Page 49

Daimon

Her face was gazing up at the dark sky as she floated on her back, her hair gliding around her. Daimon was floating beside her, but he wasn’t looking at the stars. He couldn’t stop watching her, couldn’t stop replaying every delicious feel of her against him.

“What is it like talking with a god?”

“Overwhelming.” He answered so quietly that the sounds of the rushing water nearly covered his words. “Like my entire body was itching from the presence of his power.”

Evelina was patient as he talked, listening as he told her of what it felt like to speak with a god, of the power and darkness that surrounded him. He told her about every visit with Nyx, about other memories he had played of his mother. She was quiet through it all, letting him get it out. He explained how his magic hummed when Nyx was around, even when they got deeper into the Zenovia Mountains. How he didn’t have the magic of a god—not exactly. It was still difficult for him to understand himself. Nyx hadn’t exactly sat him down and explained everything, and he wasn’t given any kind of guidebook .

“My Essence is far stronger than the average fae—especially after my trial—like my magic has been given a boost.”

Evelina stopped floating and faced him. “So that’s why your magic felt different when you shielded me from the rebels’ fire?”

“Exactly.” He smiled softly and stopped floating too.

She was quiet, her face scrunched in thought.

He waded toward her, getting an idea.

Evelina leaned forward and said, “What are you?—”

Her words abruptly stopped and she looked down into the water, a flurry of fish rushing past her, all headed in the same direction.

“Nature recognizes the ancient bloodline within me,” Daimon said with a soft smile as he watched the fish. “I’ve learned to close my connection to the world around me so they don’t do this at the wrong time, but when I open that connection…” He held his arms out beside him and Evelina gasped.

All the fish in the pond began swimming in a circular motion around him, moving in perfect unison, a pattern of endless motion.

“But you’re not Undine,” Evelina said in disbelief. “Fish shouldn’t respond to a Nox.”

“A god’s blood runs through my veins,” he said. “Sometimes the trees will bend in my direction, or the grass will reach out to touch me as I walk through it. It’s so small sometimes that it’s hardly noticeable unless you’re looking for it.”

He dropped his arms, tampering with the connection he felt to the living things around him. The fish immediately broke their pattern and swam out in all directions as if nothing had happened.

“Incredible,” Evelina breathed, watching the fish recede into the depths of the water. A smile tugged at his lips, watching her with wide and excited eyes. She was more beautiful every day he saw her, but when she was brimming with curiosity, she took his breath away. “ You’re incredible,” she repeated .

He could feel his cheeks heat beneath her praise. The oddly warm sensation spread across his chest.

She swam to the pond’s edge, rinsing her hair beneath the flowing stream. He watched her for a moment, in awe of the woman before him, until his breath hitched. Her arms were trembling with fatigue.

It was a miracle she was awake at all with how spent she likely was. He kicked himself for doing this now. She needed to rest, to let her magic continue to replenish.

A tree with conelike fruit hung over the water. Evelina reached up, plucking one from a low branch and holding it in her shaking hand.

“You know we have bathing oils back at camp,” he said with a soft smile.

“Woodland.” She shrugged, squeezing the fruit until a thick substance seeped out. She barely seemed to notice her fatigue, her eyes clear.

Heat stirred through Daimon’s chest. Even on the war front, she was as beautiful as the day he had met her and every day since. He swam over to her, his feet hitting the soft bottom of the pond when he reached her.

“Let me help you,” he whispered, his voice nearly swallowed by the sound of the waterfall.

Her eyes locked with his and it nearly took his breath away. She nodded once and held the sudsing plant out for him. With a soft smile, he took it from her, his fingers grazing across her palm.

He watched in wonder as she closed her eyes and turned, tilting her head back for him. This woman who had protected herself so fiercely, who had never allowed anyone in these past few years, was letting him do this.

There was no other feeling in the world that could compare to what Evelina Manor made Daimon feel. And as he lathered the soap in his hands, he found his fingers trembling .

They didn’t talk about gods or war. There was something new, something peaceful, that rested between them in the quiet.

She leaned her head back further, the motion bringing the curve of her breasts above the water. His heart beat wildly. The water was crystal clear, molded to her skin as the moonlight made her body glow.

Gently, he worked the suds into her hair. Her eyes stayed closed, her lashes fluttering as he ran his fingers through her hair. The scent of lilies filled the space around him, the smell so sweet and intoxicating that he lost all thoughts in his mind.

“I must be dreaming,” he whispered.

The words fell out of his mouth, as if he had no control over the things he said and his heart was saying it for him. Her eyes slowly opened, lids heavy as she watched him with her head still tilted back.

“I’m tired of dreaming without you,” Evelina said softly.

She gazed up at him, their bodies facing each other. Her breath was coming out rapidly, her chest expanding and grazing the top of his abdomen with every inhale, her eyes as bright as the moon above them. He could lose himself beneath the twilight.

“I’ll dream with you always,” he said, whispering his promise onto her skin. “Forevermore.”