The Spring Fair was an interesting event to explore. Almost half of the city’s fourth level had been slightly adjusted to fit dozens of market stalls, the streets lined with warm white lights strung beneath the massive textile awnings that kept the sun out.

Merchants from all over the city had gathered to sell a variety of items, from books, quills, and artisanal inks to works of art, miniature sculptures, perfumes, soaps, fabrics, and jewels, as well as fashionable garments, fine furs, tools and instruments, and plenty of local food and drinks.

It was truly a pleasure to walk through the streets, perusing every single stall and wishing I had five bags full of gold coins to spend in this place. Both the Imen and the Maras had developed a fascinating culture here, complete with a plethora of significant objects and customs. From what I could see, the Imen were more focused on the gastronomic side of things, along with the raw materials for different handcrafting and art projects, while the Maras devoted most of their resources to the end results, offering visitors an impressive range of decorative objects. It was a much-needed distraction that didn’t really alter Azure Heights’ regular functions, but rather enriched them, as people could skip work for an hour or so, just to browse through the stalls.

Patrik and I wandered through the fair for a couple of hours, looking around while searching for the ingredients he needed for his ambitious spell aimed at the asteroid belt.

I occasionally stole glances at him as he exchanged words with different herb and crystal sellers. The memory of our kiss from the day before refused to go away.

“So, when are we going to try this spell, provided you find everything you need here?” I asked, as Patrik thanked an Iman merchant and we resumed our slow walk through the fair.

“It will definitely have to wait until evening,” Patrik replied. “We need a clear night sky for this to work. The asteroid belt needs to be visible.”

I couldn’t help but gaze at the crowd around us, watching as both Imen and Maras went about their business, buying and selling to one another, offering brief smiles and compliments over the quality of the merchandise on sale. There was a noticeable difference between the two species where demeanor was concerned.

The Imen were soft and humble, as opposed to the sharp and confident attitude of the Maras. The contrast was interesting to watch in a large crowd, as I could observe different groups displaying similar patterns of behavior. The Maras clearly considered themselves superior—one could tell from the way they looked at the Imen, the short periods of eye contact they made with them, and the comparatively few words they used when addressing them.

“I mean, it’s still a long shot, but it’s worth a try,” Patrik continued.

We walked around for a little while longer, wondering how much of the Imen’s softness was genuinely theirs, and how much of it had been implanted via mind-bending. It was reasonable for me to question the reality at this point, knowing what we knew about the complicated relationship between the two species. After all, we knew for a fact that the Maras had been using their mind-bending for more than just psychotherapeutic purposes.

The silence between Patrik and me started to feel awkward. I had nothing and everything to tell him. And yet, as much as I wanted to address what I had done yesterday, I couldn’t find the right words to form a single coherent sentence.

He seemed to sense my internal anguish somehow. He looked at me and exhaled, putting his hands in his pockets. “Scarlett, I… I’m sorry I haven’t brought this up. We should’ve talked about this already, but… I haven’t been able to find the right words.”

The more he stuttered, fumbling through the phrases as he tried to talk about our kiss, the more I realized that Patrik was having a hard time expressing himself on the matter. If anything, he was just as nervous as I was about it, maybe even more so. It was downright adorable, watching him—the tall, devastatingly handsome, and intelligent Druid—trying… well, endearingly failing to talk to a girl. Specifically, a girl he’d already acknowledged that he could see. And we both knew what he’d meant by that.

“I mean, I just wanted you to know… Scarlett, what you did—what we did yesterday… I didn’t expect it to…” Patrik tried again, just as clumsy an attempt as the first one.

I, on the other hand, was feeling braver than ever before. The energy I’d felt flowing through me the day before, back at the library, had come back, stronger and brighter. It was enough to jolt me into doing the unspeakable again.

“In fact, I just wanted to… I don’t know why it’s so difficult to—” he muttered, and I moved to face him, stopping him in his tracks. I cupped his face with my hands and pulled him into another kiss.

The moment our lips touched, I closed my eyes and welcomed the incandescent sparkles invading my consciousness. I held my breath, as he opened his mouth and became an active participant, taking over and completely dazzling me.

He responded, deepening the kiss and wrapping his arms around me. He pulled me closer, and I had no other choice but to rest my hands on his shoulders and welcome the amazing taste of him. His tongue skillfully worked mine, and my blood simmered, my pulse starting to race through my veins.

This changed everything. I wasn’t really sure what I had intended by kissing him again, but it had resulted in something truly extraordinary. I melted in his arms, feeling echoes of his thudding heart inside my chest as he kissed me with everything he had. It was as if he’d been waiting forever to do this, much like me, for that matter.

From the moment I had first laid eyes on Patrik, I’d felt my heart flutter and my stomach tighten, and the more time we’d spent together, the more intense my feelings toward him became. I couldn’t help but shudder in his embrace, so happy that this was happening, and yet still wrapping my head around it. He felt that, and tightened his grip, bringing one hand up to hold the back of my head as he pulled me even closer, and even deeper into our kiss.

It didn’t matter that we were surrounded by strange creatures, some of whom could be hostile, as far as we knew. It didn’t matter that we were stuck on this planet with no means of reaching out to GASP or our families. It didn’t even matter that there were daemons out there, eager to eat our souls and destroy the city.

In the midst of it all, Patrik and I had somehow found each other. And for the first time in months, he seemed to have put the thought of Kyana aside and followed his instincts. More importantly, for the first time in my life, I was kissing the creature I had hopelessly and irrevocably fallen in love with.

I knew that we were going to have to talk about it, at some point. But, for the time being, all I could do was welcome him into my life, and into my heart, as we kissed in the middle of a narrow alley at the Spring Fair.