The Wind and the Horizon (Book 2 in the Starborn Series)

Chapter Fifty-Nine

In May's dream, the world was a black, inky void.
At first she thought she was the only person in existence, wandering silently through nothingness; lost and alone.

And then she tripped.

She fell face-forward, sprawling without injury onto the dark. When she hoisted herself up onto her elbows, she glanced back at what she tripped over and let out a choked wail.

Floating in the emptiness, eyes closed and covered in blood, was Em. Her face was mottled with the same bruises and gashes that May had suffered at the hands of Melanie, and a red, seeping stain blossomed across her shirt from the center of her chest.

May scrambled to Em's side in a panic.

"They found you," she sobbed, her trembling hands searching Em's neck for a pulse. "No, no, no, they got to you too."

Fat hot tears fell from May's eyes, splashing down onto Em's icy skin and diluting the smears of fresh blood like watercolor paint.

"Wake up, Em," she sobbed, holding her face between her palms. "Please, open your eyes."

She shook Em's shoulders with a firm grasp, her frantic pleas echoing through the dark and barren world that surrounded them. Something in May's mind convinced her that she was too late, and she collapsed over Em's body in a hysterical heap.

A soft touch on the top of her head startled her. May sat up with a gasp and found Em, now inexplicably void of injury, smiling down at her.

"I knew you could do it," the Star whispered, looking at her with proud and loving diamond eyes.

May shouted with joy, flinging her arms around Em and holding her tight. She looked at her again, breathless with relief. Em pulled May up until they were face to face and pressed a chaste kiss to her lips. It was a gesture that filled May with happiness and longing, but for some reason her body seemed incapable of reciprocating.

Em tried again with another gentle kiss and, again, May's body was sluggish to respond. It was confusing and frustrating in the way dreams are when things don't work the way they're supposed to. Em pressed harder. Slowly, with her mind growing fuzzy around the edges, May felt her body begin to respond.

Em's kiss tasted like wine.

"Oh, May," dream Em whispered in a voice that jostled May's mind.

It wasn't Em's voice.

"May..."

It was Mila's.

May's eyes shot open to find herself surrounded by a different kind of darkness. A warm body writhed against her own beneath the covers, another kiss smothering her lips. Her sleep-addled brain tripped over itself at the sensation of a hand sliding up her shirt.

"I've missed you so much," Mila's voice murmured, her lips moving against May's cheek.

"Mila," May gasped. "Stop it. What are you doing?" She squirmed, trying to hoist Mila off and wriggle free, but her legs were tangled in the quilt and a sharp stinging from the scar on her chest nearly took her breath away.

"Oh, come on," Mila crooned, shifting so that she straddled May's hips and intertwining their fingers like tight laces. "You can't tell me you don't still think about us."

"Get off of me!"

Mila attempted to kiss her again, getting only May's cheek as she turned her face away.

"We're both alone! This is our chance."

May was now completely awake, panic pulsing through her. Her mind screamed like a siren, her body reacting to being pinned yet again. But this time she was stronger - not to mention sober - and she had the upper hand. Bucking her hips, May ignored the searing pain in her chest and twisted. With Mila's center of gravity thrown, all it took was a shove to send her sprawling onto the other side of the small pull-out mattress. Hissing through the pain, May scrambled to her feet and gently massaged her scar.