-Caspian Grayson:
I genuinely could not speak for several long seconds.
My brain simply stopped functioning properly the moment the cave fully revealed itself around us.
Everywhere I looked, there was light.
Not artificial light.
Not torchlight or magical flames or anything man-made.
The cave itself glowed.
When Kyle moved beside me, silver and violet light slid across his face like liquid stars.
And through all of it—
Kyle still hadn't let go of my hand.
That realization settled into my awareness again slowly.
His hand remained wrapped around mine naturally now, warm and grounding against the overwhelming surrealness of the cave around us. He wasn't holding me tightly. He wasn't forcing the contact.
He was simply there.
His fingers loosely intertwined with mine while standing beside me beneath glowing diamonds.
And strangely enough…
I liked it far more than I should have.
No hesitation.
No awkward carefulness.
