The Dawn of Ocana by Jessica Kemery

Author:Jessica Kemery [Kemery, Jessica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0000000000000
Published: 2023-09-16T06:28:21+00:00

It was like he couldn’t move. When she was done with him, he lay back, feeling the soft feathers that lined the massive nest, cradling his body. The appa bird they had ridden on stayed on the summit, tucked its wings under its body, and waited, seeming to be a sentinel to the lovers below.

The wool blanket was scratchy under him. The two moons shone down on them and made her skin glow like alabaster. She leaned down and pulled another wool blanket over them, covering their bodies against the chill.

He said nothing. There were no words. She was everything to him, but like a ghost, he knew she would disappear for days or weeks until she felt the need for his company again. She was everything he wanted and nothing he could have.

“Marry me,” he said, his voice breaking the spell. The full moon lit up her full lips. He rested his hand on the curve of her hip, and she moved closer.

“Marriage is for mortals,” she whispered.

“What? Your immortal?” He laughed.

“Well, I guess I could be killed. I am flesh and bone like you, but I don’t age. I am far older than you. I have been here on my mountain for generations. I was here before the fog,” Atena said, tracing his chin with her finger.

He was flabbergasted; he had no idea. “And I’m your first…friend?” he asked. He had no way to describe what they were to each other.

“Yes, you are my first. Mother doesn’t approve of us 'befriending the locals,' as she calls it.”

“No, she doesn’t. She’s not going to like this,” an unknown voice, hard and cold, said.

Atena gasped, covering Edmond with the blanket. In the shadows above the nest, he had just a moment to see a dark form.

“Odessa! Why are you here?” Atena cried, pushing Edmond down.

“Oh sister, stop trying to hide your little boy toy. I see him there, naked as the day he was born,” the cold voice said.

Atena visibly slumped, and a sigh left her. Emond sat up and looked around for his clothing. It was on the edge of the nest, in danger of being blown off the side of the mountain. He started dressing, staring at the shadowy figure looming above them.

“Please, don’t tell Mother. She will be upset,” Atena said, and Edmond saw she looked frightened.

“Oh, I’m going to tell her. Little Atena, who can do no wrong, has finally done something naughty. Very naughty.” Odessa threw her head back and laughed, and Edmond saw Atena’s sister looked a lot like her, but the moonlight on her face highlighted a cruel sneer, not the lovely face he had grown to love.

“Atena, pay her no mind. Come back to Vale with me, be my wife,” he pleaded, taking her hands and forcing her to look at him.

She turned away, refusing to look at him. “I can't, Edmond. I’m sorry.”

“Take the boy home, Atena,” her sister demanded.

Edmond watched in disbelief as the woman sunk into the rock she had been standing on and disappeared.

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