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She grabs my hand and pulls me through another door, which swings open on whining hinges and lets in a gust of cool, salty wind from the sea. We step out onto the narrow catwalk that circles the lantern room.
Orca leans closer to me, her fingers interlaced with mine. “Adam, look up.”
The sky is overflowing with millions of stars shimmering like diamonds scattered across an ocean of black silk. The Milky Way spreads her blue and purple wings above us, layers upon layers of stars crowded so close together it’s hard to find dark space in between.
“Isn’t it beautiful?” Orca’s voice pulls me back down to earth. I realize I’m still holding her hand—or maybe she’s holding mine. Either way, it’s my favorite part of this moment.
“Very beautiful,” I say, unable to take my eyes off her. “Indescribably beautiful.”
“I knew you’d appreciate it. Papa says we have the darkest sky in the world because there’s no light pollution out here.”
I tilt my head back, tracing the endless patterns in the night sky. “Do you know any constellations?”
“Some. Do you?”
“Some.”
Orca laughs, a snatch of music on the wind. “Ursa Minor,” she says, pointing up at the sky. “And the North Star.”
“Oh, come on. That’s the easiest one.”
“Then you find one.”
It takes some searching before I find the constellation I’m looking for.
“Lupus. The wolf.” I point to the edge of the Milky Way with my fingertip, drawing imaginary lines between the stars.
“I see it!” Orca whispers excitedly. “And Scorpius, just there.” She reaches up to draw the shape of the constellation, and our two hands become one silhouette in the sky as I align our index fingertips and help her trace the lines of Scorpius.
When I look down, I find her staring into my eyes—as if searching for constellations in me.
I’m close enough to hear every shivering breath leave her lungs. I’m close enough to feel the warmth of her body against mine. I’m close enough to kiss her.
I know I shouldn’t. I can’t.
But she’s here, in my arms, and tomorrow she won’t be. She’s here, standing beside me at the top of the world, the edge of the universe. Starlight illuminates the curves of her neck, the wind tangles softly in her hair, and she’s looking at me like she wants me to kiss her.
Does she want me to kiss her?
It doesn’t matter what she wants. It doesn’t matter what I want.
Don’t do it, Adam.
Desire grips me from the inside, pulling me under like an inescapable current. Should I say something? Should I tell her how beautiful she is? Should I tell her that I’m falling in love with her? I don’t have the words.
“Adam?”
I snap out of my thoughts. “Yes?”
Orca glances from my eyes to my mouth. “I… I have a very strange feeling when I’m near you. It’s like the whole world is tipping, and I feel like I’m losing my balance. And my heart starts pounding like I just ran up and down the stairs three times, and I want… I want…”
Her gaze slips down my body, sending a blaze of warmth coursing through me. I wait for the rest of her sentence, fighting hard against the current.
“I want you,” she whispers.
I can’t have heard right.
“Me?” I echo in disbelief.
