“Ash,” Felix says. “Come to me.”

He reaches his hand out, beckoning. His hazel eyes are shadowy and distant; the wan moonlight gleams on his dark hair, strands of silver starlight streaked through blackest night.

I stand frozen in place. I can’t tear my eyes from the incandescent serpent twisting through the air behind him, slow and rhythmic as the ocean currents.

“What is this?” I manage to choke out, fighting the urge to turn around and sprint in the opposite direction.

Now’s not the time to run away. I have to be brave.

“Ash, I– ” Felix begins, taking a step towards me.

“No!” I yell sharply, bringing him to a sudden halt. “Don’t come near me.”

Felix’s expression is veiled, inscrutable.

Without warning the giant serpent freezes in the air behind him, coiling in on itself. It seems to fold into space, flickering out in a quick flash of blinding light.

Only a patch of pale moonlight shining through the trees remains.

Felix flickers his eyes over to the spot where it disappeared, and sighs loudly.

“Great,” he says. “You scared it away.”

For a moment I’m too shocked to speak.

“Wh-WHAT?” I say. “Are you crazy? What… what were you doing with that thing? What was that? And what… are you?”

The last part comes out almost as a squeak, and I feel my heart hammering hard in my chest, urging me to escape, to flee while I still can.

Felix takes another step towards me, and I can see now that his eyes are sad, the gold-flecked greenish-brown darkened with sorrow.

“You’re not… human… are you?” I ask, taking a step backwards as he approaches.

Felix halts mid-step, and his face contorts, his eyes glint, and he cracks a massive smile before doubling over in a fit of hysterical laughter.

“What kind of question is that?” He asks breathlessly, fighting back more laughter. “What do I look like, a bloody unicorn? Of course I’m human.”

Ok. Not the answer I expected.

“But then… what was that snake thing?” I ask defiantly. “It’s the same one we saw a few weeks back, right? The one Elliot thinks is a hologram?”

Felix nods, his face suddenly serious.

“Well?” I ask, frustrated by his silence. “What was that thing? And what were you doing out here with it? And how come you can get through locked doors, and why do I remember you in my dreams? And why did Mia tell me that I’m in danger?”

“Mia?” Felix asks, his face falling into puzzlement. “As in, your friend who died in the bus accident? That Mia?”

“Yes,” I answer. “I’ve… seen her. Or her… spirit or something. She warned me. About you and the others.”

Felix nods his head thoughtfully.

“I’m in no position to doubt you,” he says. “I’ve seen my fair share of… that stuff. But I probably know as much as you do about what’s going on here. Less, even.”

“That stuff?” I ask. “You mean, ghosts?”

Felix just narrows his eyes, as if at some dark memory. His expression says, don’t ask.

I can see he’s not going to respond, so I try a different tack.

“What is it?” I ask. “The silver snake, I mean. Is it some sort of… ghost pet, or something?”

“A pet?” Felix smirks, looking like he might burst into laughter again at any moment. “Whatever it is, it’s not something as simple or as cuddly as that.”

“But… you were singing to it,” I say, refusing to give up. “Don’t try convince me you came out for a midnight stroll and sing-a-long session and you happened to run into that thing. What’s really going on?”

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Felix sighs heavily, shaking his head.

“That wasn’t me singing Ash,” he says. “It was that thing.”

“But I heard your voice,” I say.

“Yeah, and I heard your voice the first time we saw it,” he says.

I try to remember what he’s talking about. We saw the silver serpent a few weeks ago, as we were walking back to the cabin after my parents’ ridiculously awkward dinner party. I can still picture the serpent weaving through the air as it sang the lullaby about five princes killing each other over a maiden. Even though the others seemed to have convinced themselves it was some sort of hologram, someone out in the woods playing a prank on hikers perhaps, I knew there was more to it.

It’s alive. Or was, long ago. I can feel it.

“What do you mean, you heard my voice?” I say, trying to remember the sorrowful, sighing lament of the serpent that night. “That’s impossible.”

“Seriously Ash,” Felix sighs. “You have a unique singing voice. I’ve never heard anything like it. Don’t tell me you don’t know what your own voice sounds like?”

Now that I think about it, I’ve never actually heard my own singing voice, except while I’m actually singing. Maybe it’s like hearing a recording of your own voice – it never sounds like what you expect.

“The others didn’t realize,” Felix continues. “They hadn’t heard you sing back then. But I knew. I could tell that somehow, this thing’s connected to you. And to me too, it seems.”

“So what, you’ve been coming out and looking for this thing every night since then?” I say. “Standing in the middle of the forest while it frikkin’ sings to you in what you think is my voice? Do you have ANY idea how ridiculous that all sounds?”

Felix shakes his head.

“I’ve heard the singing most nights since then,” he says. “But this is the first time I managed to actually find it again.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?” I ask, frustrated and tired of talking in circles. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Tell you what?” he says. “I don’t know anything you don’t Ash.”

“So you don’t know anything about the myth?” I ask. “And the Silver Circle?”

His eyes seem to darken, like clouds moving over the sea.

“I can’t talk about that,” he says slowly, his voice clipped. “For your own sake, don’t ask about them.”

“Why?” I practically shout. “Tell me!”

“I’m trying to protect you Ash!” He shouts back, never losing his composure as he gazes at me. “Please, just trust me. I can’t tell you. Not yet, anyway. But I will. I promise. I’ll tell you everything.”

I know I have no reason to believe him, but there’s something about the look in his eyes. Melancholy, regret, earnestness and tenderness, all mixed into one.

“Ok,” I say, struggling to keep my voice from shaking. “Then tell me what you can. Who are you really?”

Felix narrows his eyes at me, shaking his head.

“I’m exactly who you think I am,” he says. “Felix Lockhart. Seventeen years old. Lead singer of the British rock band Fable. Human.”

“That’s not what I mean,” I say, feeling my face flush. “You don’t remember ever… um… being someone else?” I ask, waiting for him to start laughing again, before I continue. “I have these dreams about you. About you and me actually. I think it’s long ago. You’re some sort of prince, and we’re on a beach and we’re… um– ”

“I have them too,’ he says. “Every night, as far back as I can remember.”

He moves towards me, closing he distance between us in just a few steps. I don’t try to move back this time. I’m too spellbound by the unspoken secret in his hazel eyes, the sad, beautiful half-smile.

“The first time I saw you – that time in your parents’ café before the concert…” his voice trails off. “I knew it was you.”

He lifts a hand to my face, his cool fingertips brushing my cheek as he looks at me pensively.

“Ash,” he says. “I’ve been looking for you all my life.”

My breath catches in my throat.

“I won’t hold back any more,” he murmurs, his face inches from my own.

And with that, before I realize what he’s doing, he steps forward. His hand on the small of my back, his other hand on the nape of my neck, he pulls me to him and leans into me, ducking his head as his lips find mine.

His kiss is dark electricity – all passion and smoldering desire, a delicate mystery unfolding between us as our bodies meld together, locked in a fiery embrace beneath the moonlit trees.

My lips move of their own accord, meeting his own with equal ardor as he deepens the kiss, pulling me closer to him with a gentle certainty.

I feel weightless, filled with a fire I never knew existed inside of me.

“Ash,” he whispers between kisses. “I won’t ever let you go.”

His arm snakes around my waist, pulling me closer, and his words echo through my mind.

I won’t ever let you go.

As his lips caress mine, a distant memory, or maybe a half-remembered dream, flickers in the deepest recesses of my awareness.

The smell of salt – blood, tears and seawater. A young man with Felix’s face. Those same hazel eyes, the wild dark hair and sad gaze. Armored all in black, cold metal pressing against me as he holds my failing body in his arms, red rose of blood blossoming on my breast, icy lips against my ear, as he whispers those very same words.

I won’t ever let you go.

Fear like a raging ocean rushes through me, and I jolt backwards violently, breaking out of his arms.

“No,” I whisper.

Felix steps towards me, his expression troubled.

“What’s wrong?” He murmurs as he wraps me up in his arms, and holds me fast against him. “Ash, why are you trembling?”

“I don’t know,” I whimper, feeling the tears well up in my eyes as I press my face against his chest. I can feel the warmth of his body though the fabric of his sweater, soft against my cheek as I weep.

He holds me tighter, gently stroking my hair as I quiver with sobs.

“Why?” I murmur. “Why are you doing this?”

He pulls away from me slightly, grasping my arms as he studies my face.

“Isn’t it obvious?” He says. “I’m in love with you Ash. Madly, deeply in love with you.”

And with that, I surrender myself to his arms as his lips meet mine, and he lowers me down gently onto the bed of moonlit emerald moss, scattered with a blanket of ruby-red leaves.

As he kisses me, the faraway words echo though my mind.

I won't ever let you go.