been identical, none standing distinct from the others apart from the spindly branches of an overgrown smokethorn dalea tree partially obscuring one path. Then she saw it.
Though they were nearly concealed by the dalea, sprigs of desert lavender gave a muted glow. The longer she gazed upon them, the brighter they appeared, illuminating the barren trunk and reaching for the stars.
“That’s our path,” she breathed, easing in close against Xavier.
Perhaps there was more to it than that though, because there was a subtle pull from behind Rosalia’s navel, a gut-deep sensation as something called out to the spark residing within her, something that felt a lot like magic. She was just as exhausted as she had been that first night, if not more so now that they’d been traveling in the desert for nearly a week, but now she understood the awe in Xavier's face as he gazed at the magical flowers that silently begged to show them the way.
“This is the way,” Xavier said needlessly, and onward they went.
The sun climbed in the midmorning sky. The sound of sunbaked sand crunching beneath their feet and the distant cry of a fire hawk were the only break in the silence that had fallen over the traveling pair. Thankfully, the canyon provided the perfect amount of shade, though it was likely to be miserable at the inescapable hour of high noon. Xavier had offered to transform and allow her onto his back to cover more ground, but she insisted he rest more instead.
Rosalia stumbled, nearly falling over only to catch herself at the last moment against Xavier’s back. The pair tumbled down to the ground, the fall cushioned by hot sand or, in Rosa’s case, a hot man.
“Sorry,” she mumbled into his back, shoving weakly off him to roll to the side so they lay beside one another. Briefly they’d entertained the idea of stopping to rest when the sun first began to rise, but the magic that accompanied the blooming flowers urged them onwards. The magical blossoms littered the trail, an endless sea of lilac beacons.
Where there were flowers, there had to be water to replenish their waterskins. They needed it desperately, especially after Rosalia forced Xavier to split what remained with her the previous day. He’d wanted to be noble and selfless, but she wouldn’t hear it.
The wind whispered an ancient hymn in a desert language neither Xavier nor Rosalia understood, but they felt reverberating in their bones nonetheless.
Or, she was delirious with heat sickness and her feverish fantasies saw something that wasn’t there.
Xavier barked out a laugh, voice hoarse and throat dry, and not for the first time she was thankful he hadn’t allowed her to take this journey alone.
“We’re nearly there,” he said, the words sounded hollow, having lost their meaning around day three. He pushed upright with strength she couldn’t quite fathom in that moment. Days ago, he’d been at death’s door. The dry, arid weather seemed to have rejuvenated him day by day after all. “Can you go on?”
I don’t have much of a choice, Rosalia wanted to say. Instead she let out a grunt as she rolled around and used one of the rock walls that surrounded them to struggle into an upright position.
“I want ice cream,” she mumbled, puffing out a sharp breath to blow the loose strands of hair that had fallen over her face away. It didn’t move, clinging against her perspiring forehead and tickling her cheeks.
“I’ll buy you an ice cream shop when this is over.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She laughed feebly, and they pressed onwards. “You still owe me a fancy clock. I think you need to make good on that promise first.”
Xavier let out another dry laugh, eyes twinkling in adoration as he gazed down at her before he suddenly froze. Rosalia stopped short as well, a fresh dose of panic shooting down her spine as amusement slid off his face and was replaced with something unreadable.
“What?”
“Do you hear that?”
“What?”
Anxiety mounting, the last thing she expected of him in that moment was to snatch her hand and break into a dead sprint forward down the path. A surprised yelp escaped her as he tugged her onwards, the sudden surprise pushing enough energy through Rosalia that she could keep up with her lover and his dedicated mad dash.
They took a sharp turn and he abruptly came to a stop, making her collide with his back for the second time that day. It took her a moment, her heart was pounding