The afternoon had already slipped into the golden hues of dusk when Rakahn, lying on his back, gazed at the sky through the branches. His fingers idly brushed the grass, as if making sure the ground wouldn't collapse beneath him. He felt light—really light—as if every cell of his demonic body had been bathed in honey. Beside him, Katia twirled a dandelion stem between her fingers, blowing a sharp breath to scatter the seeds. They floated off, tracing lazy spirals before the setting sun.
"You look like a puppy that found a stash of bones," she murmured without looking at him, a smirk tugging at her lips.
He turned to her, cheek pressed against the wrinkled fabric of the blanket. "That's what I look like? Not a terrifying, majestic lord of darkness?"
She burst out laughing—a clear, almost too-loud sound for the quiet forest around them. "Majestic? You nearly fell into the pond trying to take off your boot earlier."
