Duskbound

by Bree Grenwich

The emerald dagger felt heavy in my hand. Another army. Another pledge. The memory of Laryk's voice whispered in my head. You're different. He'd meant it as a gift, but now the words felt like chains. How many times would I let others decide what that difference meant?

"People change. Sometimes for the better, sometimes not. It sounds like your experience helped you grow. And that's never a bad thing."

Laryk had been the first person to see what I could become, to believe in my potential. But Aether... Aether was the first person who understood who I'd always been. In that deep, unexplainable way that only two souls who had existed by hiding could ever truly understand.

Rain poured. Thunder cracked. But all I felt was the sun.

His fingers threaded through my soaked hair, and something in his gaze made my heart stutter. Like I was both salvation and damnation. Like I was everything.