security reasons is nothing compared to the life of isolation that Nimh has endured.
“I’m still here with you,” I murmur. The words are soft, but they’re enough to make her focus on my face again. “I’m real. And you’ve taught me to believe, Nimh. In things I can’t see or touch. But more than anything, I believe in you. And I’m real.”
Her lips tremble, as if a smile is there somewhere under the layers of grief. My eyes are drawn there, and I find I can’t look away.
“I was so certain you were my destiny, and I yours,” she whispers.
Even spinning out of control and losing everything she ever believed in, she has the power to steal my breath away.
Her gaze drops a fraction, mouth shifting—I recognize it as a change in thought, a mannerism I hadn’t realized I’d learned—but there’s an invitation there, in the slight part of her lips. Her skin is darker than mine, and doesn’t flush as easily, and yet I can see color in her cheeks.
If she’s no longer certain she’s divine … then she’s no longer certain she can’t be touched.
“We really have to keep walking,” I blurt, my voice cracking in a way it hasn’t for years.
“Why?” Nimh murmurs, scarcely flinching, still watching my mouth for a moment before she looks up to meet my eyes. Her gaze is a challenge—she knows exactly why I interrupted her. “What does it matter if they find me?”
I try not to let her see how unsettled I am. “Well, for starters, death. Maybe yours, definitely mine.”
I meant for the words to come out lightly, but she lifts one shoulder and turns away, hunched, arms tightly crossed. I shouldn’t have broken the moment. I should have acknowledged it, given something back to her. Why didn’t I?
“Then let’s go,” she says, starting to walk.
It’s quiet after that. She keeps to her thoughts, and I let her.
A few days ago, I’d have said that prophecy was a charlatan’s tool, a collection of vague predictions that anyone could twist to suit the circumstances. I’d have said magic was nothing but clever tricks.
But that was before I saw Nimh conjure a wall out of thin air as we escaped the temple. It was before I saw villagers turned into spectral creatures by the mist, and saw Nimh banish them with Jezara’s sky-steel water.
The only thing I’m certain of now is that the longer I stay here in this world of Nimh’s, the less I am certain about anything. If Nimh’s magic is real, who’s to say her prophecy isn’t?
Nimh may be doubting if she was ever divine—but if she touches me now, there’s no undoing that choice. I couldn’t bear for her to realize later that she sacrificed everything in a moment of weakness, and that I let it happen because … because I wanted it to.
We make our way along a narrow track bordered by spindly, twisting trees, gnarled and leaning in over it like they want to snatch us up. It winds its way up along one of the cliff faces, bordered on one side by sheer rock stretching upward, and on the other by a vertical drop high enough to make the most steadfast climber blanch.
The cat seems particularly alert, his tail swishing, his nose twitching at all the new scents. The roots reach out to trip us up, and sometimes the path seems not to exist at all, but when it’s wide enough, I walk beside Nimh. I want to remind her she’s not alone.
Nimh walks on through the lengthening shadows, her gaze fixed straight ahead. She seems unbothered by the sheer drop to one side—in fact, she’s walking so close to the edge that my chest squeezes. Each step veers a little closer, until I feel the tension snap out of me, my voice tight.
“Nimh …” I hesitate, because the last thing I want is to sound like her caretaker—or worse, her brother—but then I see her shoulders hunch, and she comes to a halt just on the edge of the steep drop, pebbles rattling together and then falling in a long, silent descent.
She glances back at me, one eyebrow raised, challenging me to finish the admonishment I didn’t voice.
“I can’t exactly grab your hand if you stumble,” I point out, smiling despite the worry coursing through my veins. I don’t want the moment to be heavy, but there’s something about the way she’s holding herself that makes the hair on the back of my neck