Chapter 24: Equipping The Mind
The shelter's interior was silent save for the ambient creak of wood slowly reshaping under the pressure of the world's shifting.
The hearth, made from carved stones and Voidling bones, emitted gentle fire, retained a strange residual warmth from the last time Kivas used her halo to light it.
The two bedrolls, lined with stitched bark and all sorts of comfy plantations, lay on opposite sides of the space, though one had shifted closer.
Kivas lay there, stiff as a board, her limbs folded atop her chest while her wings—what remained of them spiritually—itched from phantom memory.
Her eyes flicked toward the ceiling, then toward the barely visible profile of Samael lying beside her.
Just right beside her, within arm length, Samael's gaze was fixed directly on her. Unblinking. Attentive.
The weight of it felt like a crushing wall of gravity. Kivas took a deep breath and cupped her mouth, attempting to hide her expression without looking away.
The memory of the earlier incident refused to vanish. Every shift of her breath reminded her of her lips being devoured. Every faint sound echoed with the low, amused voice that claimed her without shame.
"Can't sleep?" Samael asked, her tone as casual as if she were commenting on the temperature.
Kivas turned her head slowly, uncertain whether the awkward churn in her chest was anxiety or something more embarrassing. "How about you?"
Samael shrank the lid of her gaze. "Occasionally, but not this time. I'm taking nightwatch. You don't have to worry."