A command. A prayer. A dismissal.
A plea for him to come closer. A fear that he might.
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered, his voice breaking at the top, so faint she almost didn’t register it.
She could do nothing but stare at him, pain from depths she might never understand washing over his sharp features. Regrets and secret wishes spiraled within him, fighting to be seen.
He’d asked how she felt, and she had no answer.
She’d spent her entire life desperate to be seen—starved for someone to wonder about her beyond her talents.
She let her eyes fall over him again—his skin so scarred from years of fighting for someone else. Everyone else. She took one step forward, the tension on the Tether loosening, sighing. She reached for it, her fingers finding nothing but buzzing energy between them, invisible but undeniable.
Humans and gods alike faced death before they faced denying this little slip of space.
They traded their prized possessions to prevent them from destroying their plans.
They started wars in the hope they could sever them.
She drew in a shaky breath, unsure if she would use it to kiss or kill him.
Every longing stare she thought she imagined, every hostile argument about her safety, every brush of his hand… dozens of moments from the last three months crashed down on her at once, the weight of it unbearable.
Every dream she’d shoved down, every burn, every call to lean forward and touch she’d denied.
The man I’d met on my birthday.
My destiny.
“Astra,” Lux said once more, his hands thrown up in surrender, a white flag waving within his ribcage. She stepped forward, chest to chest with him, so overtaken she wasn’t sure she was breathing. “Please, you must know…”
She wanted no apologies or explanations. They would have to come later.
For one moment, she only wanted to let the forbidden static of the Tether brush against her skin. She only wanted to give in to it. It would all be gone soon, but here in the meadow, she could indulge in it.
She wondered as they stared at each other if he could feel the way her entire being centered around him the moment she stopped fighting and just let the Tether bloom. Her muscles shook with a desperate need to reach out, to surrender.
There was no fear within her, no hesitation, but she felt it all in him.
A war raged within his chest, a thousand shades of gray spinning and whirling in on themselves. It overwhelmed the brilliant bouquet of pastels and deep maroons and ocean blues that fought for the light.
The guilt.
The pain.
The doubt.
Those dark masks pulled at the light, tainting them and embedding them deep in his chest.
The yearning. The desperation. The overwhelming need to protect her.
The same colors she’d been painting against her ribs for weeks without even realizing it. She only ever felt the guilt, missing the hope entirely.
She’d missed the challenge of him, lost in the taunting. She’d missed the respect that blossomed despite the rocky soil.
She fought for air as the feelings rolled over her, the warmth of him evaporating against her skin. His eyes met hers and she saw it so clearly.
She would not be winning the war within his heart.
