“Damenal,” she recounted, crossing her arms and standing her ground. Her cheeks flushed. “When you wouldn’t let me help Tolek try to rescue Ophelia and Malakai.”
Spirits, this discussion again. Not argument. We weren’t fighting—nothing was worth fighting with her—but we did keep coming back to this topic.
“At least when that happened you knew why I made that decision. When you shoved me off Dynaxtar, I was entirely in the dark. You didn’t even give me a warning, and I may have a bond to you, but I don’t have Fate ties or Fatecatcher magic. I can’t see what’s coming like you can, and it blindsides me,” I admitted, pausing my pacing and cupping her cheeks. “And that feeling of not having a fucking clue what’s going on? When you’re at risk, Stargirl? That’s my worst fucking nightmare.”
She heaved a deep breath. “I didn’t have time to tell you. I thought you’d trust me.”
Those five words ripped me fucking open. “I do,” I murmured, pressing a kiss to her forehead and tucking her beneath my chin. “I trust you so much.”
“Then when I shove you to the sand from the back of a flying mythological creature, know I have a good reason,” she muttered, voice muffled in my chest.
I laughed as her arms wrapped around my waist, her touch soothing the panic in my chest. Enough for me to say, “I grew up without a lot of security. Before my mother went throughwhatever changed her”—my father’s death—“she’d been a damn good mother.” I stroked the back of her hair as Vale tightened her grip, knowing what came next in this story. “Then, one day, she was different. I just don’t want to lose anyone else overnight like that. You’re everything I want in every lifetime, Vale. Those things we saw during the Fatesworn ceremony? The future…the children and festivals? I want it all. And I’m just so damn scared of something ripping us apart again—of me losing you.”
And death was a lot more permanent.
“Nothing is going to take me from you, Cypherion,” she said softly, tipping her chin up to look at me. “You are never going to lose me. I already knew it months ago, but the Fates have named it so, too.” And some kind of enlightenment spread across her features, shooting down the Fatesworn bond. “You don’t fully understand it, do you?”
“What?” I asked.
“The Bind—it’s so different than this.” Warmth down the bond again. “Of course, you’re still learning it.”
“But you haven’t had a Fatesworn bond before, either.”
“No, but I grew up hearing stories of them. The rare, aspirational romances.”
“Iamhappy for it,” I said. “I do want you this way. Every way I can have you.”
“I know. But you can want it without fully understanding it. Being Fatesworn carries a substantial weight to the Starsearchers. To me this bond means that in any life—in any realm—our spirits were meant to be together, Cypherion Kastroff. It goes beyond the bounds of love and desire. But because of that, it’s going to cause us to do wild things for the other, especially now as it takes root.”
“So that’s why I’m feeling extra defensive,” I said. In theory, I knew the purpose of the Fatesworn bond, but I hadn’t been prepared for how it could feel.
“And why Ihadto get you away from Echnid,” she confirmed. “It’s just a difference in our cultures and upbringing that we’re going to have to continue to work through. I’m sure your Bind will feel different to me when we receive it, but it’ll be a blending of Mystique and Starsearcher customs unique to us.”
Unique to us. I liked that.
“I’m trying, Stargirl. I promise I’m trying to remember that.” I cupped her cheek, dragging my thumb across her bottom lip. “Just keep talking to me about it, and my stubborn skull might let it through.”
She laughed. “No one is more stubborn than the Fates.”
I exhaled, kissing her again.
“I do trust you,” I said as I pulled back. “So next time you shove me from the back of a flying mythological creature, I’ll try not to panic.” I didn’t have any argument against her asking me to trust her. Because I did. More than I allowed myself to trust anyone outside of the tight circle of friends I’d known for a decade. “But only if you attempt to give me a warning before you do it.”
“Deal,” she agreed, tilting her chin up. Those olive eyes searched my expression. “And I promise, Cypherion, you will never lose me the way you lost her. I won’t leave you.”
That vow tightened my throat.
I love you, Stargirl, I said down the bond.
I love you, too, Cypherion Kastroff. Or Deneski. Or whoever you choose to be.
I laughed, letting the fears melt away as I tilted her head back and my thumbs swept along her jaw. I dropped my lips to hers. When I pulled away, Vale’s eyes were still green.
She searched my expression. “The gorgons were interested in your scythe.”
“I know,” I exhaled and rested my forehead against hers.
“That’s part of why I pushed you,” she admitted. “Echnid was focusing on it in my readings, too, and I wanted to lead them away from you.”
