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But that glow faded with each passing
breath she emerged to take, dimming further
each time she plunged beneath the surface.
Had she wished for him not to touch her
because of that internal inferno, or simply
because she first wanted to wash away the
stain of Cairn? Perhaps both. At least she’d
begun speaking, her eyes clearing a bit.
They remained clear as she treaded water,
the glow still barely clinging, and peered up at
where he stood on a sliver of black rock
jutting into the lake.
“You could join me,” she said at last.
No heat in her words, yet he felt the
invitation. Not to taste her body the way he
yearned to, needed to in order to know she
was here with him, but rather to be with her.
“Unlike you,” he said, trying to steady his
voice as the recognition on her face threatened
to buckle his knees, “I don’t think my magic