“What?”
“Well… human, I guess.”
His glare softened. “We’re not all that different, are we? Apart from you being much more annoying.”
I grinned. “Well, you know, I’ve got to keep you on your toes.”
“Aliza, I’m hiding in a hole in the mountainside, defying my brother and king, and potentially sealing the fate of my people, and all the while, my vampire bites are stinging like a bitch. You are more than keeping me on my toes.”
Well, that was sobering. “You don’t have to do this.”
It was too much to ask of him. Of anyone. He had enough to deal with. And yet, as the words left my mouth, I held my breath, hoping against hope that he wouldn’t see sense and leave.
He shifted, turning to face me. “And yet, here I am,” he breathed, his voice impossibly soft and low.
Something in his breathtaking eyes shifted, pinning me to the spot as he gazed down into my soul. The whole world stilled, centring on that little cave, high up in the starry sky, on the male before me, so beautiful and broken. I couldn’t remember how to blink or draw breath. I only knew how to exist, here and now, with him. My skin tingled as though his magic was sliding over every inch of it.
“There you are,” I breathed.
My gaze dropped to his lips.
Idris turned away, breaking the spell by busying himself with unwrapping a parcel of cakes. I adjusted my hair, loosening strands from my bobble to hide the tips of my ears as best as I could. What on earth had just happened, and why had it made me feel all tingly and light?
It didn’t matter. None of it mattered. He wasn’t mine, and this wasn’t my world.
I snatched up a cake, stuffing it whole into my mouth to smother my unease. Idris twisted slowly, one amused eye peeping over his shoulder.
“Wha?” I managed to say around a mouthful of cake, hoping against hope that he wouldn’t notice my unfortunate blush.
The one eye I could see crinkled as he smiled, and I couldn’t stop myself from attempting to return the gesture, twisting my overfull mouth.
“I underestimated your appetite.”
“Ooh werth payn ah-enshun.”
Idris laughed. A real, proper laugh, not just a chuckle. His shoulders shook as the rough yet musical sound filled the cave, and my heart. How long had it been since he’d last laughed? Hundreds of years? And I’d been the one to cause it. I might not be staying, I might be unable to help him, as I’d wanted to, but maybe I’d reminded him that there were still little moments of happiness to be found. That they were worth fighting against the darkness for.
“Let’s take a selfie?”
“Let’s—what?”
That had his attention. I retrieved my phone and opened my camera, leaning in close enough that Idris’ body heat washed over me. “Look at the screen and smile.”
“Absolutely not.” He tried to shy away, but I hooked my arm around his neck, pressing our temples together.
Forcing myself to ignore the warmth of his face pressed against mine, and the cool, crisp scent that filled my nose, I beamed, while he glowered. I snapped a picture. The bastard looked incredible, even when he was sulking. “Look, now I’ll be able to remember your cheerful face forever.”
He blinked again, and I realised what I’d said, and what he’d offered. Immortality.
“By forever I mean, just for the rest of my life.”
Idris’ lips twisted, and he dropped his eyes. “We should finish up and move on.”
Oh.
I’d almost forgotten that we still had to travel. That I was on my way home. Idris tidied away the debris of our meal, but while his back was turned, I folded up the note he’d left me and slipped it into my backpack.
36What If I Just… Stayed?
Despite my jelly-thighs, my next flight was infinitely more comfortable.
Idris allowed me the honour of riding up front, though one successful solo flight did not a qualified pilot make, and the prince insisted on reaching around me to take hold of Saeth’s mane. I couldn’t complain, not when his arms acted as safety barriers and his chest pressed against my back, blanketing me in his warmth. Maybe it should have been awkward, and maybe it was for a few minutes, but as we leapt from the ledge and soared into a pastel orange sky, I forgot that anything was less than perfect.
It was perfect, or so I told myself. I also told myself that the tears welling at the corners of my eyes were only because of the wind. Definitely not because some insane part of me didn’t want to leave this life behind. No, it couldn’t be that at all.
This would be my last flight. Never again in all my life would I experience anything like this. Oh, there were planes and helicopters, but I’d never have the wind tearing at my hair while feathered wings spread on either side. I’d never be part of the sunset in the same way. I’d never feel the swell of Idris’ cheek skimming my jaw, betraying the smile I couldn’t see, coaxed free by the sheer joy of the sky.
A smile as rare and precious as this flight.
Idris’ chin settled on my uninjured shoulder, heavy as he relaxed against me. I wished he wouldn’t. When my tears eventually escaped my eyes, he’d be right in the firing line. He’d know.
Maybe I wasn’t sad at all, maybe it was just this moment being all ridiculous and emotional, affecting everyone, or maybe Idris read me like a book, because he shifted, pressing his face to my neck.
“I’m going to miss you.” He shouted over the wind, but somehow, his words carried all the softness of a whisper, and the sharpness of a dagger, plunging into my stomach.
The tears streaked free and, safe in the circle of Idris’ arms, I twisted. My fingers, miraculously free of the tangle of Saeth’s mane, brushed the prince’s temple. Even this high above the world, holding on to nothing but him, I couldn’t find any fear. Not for the waiting fall at least. For the future? Maybe.
It was the easiest and most natural thing in the world to kiss his cheek.
