“What?” She tries to wriggle out of my arms, eyes widening in concern. “Grim, nothing is going to happen to you, nothing—”
“Let me talk, heart,” I say, pressing a finger to her lips. Taking a moment to enjoy their softness. “Interrupting is very rude.” I hope to see her smile, one last time.
But she doesn’t smile. If anything, her concern grows.
My thumb smooths down her cheek. “I need you to know that you changed everything. The gods don’t listen to people like me, but I would go on my knees and beg them to let me keep you.”
And thank them for ever letting me have you.
“You were once the bane of my existence ... and now, you are the center of it.”
Disbelief. Tears form in her eyes. Happiness, then dread.
“My entire world was night, and you lit a match. No matter what happens to me in this life, I’ll find you in the next one. I’ll always find you. What I feel for you can never be extinguished. Like the nighttime sky, it is infinite. You and me ... we’re infinite.”
That word. The one my sister once taught me. I know its meaning now.
Her tears fall, and I catch them against my thumb.
Her voice is just a whisper. “No. Don’t go.” It becomes desperate. “I can help you. We can figure this out, whatever it is, Grim,together. Let me go with you. We can try the sword. Let me go.”
She won’t stop. I can see it in the determination of her face, in her tone, in the emotions flaring around me.
Together. She wants to face the end of the worldtogether.
But I love her too much to let her.
“Okay, Hearteater,” I say. “You can come.”
I kiss her for the last time. Hers is the last name I want on my lips, hers is the last taste I want of life.
She doesn’t notice when I slip my fingers down her back. I grip my portaling device.
And I take it with me, so she can’t follow.
I WOULD KNOW HER ANYWHERE
If there was any hope of surviving this, it’s gone.
The scar is ripping seam by seam. The entire sky is blackened by scales. They’re everywhere. They aren’t stopping.
I don’t stop fighting.
I see her in my mind, the memories playing over and over. Isla, in that line. Isla, stabbing my chest. Watching her sleep. Watching her run from the blacksmith and hold her own against the thieves. Watching her dance. Watching her laugh. Watching her watchmewith something like happiness.
And then, like one last shred of pity from this world, Ifeel her.
I feel her.
But it isn’t an illusion. It isn’t a memory.
My body, my mind, my very soul all still.
I would know her anywhere, in any world, any universe, any time-line. In darkness and light, in quiet and chaos, I know her.
I will always know her. We could live a thousand lifetimes, and I would find her and love her in all of them.
Our souls could never be strangers. They are forever stitched together, like the stars and night.
