Page 52 of The Stars are Dying

“You should have let me go.”

His jaw shifted. Every light within me started to wink out. But as I watched shadows circle my vision, Nyte stayed with me under the slow blanket of stars. I wanted to admire its beauty for longer, but as my body felt pulled by something…unexplainable,all I could do was press myself tighter to his solid bare chest, not wanting the void to drift us apart and leave me alone again.

“This is not the way you die. Stay with me a while longer.”

Gravity returned again, though I wished to be free, flying, anywhere I might evade the tether to this world that was slowly wrapping around me.

Except for him. I wanted him.

“You’re warm,” I mumbled, unable to stop thinking this wasnew. He’d touched me before, but this time I couldn’t place my craving for it.

“I wish I could say the same for you.” His voice sounded strained as he carried me, and I was about to tell him to let me go. “It’s nothing to do with you,” he said in answer to my thoughts.

His exertionhadto be because of me.

Nyte stopped walking, taking a moment to breathe, and I fluttered my heavy eyes to his face. He was so beautiful, with his midnight hair slicked around his sharp features. Droplets of water rolled down his complexion, pale as if it had been far too long since he’d felt the sun. Something about his face was different. More troubled and worn andtired.

“Nyte,” I said though my chattering teeth.

“Starlight,” he breathed back.

“I’m glad that room wasn’t empty.”

The confession slipped out as I thought I might not have another chance. I realized I’d run from him, but I wasn’t truly afraid of him. I was afraid of living after all I’d failed at and lost, and I washopefulfor this to be the end so Cassia wouldn’t be waiting long for me.

My palm flattened on Nyte’s chest to feel his deep inhale. Then he was moving again, holding me closer, and my lids slipped shut as I forgot the wrongness of my wanting this final comfort before then.

“I plan to have you dance for me a second time.”

I shook my head—or I thought I did, but a wave of drowsiness lapped at me, and my hand fell limp.

“Stay awake, Astraea.”

My head became a boulder atop my shoulders, toppling off until it was jerked back and rolled to find balance. My forehead was now pressed into his neck with the adjustment, sending me off with notes of mint and sandalwood, and I decided this was a peaceful scent to die with. This felt safe despite what he might be.

“Had you ever danced for anyone before?” Nyte didn’t sound in a healthy form to talk either, but I enjoyed the rough surety of his voice and the way I could feel its vibrations. It felt…differentthan any other time he’d spoken. So certain and promising when it should have been the opposite with my senses barely-there.

“Would you be jealous if I said yes?”

He chuckled, the sound light and staggered with exertion. It was enough to tug at my mouth, but not to open my eyes. “To a dangerous degree.”

My slowing heart skipped a beat. “I’d never danced for anyone before,” I whispered.

The cold became so unbearable I wished it gone in my whimper. Despite enjoying the firm grasp of Nyte’s arms, I wished he hadn’t come.

“Just a little farther,” he said with a plea I almost nodded to.

I could make out the distant crack of branches and a rustling I confused with the rush of water I’d been engulfed in. Until the breaking stopped and so did his movements—save for his chest, which rose and fell deeply. He collapsed to his knees, relaxing his arms, but I didn’t want him to let me go.

“We’re out of time,” he said, sliding a palm across my cheek. “You’re going to be just fine.”

I wasn’t fine. I never had been and never would be even close to the bare minimum it took to exist without the world caving in on me with every step.Fine.Nyte had become this beautiful, impossible, taunting distraction I’d thought I wanted to chase away, but now I feared he was all I had left.

“Please.”

I wasn’t sure if the word had truly escaped my lips or why I’d really spoken it when darkness swept my mind and the shadows slammed down heavy. Before I succumbed to the numbness offered by the torture, a feminine voice sounded above the water.

As Nyte, the only sure thing I knew in that moment, slipped away from me…

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