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Dunking my head under the water the moment I felt comfortable to do so, I brushed my fingers through my pink hair, attempting to get the grime out. The water had slowly come to a pause, the waves calm, allowing me to brush the cold water over my face, and to blow air out of my mouth, small bubbles popping to the surface.

I stepped onto the sand, trying to push myself upright. As I did, the sand shifted and slipped away beneath my toes, revealing a gap under my feet. The particles dispersed, leaving nothing for me to grasp as I struggled to reach the air above the water.

My heart pounded against my chest as a chill ran down my spine, and my breath caught in my throat. I didn’t know how to swim. I was drowning. This was what it felt like. My arms were wailing around me, fighting to find the surface and to have so much as a gasp of air. My legs tried to kick, but I couldn’t find myself propelling forward, only downward.

Every last bubble held in my mouth sprinkled up to the surface, where they would then disappear before my eyes. Only a moment passed, and I could feel my lungs being filled with the cold water, sinking me further to the deep floor of the ocean. My organs felt like anchors, dragging me further beyond the grasps of relief.

The seaweed was taking me whole as I sank toward it, the pieces wrapping me up. Fighting to reach the surface, I kicked and slashed to be released out of the grasp of the grimy kelp around me.

My limbs couldn’t move quickly enough. The water through my fingertips slipped from my grasp, doing nothing to save my sinking body.

Right when I felt the last bubble release from my mouth and my arms flaming in pain, I saw something splash in the water. Was it a fish?

It was Damian. I could see his dark hair flowing in the murkiness of the bubbles. He came down and grabbed my hand, which was held high above my head. My last hope.

Relief brimmed my heart as he pulled me up, my face breaking the surface and gasping for air. Salt stung my eyes, a sensation I hadn’t felt before. My toes touched the hardened and solid sand beneath my feet, allowing me to hold myself up. However, my legs were too wobbly, making it difficult to stand up straight. The water still felt as if it were pounding in ferocious waves, forcing the salt water down my throat.

He grabbed my arm and draped it around his body, picking me up once we reached a shallower area. His hand placement was careful around the cuts that ran deep along the surface of my skin. He held my back with one arm and the crevice under my knees with the other. Coughing, water sputtered from my lips.

It was when my body was all the way out of the water, and Damian was treading through mere shallow water, that I had the realization that I was half-naked.

I wanted him to set me down and not touch my body, but I was still coughing up water, and I knew that my knees would give out the second he let me down.

As we advanced toward the wooden timber besetting the fire, he sat me down on a log and draped his dry shirt over my body, covering the goosebumps that began to break through my skin.

Taking notice of his body, I found he was also only in his underthings, his abdomen sculpted in fine lines like a carved statue that would’ve been found in a Celestial garden.

“I am so embarrassed,” I said, trying to normalize my breathing.

“Don’t be. It’s my fault. What if I didn’t catch you in time? What if—”

“But you did, Damian,” I said, intentionally saying his name, raising my fingers to his face, feeling it tremble beneath my touch, and realizing that something was different. Our gazes locked, his eyes hinting at a flicker of vitality within. It was as if I saw something behind his eyes that wasn’t just a dark portal toHaxnau1. It was as if I wasn’t just his prize anymore, or his golden catch. It seemed as if he actually cared about me.

Nervously, I averted my gaze, casting my eyes downward. My hand was still against his cheek, thumbing away each droplet of water that remained. Gradually, our shivers subsided as the water evaporated from our bodies. The trembling in his body ceased beneath my fingers.

“But I know that you were excited to be in the water.” My eyes glanced back to his, to the depth of them and the warmth of them. “I appreciate that about you,” he said, his own fingers reaching the damp hair plastered to my forehead as he moved pieces to the side, uncovering the pink strands from my eyes.

I looked at him, curious. “What about me?”

“The liveliness about you. I love the way you view the world: carefree and curious.” I smiled at his kind remarks. “You’re beautiful, too. Your personality, your spirit, and your looks. Everything about you is beautiful.” He shook his head. “Of course, you would be the one born with golden blood. I don’t know why you would want to get rid of it. It’s unique and one of a kind, like you. I don’t need any gold. I’ve already found it.” He took my face into his hands, staring into my eyes, my fingers trailing his neck. His dark irises, gazing down to my lips, betrayed fervent desire encased in his face as was found on mine.

His touch made me feel secure and like I was the only person in the world. The fire danced in his eyes. I saw myself in his irises, and for the first time, I didn’t see myself as just a Scaleborne or him, just a human. I saw us as just a boy and a girl, starting to go mad for each other.

He cupped my face tighter, and I leaned into the motion as he looked away. His knee moved up and down, and his fingers went back to small trembles, as they held my face. His mind was racing. He glanced back down.

“I’m sorry,” he said, his voice draped in remorse.

“For what, Damian? You’ve saved me.”

“I’m sorry for underestimating you.”

“What do you mean? I just almost drowned,” I scoffed, confused.

“For underestimating your strength. Your determination. This isn’t easy for me to say. It isn’t easy to allow my heart to beat again. To allow any part back into it.” His eyes glistened, and I understood. I understood the pain that dwelt behind them. The past that haunted him. I thought of the locket that he threw into the water, the knife that he gave me, the promise he made to protect me, the part of his heart he spoke of was a piece of me.

The dimple that I knew rested on his cheek remained hidden by the earnestness of his expression. “But I would go toHaxnauand back to protect you. I would go toHaxnauand back to call you mine,” he said as he looked up at me and stared into my eyes. It was the type of longing stare that I could get lost in for hours, the stare that encapsulated my heart.

Butterflies fluttered through my stomach, rising in my throat, and my feelings for him surfaced. He continued to look at me, moving closer and closer, almost to the brink of kissing me.