Page 97 of The Stars are Dying

“I’m going to head to the training room. Helps to clear my mind,” Rose announced.

“Can I come with you?” Davina asked. “It might help to take my mind off things too.”

“Do you want to come?” Rose asked me. The genuine side that came out of her around Davina was a warmth beyond the sorrow we all felt.

I shook my head, following them to the door. “I was there with Zath earlier. I think he said he planned to head back after supper though.”

Rose’s disgruntled exterior returned, and I bit my lip to keep from a chuckle.

After they left, I stood staring at the closed door for a few heartbeats to process all that had happened. I pressed my fingers to my temples, and then, as though trying to ease the announcement of his arrival, I felt a light caress on my nape.

Turning, I was overcome with incredulity at the sight of Nyte on my bed. “What are you doing here?”

He didn’t take his eyes off the item he threw and caught over and over again. Something metallic, made of brass. “I thought we went over this,” he drawled as I clicked the door shut. “I am here when your thoughts are reaching and I happen to be in the mood to reach back.”

“I still don’t understand how…thisworks,” I said, shivering at the notion he wasn’t here. Not really. And though I could see him so clearly now, I’d been physically closer when I couldn’t see him at all in the library with Drystan.

“Lie with me.”

“I amnotgoing to do that.”

The round brass item he caught in his palm disappeared with a clench of his fist. His golden gaze slipped to me with a devilish smirk. “I’m sorry to hear about your handmaiden.”

“She was more than just that.”

I believed the understanding that erased his jesting for just a moment. I’d exhausted myself with grief with Davina and Rose, and maybe there was a part of me that was glad for this distraction.

“You can tell me anything while I stand right here.”

“I could,” he sang, “but I would much rather you lie with me.”

He isn’t real.There was nothing scandalous or real about obliging. I removed my boots, and knowing the tight sleeves of my jacket would strain uncomfortably, I unbuttoned the high neck too, peeling my arms free. Though he didn’t watch me, the quirk of his mouth ground my teeth.

“Lose the gloating, or I’ll cast you away.”

“I have no need to gloat about you giving in to your wants.”

He was insufferable. Arrogant. Devious.

I marched over to the bed, listing other things to distract myself from thewrongfulgiddy rise in my stomach as I got closer. My confidence faltered when one knee was pressed to the sinking sheets, displaying every relaxed and beautiful angle of him. I knew his crisp, dark jacket with gold embroidery, much like his finely made pants, was just an illusion, but I admired his fashion sense outside the forgotten cave dwelling. As I eased onto the bed I kept a spacious distance between us, all too aware of my bare arms and the low, curving dip of my neckline. When his head turned and his eyes skimmed over me, it was as if he traced every silver line that marked me, knowing the path of each one.

“What did you want to tell me?” I asked quietly.

His eyes met mine. “Come closer.”

I held back a shiver with that command. Telling myself it was to save a string of useless protests and jesting, I shuffled over.

“Now lie with me.”

That smooth, silvery tone would never fail to race through me. I eased down, not even an arm’s distance away, my heart thumping loudly in the silence. I wondered with a flush if he could hear it.

We stared at the navy canopy over the four-poster bed, and slowly the fire I knew to be blazing across the room died out. The amber diffused, and in its place stars came out to play, stretching beautiful color and constellations above us. It was enchantingly beautiful.

“How do you do that?”

“It’s your desire. I only make you believe it’s real.”

I let a few beats in my chest pass before I said, “I don’t desire you.”

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