Page 152 of Keldori By Daybreak

It morphed into a game, seeing which of us could fell the other first, something our tether made extra tricky. I had to move without thinking, otherwise Ciarán received a warning on his end of the bond.

But it helped the exercise become second nature until we both fell to the pebbles, laughing.

I rolled into Ciarán’s chest, hiding there and letting exhaustion finally pull at the edges of my consciousness.

“You’re never far,” I said into the folds of his tunic. “And I do just fine in a fight. You don’t need to worry.”

“To be honest, I just needed you tired enough to fall asleep.” His arm tightened around me. When I pulled away from his chest to scowl at him, he laughed. “What? It worked, didn’t it?”

I relaxed back into him and breathed deep to inhale the smell of his shirt. We probably both smelled awful, but at this point in our journey, I couldn’t tell anymore.

“Maybe,” I conceded. “Ciarán?”

“Hmm?” He was quickly nodding off.

“You’ll stay in Keldori, right?”

His arm went rigid around me.

“What do you mean?” he asked, though I got the sense he already knew. It wasn’t exactly a confusing question.

“After we reseal my grandmother, are you going to stay in Keldori with us? Iseult said it’ll be too dangerous for Fana, Orla, and me to pass back through the secret door since our bloodlines are linked to the seal on the Rift. But you’ll stay too, won’t you?”

He thumb traced a circle on my back as he thought. And whatever thoughts he was thinking, they were loud. They buzzed at the back of my head, vibrating with anxiety, and suddenly I found myself worried about Ciarán’s answer.

“I like you, Wren,” he finally said, and his thumb ceased its circling so he could dig all five fingers into the folds of my hoodie. “But I’m selfish, and I don’t think I like you enough to stay if I can’t be with you the way I want.”

“Excuse you?” I pushed away again.

“You’re a Saergrim, and like you said, the Rift will depend on the longevity of your bloodline.” His pale cheeks flushed.

“Okay? And? What does that have to do with you?”

“Nothing! And that’s the problem. If you don’t have children, the Rift is in danger, and the thought of hanging around to protect you, your children, and whatever man—”

He cut off as the blush in his cheeks deepened, and mortification mounted in my stomach.

I hadn’t given my bloodline much thought.

“But I don’t know if I want kids. I’m only eighteen!” I sat up, my panic deepening. “And I definitely don’t want kids if they’re not—”

I bit my tongue before I could say anything stupid.

This conversation was ridiculous. It wasn’t a problem we had to worry about until much later.

And yet—

What was I saving the worlds for if it meant resigning myself to a life I didn’t want?

I bent over my knees, and Ciarán put an arm around my shoulders.

I wasn’t saving the worlds for me, I reminded myself. I was saving the worlds to save the worlds and to rescue Gams.

“What if my mom seals the Rift instead of me? And then jumps back into the dating pool. She’s only forty. That’s not too old.”

But that wasn’t fair either. None of this was.

“I’ll stay if you want me too,” Ciarán assured me. He leaned his temple against mine, and our proximity made our tether buzz. “Wren, I would do anything you asked of me.”