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Niera ground her teeth together, frustration rising. She turned her face to the sky and shouted, “This is your idea of a joke? Complete my hundredth match or be destined to live alone? Then you steal the one fated to meby your own hands!”

“Niera, I don’t have much time. I can’t stay out of the water long.”

A cold wind whipped through the dunes, stinging her eyes as they filled with tears. She fought back a sob, pressing her cheek into Alistair’s hand as he framed her face.

“I want to thank you for everything you’ve done to help me. I don’t know why this moon was different, but the only thing I can think of is it was because of you. This bond we share, it’ll be something I’ll treasure forever, even if it ends with us here. Tonight.” He wiped a stray tear from her cheek with the back of his finger. “I knew from the first time I touched you there was something different about you. Not only did you steal my thoughts and my breath, but I realized last night that you stole my heart as well. Love at first sight.”

“And I pushed you away.” She shook her head and sniffled. “I was scared. Seeing our lifelines entwined frightened me, but I wanted nothing more than to pursue what the Fates prescribed for us. I wanted you by my side.”

Alistair guided her head close to his, pressing their foreheads together. His skin was cold, like ice, not the warm human skin she’d snuggled against only yesterday.

“I’ll forever keep you in my heart. And I’ll forever be in yours.”

She combed her fingers through his hair, the salty film making the strands coarse. “You have my heart.” Closing her eyes, she whispered, “Kiss me before you leave.”

“I wouldn’t dream of leaving without a kiss.”

Niera swallowed back a relentless sob. Alistair kissed her, a breezy caress along her lips that left an essence of salt.

The sea salt didn’t harm her.

He swept his tongue between her lips, impressing the truth of his declaration behind the delicacy of his sweet kiss. She clung to him, never wanting to let him go. Their time was short, too short, unfairly short.

Curses and Fates.

The sob squeezed past her barriers and tangled between their tongues.

Alistair leaned back, tracing her bottom lip with his thumb.

A speck of white fluttered down between them to land on the back of his hand.

Niera squinted.

The tiny crystalline shape melted slowly.

She looked up at the sky and the gray clouds that had taken it over. A second flake landed on her nose, a cold kiss that shot heat through her veins.

Alistair stiffened and gasped, falling onto his back. His body bowed off the sand, tremors convulsing his muscles.

Frantic, Niera rushed her hands over his chest, trying to keep him calm while her heart raced. “What’s going on? Alistair? What’s happening?”

Veins bulged from his neck. He bared his teeth behind taut lips, his claws sinking into the sand on either side of him.

She looked down at his restless tail, flapping and smacking into the sand.

Then, it shimmered. Dimly at first, growing brighter and brighter until Niera was forced to look away. She clung to Alistair’s shoulders, waiting for him to open his eyes, to look at her, to find strength in her nearness.

A strangled cry sieved through his teeth.

A flash of light shoved her away and her back smacked into the sand dune.

Then, all was silent except for the waves scraping over the beach, and a quiet meow.

Holly padded to Alistair’s unmoving form and tentatively licked his temple. Niera scrambled to his side, checking for a pulse, and sighed when her fingers were greeted with a strong, steady beat.

“Alistair?”

The purple-gray tint to his skin faded, leaving the familiar sun-kissed hue. His face smoothed, the inhumanly sharp angles softening.