Fire Stones - By Kailin Gow Page 0,39

where we belong, Mac. Our true home.”

“I don’t understand. Where are we going?”

“Somewhere you’ll love, my darling. Somewhere you once loved. The heavens – where the sun and sky were born.” He held me closer, kissing me. His lips tasted so sweet; they gave me life and air. “I would never have dared attempt this without you – I have not been up here for thousands of years. But now that you’re here…”

“I don’t understand.”

“As you Awaken, you are not only becoming stronger, you’re making the rest of us stronger too. All Embodiments are reaching their full potential. And I am becoming the Mars I once was – capable of flying into the very heart of the sun itself. Once, Vesta and I used to fly out here, fly into the center of the sun, luxuriating in its heat. Now, I want us to do the same.”

“But won’t it hurt us?”

“You’re with me, my darling. We can Unify. Nothing will hurt you now.”

And so we flew into the heart of the sun, golden fire shooting and kindling all around us. I was intoxicated by its beauty. Its heat did not burn me, but only warmed my skin – a pleasant glow that filled me with passion and power.

And then Chance put his hand on mine, and placed it into the heart of the sun. To my surprise, I felt something there – something hard in my hand.

“Another stone!” I looked down to see a topaz stone glimmering in my palm. “But how did you know…?”

“I guessed,” said Chance. “That Vesta would hide a stone here where our hearts first united. But I couldn’t bring you here, couldn’t get here myself, until I was sure you truly loved me, sure that we could Unify. But now I know – you have made me stronger than ever. You have made me a better man – and a better deity. You are my one, my love, my only. And now the stone is yours. The topaz that protects against death. Keep it always, my love. Keep yourself safe.”

The journey back no longer frightened me. I looked around in awe at the stars and planets swirling all around us – at the enormous surface of the moon. If the ocean had left me breathless, it was yet nothing when compared to the beauty of the heavens. I felt a sudden sense of surety: this, this was my home. This was where I belonged. When we landed safely on the ground at Aeros, I felt a sense of sadness – even loneliness – homesick for a place I had only just seen.

“How did you do that?” I asked Chance, when we had landed. “Find the stone.”

“My chance to help you retrieve the Topaz stone was given to me by the great powers of Fire on one condition.”

“What was that?”

“That you returned from the sea, my darling. Home to Aeros. Home to me.”

Chapter 16

That night I dreamed once again of Mars and Vesta, of our glorious palace built of flames and gold. I dreamed of his lips against mine, of his bare chest against my naked body, of his arms tracing the contours of my back. I dreamed of the sweetness of his kiss, the softness of his words, the roughness of his embrace. I dreamed that he called me once more by the names I had called him on the field, the names that proved our love: “my love, my one, my only.” I woke up drenched in sweat, exhausted and yet invigorated at the same time.

But real life had to continue, one way or another. Now that my mother was better I was heading back to school, doing my best to make up for the work I’d missed in my absence. I hadn’t spoken to her much since the illness – while she was better, she was still weak enough for Antonio to insist that she take a week of paid leave to stay in bed, and so our conversations mostly revolved around what kind of soup she wanted me to heat up for dinner. Neither one of us brought up her confession; we both assiduously avoided the subject. Too dangerous for both of us, I reasoned. I just had to treat her like my normal mother, like the Rose Evers I knew. Maybe she’d never bring it up again – maybe I’d just be able to forget…

My daily shopping trips thus became a longed-for afternoon escape from time at home with my mother.

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