Page 80 of Ignite
His hair is pushed back, dripping wet and mostly clean. We don’t have any soap, but just the water alone was enough to make him look a little bit more like himself.
The shirt is a little loose on him, though he and Aster are nearly the same size.Werethe same size. I wring my hands together when I see freshly healed scars on what little skin is showing.
White, puffy lines mar his hands, neck, and face.
He curls his hands into light fists and shoves them into his pockets, still frozen to the spot. I should invite him to sit with me or tell him to get more rest—goddess knows he probably needs it.
But again, no words make it out.
Come on, Lu, get it together.
He shifts from foot to foot, and I tear my eyes away fromwhere he stuffed his hands into his pockets. He’s been through more than I can imagine because ofme. Because of Vidaris.
Somewhere deep within my soul is a part of me that hates myself for what happened to him. Even if it was his choice, he wouldn’t have been there if it weren’t for me.
“Lunaria,”he whispers into my mind, his voice so soft it’s hard to tell if it’s in my thoughts or carried on the breeze.
I lift my gaze back to his, and even now, he manages to take my breath away. I don’t think there will ever be a day that changes. Even now, his beauty is heartbreaking.
He lets out a long sigh and walks over, sitting down on the rock beside me—his body so close that I can feel the familiar warmth radiating off of him. I can’t help but notice the space that separates him from me—small, but somehow feeling as if we’re worlds apart.
“Graylen—” My voice cracks, and I shake my head.
We stare at each other, both lost on what to do next. I can see the pain in his eyes—the memories that haunt him.
“You’re here,” I finally say. “You’re safe.”
He gives me a slow nod, something flickering in his gaze.“Where you go, I go,”he says into my mind.
I wince. Graylen still doesn’t know the plan.
It would take an act of one of the Divine themselves to pull me away from him right now, but is he ready for this? He’s only just gotten out of the Vale, and since then, he’s hardly said more than a handful of words aloud—opting for our thought communication over voicing things.
Whatever he needs to begin to heal, I’m prepared to give it to him. But going to Crea, facing Moros, and searching for Nightfall? It almost feels as if it’s too much to ask.
My gaze drifts down to the ground. I don’t know what I was thinking—that I’d get him back,myGraylen back, and we’d go on this adventure together like the last time we crossed kingdoms?
What I wasn’t prepared for was worrying if he was ready forall of this. He’s always been steady—strong and calm. This side of him… It worries me.
Still, I won’t leave him again.
I give him a grim smile and repeat, “Where you go, I go.”
My fingers ache to touch him—to wrap him in my arms just to convince myself he’s real. But I don’t. I keep them to myself, doing anything I can to stop them from wandering. Images plague my thoughts, twisted and vile depictions of the things Vidaris could’ve done to him.
The Goddess of Vengeance changed him, and I don’t know where to begin to help him heal. I’m afraid that it won’t be enough to undo what’s been done, but I’ll love him through all of it. Through the him he used to be and whoever he’s become.
Maybe, justmaybe, that will be enough to help him through this.
Graylen’s been hurt in ways I don’t yet understand—maybe will never fully understand—but he’s still mine. Stillhere.
So, for now, I choose to focus on that tiny bit of good.
Thirty-Three
Rhodochrosite
Lunaria is soclose that I could touch her. She’s still sitting on the short rock beside me, a small crease in her forehead as she gazes out at the forest. Her fingers pick at the skin around her nails on her other hand, absentmindedly plucking, while she simultaneously nibbles on the inside of her cheek.
