Cade Boonvos knows we're after the treasure. I know. He'll come back with more men, more guns. I looked straight at her. Then we ride faster and think smarter than they do.
And if we can't, I rested a hand on her shoulder. Seiya, I gave you my word that I'd help you. I intend to keep that promise all the way to the end. Tears began gathering in her eyes. Why are you willing to risk your life for me?
Because this isn't only about treasure anymore. It's about you. Keeping you safe. About I stopped myself. About what?
She asked softly. About the fact that you matter to me a whole lot more than you probably should. We stood there beneath the brutal desert sun while danger still felt close enough to breathe down our necks. Then Seiya stepped toward me and kissed me. It was soft, brief, but it carried every word neither of us had yet found the courage to say.
When we pulled apart, both of us were breathing harder than before. "Cade," she whispered. I feel something too. Something I've never felt before. What?
Safety. Trust. She hesitated. And something else. What's the something else?
A shy smile appeared on her face. I think it's love. For a heartbeat, I could have sworn my heart stopped. Seiya. I know it sounds crazy.
We barely know each other, but somehow it feels like I've known you my whole life. I feel the same way. We kissed again. And in that moment, I knew there was nothing I wouldn't do for her. I would stand against Boon Voss.
I would face the Voss 5. Hell, I would face a thousand armed men if that was what it took to keep her alive. Because Seiya was no longer just a former captive carrying a strange map across her back. She was the woman taking hold of my heart and I had no intention of losing her. 2 days later we reached Dark Canyon.
The place deserved its name. It was a deep valley trapped between towering walls of stone so high that sunlight barely reached the bottom. Shadow covered nearly everything. This has to be it. Seiya said.
We dismounted it and made our way toward the mouth of the canyon. The air changed almost immediately. Down there, it was cool and damp, nothing like the dry furnace heat that ruled the open desert. "Let's find that lake," I said. We pushed deeper into the canyon.
Every footstep struck the stone and came back to us in long, hollow echoes. The walls rose so high on both sides that the sky above looked like nothing more than a narrow strip of blue. About half an hour later, we found it. A small, dark lake lay hidden between the cliffs. Its surface was perfectly still, smooth as polished glass.
Not a single stream flowed in or out, exactly as the riddle had promised. Around the water, hundreds of wild flowers pushed through the earth, splashing color across a place so shadowed and cold it hardly seemed possible anything could grow there. Water that does not move, Sei murmured. And life that blooms, she looked at me. We found it.