the same as her own.
Lunara stared out at the Serpent Sea, thoughts roiling like the waves. Except, as she took in the blackened waters, so like those living shadows, it was the word chasm that wouldn’t stop reverberating. When paired with the bone chilling image of what she’d encountered inside Brand, it gave her…an idea.
One they could never know about.
Not yet, at least.
“I’ll agree to this ridiculous farce on one condition. When I lose and you force me into doing something I do not want to”—she took a steadying breath, trying not to give too much of herself away—“you have to make up for it by training me every morning, in whatever ways I ask, until you no longer best me every time.”
She should’ve been frightened by the matching, wicked grins that split their faces. Instead, Lunara finally found what she needed.
Determination.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Without another word, Lunara spun, ignoring silent stares from Magnus, Faldir, and Lyriat as she crawled back into the bed, curled up against Brand, and pretended to sleep.
Long after most of the others left, Lunara gave up the act.
Magnus and Faldir’s low murmurs filtered in from the balcony. Thank the Sisters they’d decided to give her and Brand some space, rather than hovering like Mag probably wanted to. She despised the very idea of it.
As quietly as possible, Lunara sat up and scooted back, resting against the headboard. Her fingers found Brand’s brow with a mind of their own, going straight to the furrow that never quite left his overly serious face.
It was a travesty the way the starless night washed out his fiery coloring, the shadows painting him—both of them, really—in shades of grey.
Entirely too on the nose.
Indeed.
She closed her eyes and pictured that lone wink of sunlight in the darkness. Pictured herself wading into it, searching for the loose end of the tether. Pictured him lost there, waiting for her to find it.
“You’re not alone.” His overgrown beard prickled on her lips when she bent to lay a kiss on his cheek. “I’m here, I will always be here, and I’m going to figure this out. I’m going to fix it, I promise. Just hold on.”
Lunara’s beloved moons must have heard her distress, because when she looked at him again, the clouds parted to let their rosy hue fall on everything. Of course they were full—exactly what she needed.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
