Page 55 of Until the Stars Fall

Beck wrapped his arms around me from behind. “See?” He kissed my cheek. “Like ripping off a bandage. Pretty soon they’ll find something else to gossip about.”

He started fixing us each a plate, but my face still felt hot and red. Zola was the most mature of us all, so I looked at her for help. But she giggled around her coffee cup. “I knew,” she said. “But I promised not to say anything.”

“Mama Zo!” Eyre stretched her arms forward and bowed to Zola, “Your secret-keeping skills are unmatched. I would’ve told all y’all the second I knew.”

“Like I did!” Hannah guffawed.

“Poor Gemma, your face!” Summer said, leaning forward to put her hand on my arm. “I hope you know we’re all so happy for y’all. We don’t mean to tease you, but also, we’re extremely hard up for gossip on this long-ass trip.”

“It’s true.” Eyre laughed, turning around to include Beck in the conversation. “I painted my toenails blue, and it was all we could talk about for two days. You have to give us this.”

They meant well, but I wanted to crawl under a rock. Beck, meanwhile, was scooping eggs onto our plates, grinning and enjoying the whole thing.

“And I just want to say,” Hannah said, coming around to give me a big hug, “a big ol’ I told you so!” The women fell to laughing again while Hannah continued. “Seriously, how long has this been going on?”

Beck popped a piece of bacon in his mouth with a smile. “Not quite two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” Hannah exclaimed, eyes and mouth wide. “How were the three of us so oblivious?” A timer went off in Hannah’s pocket. “Oops. Time for me to get back on the bridge.” She scooped up a mug and skipped out the doors singing, “I’m so happy for y’all!”

“I’m out too,” Eyre said. “Gotta make sure we’re on track for the Bifrost and contact the Heimdall Station with our ETA.”

“Let’s leave the kitchen to the lovebirds,” Zola said. “Nobody forget we have a spell refreshing tonight!” She pointed at each of us in turn as she walked out with Summer and Eyre, her long, flowered robe rippling around her legs.

“We’ll be there!” Beck called out, sitting on a stool beside me at the kitchen island. When they were gone, he kissed my temple. “See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?”

I blew out hard. “I guess not. At least we don’t have to sneak around anymore.”

“Although that was kinda fun.” He squeezed me tight before attending to his eggs.

“What time is the spell refreshing, do you know?”

“I think Zola said seven?”

I followed his gaze to the closed door.

“Are you sure you don’t want to participate?” he asked quietly.

He’d suggested last night that the spell refreshing would be a good time to come forward about my magic, if I wanted to, since adding another witch to the spell would increase its potency. But he’d also assured me that the five of them would be adequate.

“I’m sure.” No way was I ready to face that.

He nodded. “Have you given more thought about what you’ll do when we get to Gaia? I know you’re not going back to Noble Industries, but do you think you’ll want to stay around Nouvelle Orleans, or travel somewhere else to work?”

He asked it casually, but the real question beneath his words was since we’re officially a couple now, doesn’t that mean figuring out the world together?

He’d already decided that his life would keep him near the university to finish his degree and stay on to teach. The only plan I had was to get to New Salem where Madam Indigo was, get some kind of job, maybe waiting tables, and pay for her services. After that? No idea. I’d have to come home for Noah and Zola’s wedding, and it’d be a big help to live on the ship while I worked up enough money to live on my own. But how could I make any of these plans without telling him the truth?

“Because I think I mentioned that my parents bought a big tract of land,” he continued, “and a bunch of us—Noah and Zola, Hannah and Summer, me, even Eyre’s parents, last I heard—we’re all buying a piece of it.”

Oh, that’s right. Hannah asked me if I wanted in on that land months ago, and I’d barely paid any attention to her.

“We’re making our own expanded subdivision,” he said, “with our families close by. We’ll all be staying on the ship while we build our houses. And I’m just saying—my house will be plenty big enough for two…” His hands slipped across my belly as he kissed my neck. “And more down the road, if we want.”

His sweet, ardent kisses were the gravity pull of a deep cavern full of everything I’d ever wanted, a trust fall into more contentment than I deserved. I trusted him, but how would he ever trust or forgive me after I got rid of my magic?

“That’s…a lot to think about,” I said quietly, biting my lip to keep my gathering tears from falling.

He took his arms away. “Aww Gemma, I’m sorry. I’m moving too fast, huh?”

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