Wings of Starlight (Wings of Pixie Hollow)

by Allison Saft

That familiar ache of loneliness unfurled through her like a collapsing star.

For so long, she’d wished for someone to see her—truly see her. Now that someone might, she understood just how terrifying it would feel to allow it—and

Milori laid his hand over hers, chasing away the familiar chill of the air. She hadn’t realized she’d begun digging her fingers into his arm. She certainly hadn’t realized how close she had come to weeping. Slowly, she loosened her grip on him, and she was left with nothing but the blunted edge of her despair. After a moment, he let her go, and Clarion withdrew her arm to the warmth of Spring. The lack of contact felt more like a loss than it ought.

“It’s only that it seems to me that trying to suppress your fear is hindering you.

He was gazing at her like she was something to marvel at. His expression went soft and unguarded when he noticed her staring back at him, as though he hadn’t expected to be caught but did not mind it overmuch. There was no mistaking the wide-open yearning in his eyes. He had looked at her like this once before, she realized: the very first time she’d crossed into Winter. She wondered exactly how long he had wanted to kiss her—and felt very foolish, indeed, for being so oblivious.

Instead, he’d ensured Pixie Hollow would have her, in all her imperfections, for the entirety of her long life. She wanted to scream. She wanted to swipe the vials from the shelves and listen to them shatter. She wanted to turn back time—to do everything in her power to save him from his own selflessness.