Into the Fading Twilight (Starlight Grove, #2) (14)

“Bossy.” But Nova still did as I asked and rested her hand just below mine with only about an inch separating our fingers. Hers were so much smaller than mine—delicate and slender. Mine curled around nearly half the trunk with gnarled knuckles that mirrored the knots in the bark. But we both had scars. Mine from countless construction projects and time spent outdoors. And hers? I wasn’t sure I wanted to know.

“Close your eyes,” I whispered.

A hint of panic lit those silver eyes, and the urge to touch her, to give some sort of comfort, was almost overpowering. But I didn’t.

“Keep them open. It’s okay. I just want you to feel—the earth beneath your feet. The energy there. Your palm against the tree, the life bleeding into you. And breathe. Let all that life force guide you.”

Nova’s fingers flexed around the tree trunk, pressing in. Her toes, painted a sunshine yellow, dug into the pine needles beneath her feet. I heard her inhale—sharp at first and then easier, in and out, her chest rising and falling. Everything started to even out. Steady. Deep.

“I’m breathing,” she whispered.

“You’re breathing.”

Her eyes found mine. “Why does that help?”

I shrugged, my hand falling away from the tree, almost grazing hers, but not. “Makes you focus on things other than whatever’s taking over your mind. It would be better if we were in an actual forest instead of at the edge of town.”

A smile tugged at Nova’s lips. Not one of the fake ones she wore so often but a real one. “I’m picturing you going all yogi out in the middle of the wilderness, Kol.”

Fuck.

Her saying my name did something to me—something I did not need to acknowledge in any way, shape, or form.

“I don’t bend that way, Phoenix.”

Her eyes sparked at the nickname—one I’d never uttered aloud before. But a phoenix was exactly what I’d started to think of Nova as. She’d risen from the ashes, and she was more powerful than ever. People might not think of her that way. They might see her as damaged or broken. But I knew the truth.

She was a survivor. She’d crawled back from death itself. And she was still here.

“We all start somewhere,” she said with a grin. “I could teach you a few pretzel twists.”

Movement caught my attention—the Boot’s back door opening, just beyond the trees. Wylder and Brae stepped out, searching.

Wylder’s gaze found us first, instantly assessing in that way he always did. He said his years of working in a bar had given him insight into people. But I thought my eldest brother had some innate gift that allowed him to see more than the rest of the world.

Nova turned and followed my gaze. “I’d better get back to work before I get fired on my first day.”

Some part of me wanted to tell her not to go. And what the hell was that instinct?

“Wylder won’t fire you,” I muttered.

Nova’s lips pursed as if she didn’t like that, which made no sense. But instead of arguing with me, she donned her socks and shoes and started walking.

I hurried to follow her, not bothering to tie the laces on my boots.

Worry lines furrowed Brae’s brow as we approached. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

“I’m fine. Why?” Nova replied, easy-breezy, as if her panic attack had never happened.

Brae frowned. “You were barefoot in the woods, looking all intense.”

Nova tucked a strand of hair that had fallen out of her braid behind her ear. “I was trying to help Kol. He has a foot fungus. I heard pine needles help cure it.”

My jaw went slack as I gaped at her.

Nova simply winked at me. “See you around, Boss.”

Wylder let out a half laugh, half cough as he slapped me on the shoulder. “Good luck with that, buddy.”





CHAPTER FIVE


Nova




THE WIND RIPPED THROUGH MY HAIR AS I STOOD ON THE edge of the cliff. It was a violent kind of wind tonight. The kind that reminded you just how powerful nature was. I loved it.

The air battered my bare skin, nothing but the sports bra and underwear I wore protecting me. I hadn’t put the swimsuit on. Told myself I didn’t need it. I’d jumped that morning. It should’ve been enough of a fix for a few days at least.

But it wasn’t.

Maybe it was all the half conversations with Brae. Or finally coming face-to-face with Cora. My first day at a job after so long. The memories or imaginings fighting against the walls of my mind.

It could’ve been any of it fueling that need. It could’ve been all of it.

All I knew was that I felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin. And the panic was swirling like an angry sea under a stormy sky, threatening to swallow me whole.

“I’m alive,” I whispered into the wind. “I’m breathing.”

And then I launched myself into the air, trusting that it would catch me. It did. Like always.

The air, colder now that it was twilight, whipped against my body. And then I hit the water, like a thousand tons of frigid force.

It was the kind that could drown you if you weren’t careful. But I let it swallow me as it was the only thing that could beat back the panic. I submerged myself, going deeper and deeper, then cast my blurry gaze up to the surface. Broken light made its way through, but sometimes, that was all you needed—a fractured piece of hope to keep you pushing on.