Page 99 of The Stars are Dying

“No. He is nothing more than a fae.”

I tried to process what that meant; if it could be important. “The vampires…could they ever coexist with us in peace?” I thought of Drystan, and with the way Nyte seemed to pause before he answered, perhaps he knew it.

“Yes. There used to be a truce. The vampires and celestials worked together to create harmony. They would feed on the souls of the wicked, those who didn’t deserve to find peace in the sky, who would one day return to the realm for a new life. Murderers, rapists, evil beings… And then there were humans who would trade days, weeks, months of their lives with the vampires—and their willing blood. Sometimes they gave it with affection; other times they treated it like currency.”

“That doesn’t sound fair,” I mumbled, in a trance with the story.

“The world will always have dark corners of cruelty. Life, no matter which species, will always deal unkind hands of fate. Make it more difficult for one to reach the same goal. If you ask me, it only makes their story worth more in the makings of their legacy.”

The constellations broke and reformed, creating the couple once more.

“What happened to them?” I asked.

Nyte took a deep breath, and now I knew of our mental connection, I thought the notes of despair to be his. “They found themselves forced to lead on enemy sides.”

My heart feltsqueezed.“This won’t have a happy ending,” I said, clinging to the glittering forms of the couple.

“The star-maiden was ordered back by her parents as the world erupted into chaos and war, but she defied. She wanted to fight. But there was nothing she could do. One of the two star-gods had to die for the celestials to regain the strength of their solar magick.”

My head twisted to him with wide eyes. His lips firmed and he nodded. I cast my sights up just in time to see the feminine form dissipate from the other, and he reached after the stardust she became.

“What happened next?”

Our eyes met for a prolonged, searching second. There was no next. Not for them.

I lay back down. “Being here, can you…feel?” I asked with growing anxiety. In the silence I counted my breaths, watched stars collide, and almost settled on thinking he wouldn’t answer.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt anything at all.”

I didn’t know what to say to that, nor what he was really trying to tell me with it.

“You have to want me here. The more you desire it, the more tangible it can become. It’s a push-and-pull of sorts. Every touch was as real as you believed it to be because you opened yourself to me. The mind is a very powerful thing.”

It somewhat explained how sometimes he only spoke to my mind. Even now I couldn’t reflect on the memories as anything less than real with how sure I was that he’d been before me all those times.

I sucked in a breath when his fingers grazed mine, and though I wanted to deny it, I'dlongedfor the reality of that touch, and that was what it had become. I was drunk on the magick of it and knew this was safe. I could banish him at any moment and lock him out for good.

At least I thought I could.

“Do you feel me?” I asked quietly.

“As much as you do me.”

He continued until his knuckles grazed my palm, his hand rested in mine, and I slipped my fingers through his, unable to stop my curiosity as I locked them under mine.

“But it’s nothing compared to how Iwantto feel you,” he added in a low murmur. “Truly real. I may have moments of peace in my mind, but you are a maddening temptation, Starlight.”

I shifted my hips at the tight sensation over my skin. Finally, I found the will to rest my head toward him, immediately captured by his irises, which flickered like the candlelight he’d stolen from the room. My gaze drifted down to his neck and the gold markings peeking out from under his collar. I didn’t know where my bravery came from as my other hand reached over, moving slow like he might be spooked by my advance at any second.

“You only want me to free you,” I said. My fingers brushed the material and his neck tensed, but he didn’t stop me.

“I do. And if I only got one true feel of you before the world collapsed, it would be worth it.”

He’d brushed my tattoos many times, and I rolled to face him, not taking my eyes off the first constellation point leading onto the next I discovered on him. Our hands remained within each other’s, and something enchanting raced over my skin. I touched the first point high on his throat then boldly traced down to the next, heading lower. I almost missed his shallow, contented sigh.

My mind sparked as if I should know what the tattoo meant. As if I had seen it before but couldn’t place the whole picture. I tried to peel back another inch of his tunic when he caught my wrist.

“If you’re going to take my clothes off, I wantthatto be real.”

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