Page 97 of Night Spinner

I place my hands over Serik’s and lean closer.

Closer.

Until our foreheads touch.

Serik’s eyelashes flutter and he lets out a wheezy breath. “For a minute there I thought you were going to kiss me.”

I reach up and tweak his nose. “This is no time for kissing. We have Zemyans to evade and shepherds to ferry and a lost king to reinstate. If we manage all of that, maybe then you’ll deserve a kiss. In the meantime …” I gesture to the long line of shepherds, laden with packs and satchels and wagons. They’re ready, waiting. Looking at us as if we’re their salvation.

Maybe we are.

I take Serik’s hand, and we charge forward, into the grasslands. Away from the lights of Sagaan and into a shadowy future, filled with a million unknowns.

But this I know for certain: the Lady of the Sky is guiding us, pointing our way to the dawn.

With a confident smile, I twine my fingers in the threads of darkness, tightening my fist until our caravan vanishes beneath a cloak of night.