Niam

NIAM

M y heart nearly stopped at Tharon’s words. “Then I started dreaming of you.”

His admission hung in the frigid air between us. My mind raced, trying to process what he’d said while also being acutely aware of his solid warmth against my back, the way his arms bracketed me from the cold.

“Dreams?” The word came out barely above a whisper.

“For months now.” I felt his breath at the nape of my neck. “At first, just fragments. A flash of red hair. Green eyes filled with defiance. The echo of your voice, though I didn’t know the words.”

I pulled away slightly, turning to face him. The firelight caught the angles of his face, shadows dancing across his features. “How is that possible?”

“I don’t know.” His eyes searched mine. “And then I saw your message, the vision of you from the device when it was first assembled. It was the first time I knew you were real.”

The cave fell silent except for the howling wind outside and the steady breathing of the villart. My hands trembled, and not just from the cold.

Because I’d seen him too.

During the endless hours in the Tomb, when digital tendrils threaded through my mind like poisoned vines, sometimes there had been... something else. Flashes of midnight hair and eyes that held both ice and fire. A sense of safety I couldn't understand, warmth in the midst of electronic winter.

I’d assumed it was the Temple playing tricks, trying to keep me compliant. But now...

“The storm’s getting worse.” Tharon’s voice pulled me from my thoughts. “We should move deeper into the cave. Find somewhere more protected.”

I nodded, grateful for the momentary distraction. He stood first, offering his hand to help me up. The simple touch sent sparks along my skin.

The villart balked when Tharon tried to lead it further in, tossing its scaled head and backing away from the darkness.

“Here.” I stepped forward, running my hand along its neck like I’d seen the handlers do. “How do I calm it?”

“Find the soft spot just behind the jaw.” Tharon’s fingers covered mine, guiding them to the right place. “Gentle pressure. Let it know you’re not a threat.”

The villart relaxed under our combined touch, scales warming slightly beneath my palm. Tharon’s hand lingered on mine longer than necessary before he pulled away to gather firewood.

“Good,” he murmured. “You have a way with them.”

I led the villart while Tharon scouted ahead with a makeshift torch, until eventually the passage curved inward, then opened into a wider chamber with a high ceiling. Perfect.

“This should work.” Tharon set about building a new fire while I settled the villart. “The wind won’t reach us here.”

I busied myself with unpacking what supplies we had left, trying to gather my courage. The words sat heavy on my tongue, demanding to be spoken.

“I saw you too.”

Tharon’s hands stilled on the kindling. “What?”

“In the Temple. When they... when I was connected to the systems.” I swallowed hard. “I thought it wasn’t real. That my mind created something safe to cling to during the worst moments.”

He crossed the space between us in two long strides, dropping to his knees beside me. “Tell me.”

“Just pieces at first. The color of your hair. The way you moved - like a predator, but not one I needed to fear.” I hugged my middle for comfort. “Then more. Your voice, though I couldn’t understand the words. The way you smelled of spices and winter air.”

His breath caught. “That’s why you weren’t afraid of me in the Temple. You already knew me.”

“I think so.” I met his gaze. “Though I didn’t realize until now.”

The fire crackled between us, casting warmth against the deepening cold. Outside, the storm raged on, but here in this hidden place, something else built between us - fragile as spider silk, strong as steel cable.

“I dreamed of finding you in a garden of crystal flowers.” His voice dropped lower. “You wore a dress of starlight and danced among the blooms. But when I tried to reach you, you always faded away.”

“I saw you in a forest of blue-leafed trees.” The memory rose up, clear now that I let myself examine it. “You were hunting something, moving like smoke through the shadows. I called out, but you couldn’t hear me.”

The cold seeped deeper into my bones, but it couldn’t compete with the warmth spreading through my chest at Tharon’s words. He’d dreamed of me, just as I’d seen him. Not Temple tricks or desperate imagination - real visions connecting us across the distance.

“When did they start?” I asked. “The dreams?”

“Half a year ago.” Tharon added another piece of wood to the fire. “During the season of storms. I thought I was going mad.”

“The season of storms...” The timing clicked into place. “That’s when the lightning struck the Temple. When everything changed.”

When the integration protocols had faltered, letting my own mind surface from beneath layers of Temple programming. When I’d first recognized the visions as more than system glitches.

The fire crackled between us, throwing shadows that danced across Tharon’s face. I tracked the subtle shifts of his expression - the tightness around his eyes, the way his jaw clenched and unclenched.

“You’re trembling.” I reached toward him without thinking.

He caught my wrist before I could touch him. “Don’t.”

“Are you cold?”

A harsh laugh. “No. The suppressants were in my saddlebags. Lost in the rockslide.” His grip tightened, then deliberately loosened. “Being near you... it makes control harder.”

“Oh.” I should pull away. Should put distance between us. Instead, I turned my hand in his grasp until our palms pressed together. “Then why stay so close?”

“Because having you here also gives me something to focus on. To fight for.” His thumb brushed across my knuckles. “The beast wants to protect you, claim you. The man wants to earn your trust.”

The sincere intensity in his words stole my breath. Here sat a warrior prince, a man who blew through his enemies like a storm, and he chose gentleness with me. Not from weakness, but from strength.

“The visions,” I said, desperate to distract us both. “Tell me more about what you saw.”

“Sometimes you danced.” His voice dropped lower. “But not like the court dancers. You moved like water, like starlight. Free.”

Memory stirred - fragments of dreams where I’d spun through crystal gardens, unfettered by Temple protocols or physical limitations. “I remember that place. The flowers chimed when the wind blew.”

“Yes.” His fingers twined with mine. “And overhead, three moons hung in a purple sky.”

“I used to think the Temple created those visions to torment me. To show me everything I could never have.” I shifted closer, drawn by his warmth. “But they were real. You were real.”

“I’m here now.” His other hand came up, hesitating near my face. “May I?”

I nodded, not trusting my voice.

His fingertips ghosted along my jaw, so gentle it almost hurt. I leaned into the touch instinctively, without thinking.

“.” My name on his lips sounded like a prayer.

The last rational part of my mind screamed warnings - about the Temple, about the device, about all the reasons this was a terrible idea. I silenced it.

My hand rose to his face, mirroring his touch. His breath caught. The beast lurked in his eyes now, deep rings of green inside midnight blue. But his hands stayed gentle as I traced the line of his jaw.

“I dreamed of this too,” I whispered.

Then his mouth found mine, and my thoughts scattered like leaves in a storm.

The kiss started soft, questioning. His lips brushed mine like he feared I might shatter. But when I pressed closer, fingers curling into his hair, something snapped.

A growl rumbled through his chest as he deepened the kiss, one hand sliding to my nape while the other pulled me against him. Heat flooded my body, chasing away the last traces of cold. I’d never imagined a kiss like this - like I was precious and wild all at once, like I was something worth claiming.

His teeth grazed my bottom lip, and I gasped. The sound seemed to jolt him back to awareness. He jerked away, horror replacing the heat in his expression.

“I’m sorry.” He scrambled backward. “I shouldn’t have- The beast-”

“Tharon.” I touched my lips, still feeling the phantom pressure of his kiss. “It’s okay.”

“No. I lost control. I could have hurt you.”

“But you didn’t.”

We stared at each other across the fire, the air thick with unspoken words. My heart thundered against my ribs. How did I tell him that for the first time since escaping the Temple, I felt fully present in my own skin?

No. I couldn’t do this. I needed something, anything, to distract myself from the intensity burning in Tharon’s eyes.

The device. Yes.

My hands trembled as I pulled it from the crystal-studded pouch Mahra had given me. The familiar weight settled into my palm, its cold metallic surface pressing into my flesh. The geometric patterns caught the firelight, throwing strange shadows across the cave wall.

Blue light pulsed from its core, stronger than I’d ever seen it. But instead of pointing toward the distant peaks as it had before, the beam angled deeper into the darkness of the cave.

“Tharon.” My voice cracked. I cleared my throat and tried again. “Look at this.”

He moved closer, careful to keep the fire between us. “It’s never glowed that bright before.”

“No.” I turned slowly, following the light’s path. It led past our makeshift camp, past where the villart dozed, into the throat of blackness beyond. “Something’s down there.”

The device’s pulse quickened, like a heartbeat growing stronger.

“Well.” I pushed to my feet, gathering my resolve. “I guess we know where we’re going next.”