“Neither of us did,” I said to Sarit. “Was it big? Is everyone okay?”
“Oh, yeah.” She sounded breezy. “Everyone’s fine. It was small, really. There are always earthquakes in Range, though most are too tiny to feel. But you know how everyone gets. They’re all wishing Rahel were still here; she looked after the geological and geothermal aspects of Range. It just makes people feel safer to have someone like her saying there’s no danger.”
“Ah.” I shifted, hating when anyone mentioned a darksoul. It wasn’t that I wanted people to pretend they’d never been here, but friends’ pain was too sharp. “What was the second thing?”
Her tone lightened. “Well, you remember how you were asking about what happens during a rebirth?”
“Yeah…”
“But no one invited you and you said you felt awkward just showing up?”
“Yes?” After Templedark, several pairings had been approved by the Council; they needed to start getting souls back, and not everyone who’d died that night became a darksoul. Lots would return, like Menehem.
“Lidea was asking about you last night. She wanted to know when you and Sam would be back, because she was hoping you’d be there when she gives birth.”
“Really?” I bounced. “You’re not tricking me so I’ll come back to Heart early, are you?”
“No!” Sarit lowered her voice, as though telling me a secret. “She said she wouldn’t be alive now if it weren’t for you. And she was asking about you, really. Not even Sam, but he’s probably expected if you’re going.”
“Wow. Okay. When is it?”
“They’re thinking it will be just a couple of weeks”—her tone turned sly—“so you should probably come home now.”
I snorted. “I knew there was a catch.”
“And a bribe. Come home and I’ll give you another jar of honey. A bigger jar. I’m sure you’ve run out of the little one by now.”
It was true. “You do know the way to my heart. I’ll tell Sam I can’t pass up an offer like that.”
“Good! Okay, go tell him. See you soon, my little moth!”
“Ew. Really?”
“I have a whole list of bugs for you. Bye!” She hung up.
“What did she call you this time?” Sam put down his diary and stretched.
“A moth.” I checked for other messages, but Sarit’s were the only ones. “I think she’s trying to wear me down about the butterfly thing.”
“Is it working?” He stood and glanced out the window. His expression didn’t change, though, which meant the sylph must still be out there.
“Nope. She can call me whatever bug she wants. I’m not a butterfly.”
“No.” Sam gave a quiet half smile. “You aren’t.”
Shortly after we’d met, Sam had compared my life to a butterfly’s, saying that to others I was fleeting, inconsequential. I’d long ago forgiven the insult, but I’d made the mistake of wearing a butterfly costume to a rededication masquerade earlier this year. The nickname had stuck, mostly as an endearment, though knowing my distaste for it, Sarit searched tirelessly for alternatives.
“It sounds like we’re going back to Heart sooner than scheduled?” Sam hesitated, then sat on the corner of the bed. He’d been sleeping on the sofa only a few strides away, and he claimed he wasn’t uncomfortable there, but I kept wondering if we might both be more comfortable if he were here. With me. I didn’t say anything, though.
“Yep.” I stretched to put my SED on the small nightstand, next to my private notebook. “We’ve been invited to a rebirth, and I really want to go. I think we’re done here, anyway.”
Sam tracked my motions, something deep and undefinable in his eyes when I settled against the pillow again. “You know I’d go anywhere with you, Ana.”
I smiled. “Keep saying that and I might start believing you.”
“It’s true.” He scooted closer, now by my hips. “Where do you want to go?”
“To the moon?”
He grinned. “I like that you think big.”
“What about to the bottom of the ocean?” I’d never even seen the top of the ocean, but why stop there? “We could go to the very bottom and explore. Can you imagine what kind of creatures must live under all that water?”
“I think you can, and that’s what I—” He dragged in a breath. “I want to tell you something.”
“What is it?” I pushed myself up straight, and suddenly we were very close together and the mattress sagged awkwardly under our combined weight. He hooked his arm around my waist to keep me from falling over as I let my hands slide downward so my fingers curved over his arms.