The Deathsinger: Book 2

Ch. 28: Better than Nothing

The fire burned for four sun cycles. Four days of constant flame and heat that trapped us inside the temple. Protected as it was, it still could not totally shield us from the heat, and we spent the hours lazing near or in the river, desperate for anything that might cool us off.

We drank big handfuls from the river often to avoid dehydration. It tasted of ash and metal, but it slaked our thirst.

Sleep came in fitful bursts. The first night we tried to sleep in one another's arms. It was nice, at first. His heartbeat was a soothing rhythm beneath my ear, and I felt safer at his side than I had ever felt hiding behind the palace walls. After an hour, we were forced to part. Our sweaty skin stuck together, and the additional body heat was unbearable. So we spent the rest of our nights stretched out on the cold stones.

On the fourth morning, we sank into the river up to our necks. Remiel's eyes were hollow as he watched me create miniature icebergs in the water. They floated around our bodies, offering a refreshing burst of cold. Unfortunately, they melted quickly, and after so many days of little sleep and little to eat, I didn't have the strength to maintain them.

"What's the longest the fires have ever burned?" he groaned.

"Nine days. But that's only by my count. Some Dryads claimed it burned for an entire moon cycle once."

Remiel muttered a prayer in the old tongue. One of deliverance. I didn't think anyone was listening, but I sent up a silent one of my own. It couldn't hurt. We hadn't come all this way to die of starvation in a temple.

Water dripped off his arm as he slicked his hair back. It was longer than I had ever seen it before, curling around his ears and the nape of his neck. His five o'clock shadow had long since passed, and his chiseled jaw was covered in a beard as black as the hair on his head. I found I quite liked it.

"What?" he asked, catching me staring.

"Nothing."

I splashed water at him. The droplets turned to steam in the air. His full lips tugged upward, and the heat inside me far exceeded that on the outside.

"Whatever you're thinking, you have to stop. It's too damn hot."

"For?"

"You know what for. It's been a special kind of torture being tucked away in this temple with you for days on end. Every time you crawl out of this river, that blasted tunic clings to you like a second skin, and since I know exactly how I feel just thinking about wanting to touch you, I can only imagine what would happen if I gave into those thoughts. I would combust."

If I hadn't been treading water, I might have gone weak at the knees. Hearing him talk like that wasn't exactly new. He had once told me if I was in his bed, we would be too spent to use magic, but I had assumed he said it in jest. To know he meant every word...

I chewed on my lip in anticipation of experiencing that with him. Tievel's flirtation had never elicited such a response from me. If anything, I often felt unsettled by it, but I had chalked it up to my inexperience. The prince made me want to hide, and the Reaper made me want to explore.

Water rippled as Remiel swam over to me. His muscular arms caged me in, and he nipped at my lower lip, scraping his teeth along the same path mine had just taken. I chased after him as he pulled away, but he shook his head. Shadows wavered around his body.

"Stop chewing your lip and looking at me like that."

"You're the one who put your mouth there."

"Because you're tormenting me. Probably on purpose."