He raised his head, his eyes glassed. He swallowed, staring at me.
I met his gaze, fighting disbelief.
“Are you going to leave me?” he said.
I stared between his eyes. Clearing my throat, I shook my head.
“No,” I said.
I saw tension leave his face. I could feel him wanting to say more. It hung there, between us, as he thought through words, as if practicing different ways to say it.
Then, he seemed to give up.
He leaned closer. His lips brushed my mouth, a near question.
I held my breath as he kissed me again. His light remained cautious, coiled around his body...I felt him feeding on me still, too, probably in reflex since he was still low on light. At my thought, he took my hand, placing it on the center of his chest. For a moment both of us just hung there as he pulled light through my fingers.
Then he made a low sound, lowering his mouth to mine.
We were kissing then. I felt nothing but restraint on him at first, a near caution as his fingers touched my hands. I was holding back, too, I realized...but when the pull grew stronger, I found myself opening. My light changed. I’d barely touched my tongue to his when I felt him react. He kissed me again, parting my lips, gasping a little against my mouth. I touched his face again, and he closed his eyes, leaning into my hand, sliding his fingers into my hair.
Then he had me pinned against the seat.
He kissed me harder, leaning his weight on me. When I clasped his neck, he made another low sound. I felt him asking me then, felt everything about him grow soft, melting into my light, against my body. Pain slid through me, almost debilitating, and he let out a groan, his hand clenching on my hip. He kissed me again, using light in his tongue. I realized he was hard, even as he started to open for real, to unfurl his light—
“Hey!” Jon thumped Revik on the back.
Both of us jumped.
“Chill out,” he said. “You guys are like teenagers, I swear.” He punched Revik’s arm. “That’s still my sister, man. Married or not...no way am I going to watch you two go native in here.”
I let go of him at once and Revik raised his head.
His eyes were out of focus, almost drugged, but he nodded to Jon’s words. I felt another set of eyes on me and glanced forward as Maygar looked away from the rearview mirror.
Only then did I realize how quiet the car was.
My eyes found Cass’s and she grinned at me, shaking her head. The scar pulled at her face when she smiled, changing its shape.
Even Eddard looked faintly amused in his one glance backwards.
Jon patted Revik on the leg. “Sorry, man,” he said. “Just wait until we get somewhere, okay?”
When the silence stretched, Maygar cleared his throat, leaning down to punch in the car’s audio feed.
“...This just confirmed,” the announcer’s tinny, avatar voice blared in an English accent. “...The President of the United States is dead. The White House physician issued a statement minutes ago, outlining how a series of gunshot wounds proved fatal after severing not one but two major arteries. The unidentified attacker first broke in and shot the Vice President, Ethan Wellington, in his state room at the Vice Presidential mansion, leaving him for dead before...”
I glanced over to see Cass gaping at the radio. Jon, on the other side of Revik, wore an expression that mirrored hers. Then all five of them were staring at me.
Maygar was the first to break the silence.
He snorted, glancing at me in the mirror.
“It was him, wasn’t it?” he said. “Galaith. El Presidente.” Reading the assent in my silence, he focused back on the road. “I don’t know what scares me more,” he said. “The idea that you’re on my side...or that you may not always be.”
“I didn’t kill him,” I said.
Maygar laughed. “No. You just made sure every seer who wanted him dead knew exactly where he was.” He muttered, “Brilliant, really. I’d have thought more would be loyal.”
“Some were loyal,” I said.
“Well at least one wasn’t,” Maygar retorted.
I glanced at Revik. He reached into my lap and took my hand, clasping my fingers tightly.
“You did the right thing,” he said.
I nodded, looking at our entwined fingers.
I glanced out the window. The sun finally peered through the overcast England sky. Even through thick pollution and clouds, columns of fogged gold cascaded down to illuminate discrete pockets of humanity and green lawn.
I thought about going back to that high perch in the Himalayas, with the monkeys and chai and golden eagles floating over strings of prayer flags and snow-covered mountains and trees. I thought about being there with Jon and Cass, hiking with them and hanging out in the markets, going swimming and exploring and making friends with the other seers.