Page 244 of Interion

“Besides you, nothing will ever be as beautiful as this,” I murmured, my eyes wandering everywhere. There was so much beauty it was almost impossible to believe it was real. I absorbed every detail: the place, the beings, the music, and the love. He turned me around, pulling my hand over my head and spinning me slowly. It was the beginning of a dance, and I found myself biting my lip in reluctance.

“Dance with me,” Zion said, the blue light bathing his face. I smiled shyly.

“Teach me,” I said, as he brought my left hand to his shoulder and held my right hand close to our hearts.

“Just let me guide you. The basics are a step to the left and another to the right while I lead you through the waltz.”

I did as he asked, and at first I fumbled with the rotations, but soon I got the hang of it. It worked like fighting—after the first steps and turns, my body began to anticipate the next movement. Zion was patient and careful with me, looking like a prince of light and shadows under the warm glow of the aurora borealis. His eyes were all the seas, lakes, and rivers, spreading across the vast continent of my heart.

The music played on and on as we danced in the light of the aurora and the water spirits. Each note was honey and joy filling my heart. Only then did I realize that Zion had transported us here, and I remembered Serguei saying he could only materialize in places he knew. The memory of Zion standing beside the cliff filled my head. I looked around with teary eyes. Any of these rocks could have been my death. I realized he must have come here, prepared to save me from myself—or collect my pieces if I jumped.

“It was you, wasn’t it?”

Zion pulled back a little to look me in the eyes, yet kept dancing.

“I what?” he asked, confused.

“I noticed how you looked at the cliff the day I told you about Adele. You looked down, like you were remembering something painful.”

I studied his eyes and searched for feelings through the bond. Physically he didn’t falter, but I could sense something bitter coming through our connection. Zion just kept looking at me, moving us to the slow rhythm of the music. So I continued:

“Every time I came to the edge of the cliff and thought about jumping, my mind would go numb and I’d feel a comforting presence. It was as if it begged me with phantom touches not to give up. That was the only thing that stopped me from jumping in my first year at Interion. Sometimes I’d just come here to feel those touches and wrap myself in the sensation that I wasn’t alone.” He stopped moving and stared at me without reaction. “It was you, wasn’t it?”

Zion looked at me for what felt like an eternity, then finally nodded.

“It was.”

I caressed a tendril in my hair, and it nestled against my neck, warm and protective.

“Thank you for not letting me give up,” I said, pulling his hand to my lips and kissing it.

He spun me slowly in place, then drew his body close to mine. Zion looked at me as if I were the most precious thing in the world, then kissed my forehead, breathing me in as if he could store that part of me in his body. He embraced me and resumed the slow, precious waltz.

“As long as I live, I’ll never give up on you. You’re more than I ever imagined—you’re everything that matters in my life, Kyller.”

So we danced, while yonsais, tears, and emotional barriers fell around us. We held each other as if it were our salvation.

“I love you, Zion Voluz,” I murmured as the music carried us. Just me, him, and a whole future stretching out ahead.

“I love you too,” he said, looking into my eyes. “So much. An infinity of so much.”

I smiled, hearing him use the silly words I’d said a few days before.

“An infinity of so much,” I agreed happily.

We danced until our feet couldn’t take it anymore, and even when Zion picked me up to go perform the rite, my heart kept dancing in my chest...

All night long.

Chapter 61

After the magical night we'd had, Zion finally brought me home, leaving me in my room. He was giving me privacy and time to change out of my elegant clothes and remove my makeup. After lighting the fireplace, I put on white lingerie—the most modest piece I had in my closet. Normally, people didn't wear anything during the rite since they needed to expose their bodies for the drawings, but we decided to keep the lingerie on for our own sanity.

I opened the door for Zion to come in and sat waiting beside the fireplace to warm up. When he crossed the threshold, I noticed he'd also changed and was now in his sleepwear. Which meant he was shirtless—something that would undoubtedly distract me during the rite. He walked across the room holding a pot of paint and a brush, and soon his eyes traveled over my body.

I'd prepared myself for this, but it wasn't enough to ward off the insecurity. His eyes began a slow journey from my feet to my hair, taking in everything, every bit of exposed skin. I couldn't stop my hands from clenching and unclenching at my sides, and I had to bite my lip to keep from cracking a joke that might relieve the tension but would ruin the moment.

“What do you want me to draw?” he asked, looking away from me and stirring the paint in his hands.