by E. J. Mellow
I let go.
And…nothing happens. I stay afloat, my Arcus whooshing way from me. With wide eyes, a sound of pure astonishment barks from my throat, and instinctually I pump my arms, sending me higher. As I shoot above all the lines, away from anyone’s sight, the air is weightless, filtering through my fingers, like swimming in silk. Holy gods. I’m flying! I move around, growing accustomed to the sensation before looking for Dev. He’s but a dot in the distance, and I tip my body to catch up to him. I have no idea how long I can maintain this, but so far, my mind’s undisturbed by this use of energy. I glide through the air, twirling like a plane with my arms out, and then tuck them to my side, shooting forward. My eyes tear from the speed, my stomach dropping away, and I can’t stop smiling. I’ve never felt so happy in my whole existence, and something in my core swells, giving me more power. I laugh crazily, euphorically, unable to stop—I might even die from it.
Dev lands on top of a high-rise building and turns to search me out. As I come into view, he takes staggering steps back, almost tripping over his own feet, his mouth opening in a silent yell.
“Look!” I glide to a stop above him and spin in place. “I can fly!” I giggle like an idiot again, but not caring because, hello, I’m an idiot who can fly!
He says nothing, just watches me—eyes wide, face white.
“Isn’t this awesome.” I float nearer.
“Molly…” My name’s barely a whisper on his lips. “How…”
“I don’t really know. I was just up there”—I point behind me—“holding on to my Arcus, feeling like a bird, and thought, how much could I really be like them?”
Dev is silent again, looking at me in a way that seems pained. I come down, settling my feet on the roof. “What’s wrong?” I walk to him. “I’m okay, see.” I lift my arms and turn. “Not a scratch.”
“I…I actually think I might be…I might be jealous,” he says, stunned, and then equally so by his own admission.
I’m right there with him. “Really?”
He nods. “I’ve always wanted to fly.”
“Well”—I cock my head to the side—“do you want to try?”
His mouth pops open again. “Can you do that?
I shrug. “I don’t know, but,” I say, my lips curving up at the side, “there’s only one way to find out.”
“Stop fidgeting. It’s hard to concentrate.”
“What if you drop me?”
“Then you’ll die.”
His eyes narrow.
“Dev.” I breathe out a laugh. “For someone who’s so keen on flying, you sure are nervous about it.”
“I’m only nervous because it’s contingent on you.”
I cluck my tongue. “Ye of so little faith. Where’s all that you can do anything you put your mind to attitude?”
“Molly.”
“Oh hush. I’m just joking. Now stand still. I think I know what I need to do. It might feel weird though.”
“Why?”
“I said hush.” Taking a steadying breath, I change to the sight of energy. Following the glowing Navitas flowing through him, I pinpoint where it’s the brightest—his chest. Resting my hand on my own chest, I allow some of my power to collect there before I gently throw it out, a line being released from a fishing rod. The blue-white cord unspools until it latches on to my desired target, Dev, and goes taut.
We both gasp at the connection, a deep warmth running through us, for now I can feel all of his sensations, his excitement, nervousness, desires—
“Molly, what’s happening?”
I swallow, pushing down the overwhelming sensations. “I’m connecting my energy to yours. Think of it as sharing.”
“Is that safe for you?”
“Is anything here? Now quiet. I’m almost done.” Biting my lip, I secure the Navitas between us as best I can before I blink back to regular sight. The cord of energy disappears, but I still feel the tug. “Okay, you ready?”
He nods once, squaring his shoulders.
Gently I test this experiment. Up, I think. Weightless.
Dev flails slightly when his feet lift off the ground, and I smile as I collectively raise us higher and higher. My mind prickles now that there are two of us. I won’t be able to do this forever, but all we really need is a moment.
“This is…look at us!” Dev throws his arms wide as a heart-melting grin breaks across his face. My chest swells with his elation. “Can I move around?”
“Yes, but we have to stay close to one another. I’m basically feeding you a part of my abilities, and I don’t know how far the connection can go.”
“Okay.” Dev floats left, then right. “So I just think what I want to do? Where I want to go?”
“Basically.”
With eyes as bright as reflected topaz, Dev shoots up into the night sky, and I go with him.
The stars whip past us, burning orbs flying to their destination, and I can just barely make out the human forms cocooned inside. They slumber, wrapped in their personal spool of blinding Navitas, unaware of their minds traveling through another universe to reach their dreams. Dev and I swim among them—a school of fish. We haven’t said a word to each other, but with the connection, neither of us need to. I can feel everything he feels, and we share face-splitting grins. I’m pretty certain he can sense my emotions too, which is equally terrifying and relieving. Terrifying in that what’s bursting in my heart is consuming, fierce, with a promise to overwhelm. But relieving because it’s equally shared, equally felt, and I gaze at Dev soaring beside me, eyes briefly closed, taking in the sensations. I know there’s absolutely no way I can live without him. The realization momentarily stops my pulse, and we drop.
“Molly!” Dev calls out just as I right us.
I don’t look at him. I can’t, even though he can feel my anxiety—there’s nowhere to hide it. He says my name again, but I keep pressing forward, tipping my head to watch the miniature land below. Suddenly there’s a tug to my core, and I’m thrown back, an invisible source pulling me into his arms. He holds me to him, paused and floating above the world. Dev’s gaze is scalding as it seeps into mine, not letting me go. “I think I finally know what dreaming’s like,” he says as his hand brushes my cheek. “You. Whenever I’m with you, it must be a dream.”
I take in a shaky breath, the emotions in my chest overflowing until it spills out my mouth. “Dev,” I whisper, but he cuts me off, first with his thumb tracing my lip and then with a kiss.
The air around us shifts as our mouths dance together. My heart, his heart beat as one, faster and faster as his hands wrap tighter around my waist, dig through my hair. My mind is momentarily enflamed with only him, only his touch, his warmth. I have no idea how we’re still floating, what’s keeping us up, but our collected Navitas crackles and sparks between us, lassoing us together.
Dev is the one who severs the connection just as I hunger for more. He leans back, still holding me, and looks into my eyes. The blue that circles his pupils is on fire, the hottest part of a flame. “Molly.” His voice is gruff. “I love you.”
The sky rumbles, the shooting stars burn brighter, but the wind roaring past us stills. “I love you too,” I say, and the words easily flow from my lips as if they’ve been waiting all this time to be set free.
Our shared energy buzzes, electric, and I’m pulled to him again, my tears coating his skin as his mouth finds mine. I don’t know how long we stay like this, desperate to somehow get closer to one another, but eventually we tip forward, continuing our flight. The heat from the zooming orbs laps across our skin as we spin between them, and my emotion soars higher than the atmosphere that contains us. Up and up it floats, untouchable by gravity, but just as it takes its last giant leap, there’s a falter, a wane that threatens to plummet, for even though I know I’ve just gained something monumental, I can’t shake the feeling that I may have lost something equally important in the process.
— 35 —
TOUCHING DOWN ONTO the
roof, I lightly unhook my energy from Dev, and both our shoulders visibly sag. The air seems colder now, my chest less full, but our gazes momentarily lock, a secret smile shared.
With an effortless tug, Dev brings me into his arms. “Thank you. That was…” He shakes his head, at a loss.
“I know.” I peek up at him, suddenly feeling vulnerable after…everything.
He searches my eyes like he can’t believe I’m real. “Every day I thank Terra that I was the one to have found you that night. I don’t know what my life would have been like if I hadn’t—”
I stop him with a quick kiss, not wanting to hear anything else that will make my mind whirl with the decision that lies ahead. “We’re both lucky.”
His gaze lights up before flickering behind me. “The thing I had originally planned seems a bit lame now.”
“What was it?” I try peering over my shoulder.
Taking my hand, he guides us around the roof’s elevator bay to reveal a very simple picnic set up on the other side. A blanket is spread across the hard concrete with a few pillows and a chrome cooler resting in the center.
“Did you do this?” I turn to him, a smile on my lips.
He nods shyly.
“That is absolutely adorable.” I lean up, chastely kissing his cheek before skipping to the blanket. “I’ve never had a picnic on the top of a skyscraper before.”
With a look of relief and a bit of pride, he joins me. Placing his hand on top of the metal box, it falls open, unfolding itself to present us with matching dishware, beautifully arranged cheeses, fruits, and breads along with a bottle of what I assume is alcohol.
“I can’t take all the credit. Elario helped me with the food.”
“Then maybe I should be on a picnic with him.”
One of Dev’s brows arch. “I can easily arrange that for next time. Terra knows it took a great deal of effort to keep him from coming tonight.”
I chuckle. “Tell him I miss him too.”
“I think the sentiment would be better received coming straight from you.”
“Well then, I’ll be sure to visit him the next chance I get.”
He shoots me a coy glance. “If I didn’t know better, I might actually think I had something to worry about.”
“Don’t be so sure that you don’t. He may like men, but we have a bond that goes beyond cannoli.”
Dev chokes on his own breath before cracking a smile. “I think you’ve been hanging around me too much.”
“What, scared my innuendos will surpass yours?”
“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We all know my innuendo is the biggest around.”
I let out a grumbling sigh, raking my hand down my face. “Aaand there it is.”
“Game. Point. Match.” He smugly gestures to himself.
I snort. “Whatever gets you through the day.”
“Winning always does.” He winks before continuing to unpack our meal. I watch him while biting back a smile. Taking in his handsome features, the way the cords in his arms wrap around his muscles until they disappear beneath his shirt, I’m still not used to the fact that he’s mine and I’m his. Besides our gentle banter, there’s an intensity to all this now, a growing force that wasn’t there before. I feel desperate for every moment together, every touch, every look. This place that started out as only one half of my life has quickly become way, way more. I have a sudden desperate desire to tell Dev everything, share in the burden of my impending fate, but I can’t bring myself to. It’s so rare we get a quiet night together, and after what was spoken…I can’t ruin it with this news. I’m also terrified of his reaction, not only because he might beg me to stay, but on the small chance he’ll tell me not to.
He catches me studying him and smirks. “You know, some people consider staring to be rude.”
I purse my lips from him using one of my lines from the first time we met. “Cute.”
“I am, aren’t I?”
My eyes pull a muscle from how fast they roll.
“Here.” He hands me a glass of something bubbly before raising his own. “To a night without Metus decapitations.”
I thrum my fingers on my thigh. “So that’s what you’re summing up this night as?”
“Well, among other things.” He flashes a devious grin.
“Okay.” I laugh and lift my drink. “Then to other things.”
After eating most of the food and finishing half of the bottle, Dev settles us down on the blanket. Tucking me into his side, we gaze up and watch the Dreamers shoot across the sky, taking in the quiet, the only sound the subtle whooshing of people passing on the lines close by. Dev plays with a strand of my hair, and I draw patterns on his chest. Thoughts begin to swirl in my mind again, but I push them away, far away. Tomorrow. I’ll tell him tomorrow. As I twine my fingers with his, I wonder how many more tomorrows I can have.
— 36 —
THE SCENT OF hairspray wafts from my bathroom as Becca primps herself in the mirror. Standing next to my bed, I hold up one of two dresses, debating which one to wear tonight.
“The cobalt,” Becca yells, and I smile, hanging the black one back in my closet. Draping the form-hugging dress over my body, I begin to sift through my shoes.
“What do you think?” I glance up to Becca standing by the door. She does a little twirl, and her emerald-green dress flows out at the waist before it hugs around her hips, falling fluidly to her thighs. Her apricot hair is relaxed in waves past her shoulders, and her freckles brighten her complexion to a lively glow.
“You look stunning! Rae won’t know how to behave properly at all tonight.”
She giggles and claps her hands together. “My plan exactly.”
“Here, now I can give you your birthday present.” I walk to my dresser and remove two small boxes from a drawer.
“You didn’t need to get me anything,” she says as I hand her one.
“Don’t play the demure card, Bec. You know as well as I do that you love getting gifts.”
Her grin is devilish. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“These are actually for both of us.” I peek in my box to make sure I have the right one, and Becca’s eyes alight with curiosity. “Okay, you can open yours.” Without waiting a beat, she pops off the top and gasps.
“It’s part of a set,” I say, showing her mine. “I got them specially made and have the other half.”
“Oh my gosh.” She holds her fingers to her mouth as her eyes get misty. “Molly, these are…these are perfect.”
I smile and take mine out of the box. In the middle of a simple gold necklace, in beautiful cursive, is the word Turtle. Becca holds hers up, revealing the word Dove.
“You are my little turtle.” She wraps her arms around me.
“And you’re my dove.” I hug her back.
“Turtle doves. Oh God! We are too cute! We have to always wear them when we’re together.” Her grin is wide as she clasps the necklace on. “Rae is going to puke from how adorable we are. I love it! Thank you. Thank you!” She squeezes me again. “I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
Swallowing back the sudden barrage of emotions, I swat her butt. “Okay, birthday girl, let’s finish getting you ready for the ball.”
Rae, in his consistent romantic gestures, rented out The Wicker Horse for the entire night—the bar where they first met—and it’s packed with Becca’s many friends. The lady of the hour floats about, saying hi to everyone and enthusiastically taking each drink handed to her. I’ve been mentally devising when those will be traded out for waters.
Stephanie, Becca’s older sister, is here with her husband, Kelly, and they’ve been keeping me company most of the night. While the two sisters share the same fiery mane and willowy form, that’s as far as the similarities go. Steph, while very nice, is more comfortable discussing the weather than anything truly personal. That’s why her next words catch me off guard.
“I was sorry to hear about you and Jared,” sh
e says while playing with the small straw in her drink. Coworkers at the same law firm, she’s the one who introduced Jared to me.
“Oh…yeah.” I glance to Kelly, whose brown eyes are magnified by his thick-rimmed glasses. He pushes them up the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out too,” he says.
“Have you guys spoken since?”
I shift on my feet. “No.” And I haven’t thought much of him in these past few days either. What’s more surprising is, I don’t feel guilty about it. Recent worries and losses take up enough room in that bag.
She nods and shares a look with Kelly.
“Why? Has he—how is he doing?” I ask.
“Better.” She attempts a smile.
“Now.” Kelly adds, and I frown.
“You left on civil terms though, right?” Steph glides over her husband’s remark.
“Yes, I think so.” I gaze out to the crowd, focusing on nothing before turning back to them. “You guys do know that he’s the one that ended things.”
Steph’s brows rise, acknowledging that she didn’t.