Chapter 117

　　Maia

　　Damon tucks my long black hair behind my ear.

　　‘We should go to my cave,’ I say, and he lifts me and tells me he will carry me home. I have butterflies in my stomach, and Vivian mentioned butterflies. I put my arms around his neck and rest my head against him as he walks.

　　We sit beside the waterfall to watch the stars and admire the moon. Ember curls up on Damon's legs and soon falls asleep. With our fingers, we draw pictures in the air by forming lines between one star and the next. Damon asks me to guess what he is drawing.

　　‘A fish?’ I guess.

　　‘No. How you got a fish out of that, Maia, I don’t know. It was a fox,’ he says, and we laughed.

　　The night is warm, so we both undress and leave our clothes near the cave while slipping into the pool beside it. Ember sits on a rock, watching us. I flick a heap of water at Damon.

　　‘You're in trouble now, Princess,’ he says, laughing.

　　‘Really?’ I ask him playfully.