Page 76 of Until the Stars Fall

“Thank the gods y’all are here!” Noah shouted, squeezing Zola again. Behind him, Beck caught my eye through the crowd. He grinned mischievously, put his finger to his lips for my silence, and ran up behind Noah. Grabbing him around the middle, he lifted his best friend up in a bear hug, both of them whooping with laughter. Hannah and I still clung to each other, cackling at their reunion.

Beck’s parents approached us, ushering forward a couple with two kids. The man called Beck’s name, and he turned from his conversation with Noah to dive into an embrace with the man holding a little girl, who looked a lot like him, and the woman holding a baby.

Watching Beck reunite with his family, talk to his niece, and cry with joy over his baby nephew, it all filled my eyes with happy tears. My magic made that possible, in part. If my magic could do that, could fix Hannah’s arm, help bring Beck back from the spirit world, help our ship land us safely on Gaia, maybe I could learn to live with it. Maybe…appreciate it?

Beck turned to me with a baby in his arms. “Gemma! Come meet my family!” I wiped my face and went up to them. “Everybody, this is my partner, Gemma. Gemma, this is my mom, Ellie, my dad, Emmett…” Beck’s roll call went on, and I hugged whoever appeared before me. How would I remember all these names?

“...and my niece, who isn’t quite sure about her Uncle Beck ’cause she doesn’t remember him.” He laid his hand on the little girl’s back, who clung to her dad but smiled shyly at Beck. “And this beautiful boy right here is my nephew, Henry. Just look at him, Gem.”

“Hi, beautiful,” I crooned, rubbing the soft fuzz of his warm little head. The only thing sexier than Beck was Beck holding and talking seriously to a baby.

“You’re the most beautiful boy on the planet.” Henry pulled at Beck’s beard and giggled, babbling back at him. “Yes you are.” Beck put his arm around me, pulling me close and kissing my head. “Y’all can thank Gemma for me making it here alive. She saved my life more times than I can count on the trip here,” he said. Henry started to fuss. “Oh no!” he babytalked to him, kissing him again before handing him back to his mom.

“Gem!” Noah broke into the group. “Before I forget, call your boss back.”

Adrenaline seared through my limbs, but Noah’s smile didn’t falter. “What?”

“Evander Noble?” He laughed. “Remember him? Rich guy? Family owns the company you work for? He wants you to call him right away so he can get your start date for remote work. Said it’s really important for him to know when you’re starting back.”

Beck’s arm stole around me, washing his calm through me. His guarded face looked as confused as I felt. So…maybe I won’t be tried for accidental attempted murder? “When did he call?”

“Last week,” Noah answered, already turning his attention back to Zola.

But I was stuck in fight-or-flight again, chewing on the inside of my lip.

“—yeah, Mom, we’re absolutely coming to dinner,” Beck was saying somewhere beside me. “But we have to take care of something first.” His arm around my waist, Beck steered me away from the crowds. “Gem, that doesn’t sound like a message from a man who wants to press charges. Maybe it’s okay?”

I twisted my hands together. “I don’t know. I’m scared. Why would he just say that?”

“Only one way to find out. Why don’t you go call him back, so it’s not hanging over your head?”

I twisted my hands. “Will you come with me? To call him? I know I should just be an adult and handle it myself, but—”

He cupped my face and kissed me. “Gem, you’re my partner. We face the world together. Always. Of course I’ll come.”

On the bridge of The Witchcraft, the planets-and-stars animations of StarTalk twirled on the screen, mocking my churning stomach.

Beck sat opposite me where Evander wouldn’t see him, holding my hand across the table. “Whatever he says, it’ll be okay. We’ll handle it together.”

“Okay.” I took a deep breath and squeezed his hand. “Okay.”

The screen resolved into my boss’s face. I sat up straighter and swallowed hard.

“—emma? Hey, it’s —vander. Can you hear m—?” Evander’s face filled the screen, his brown eyes and dark hair coming into focus. Behind him, his office windows were boarded over. Shit, that was my fault.

Beck rubbed his beard, his gaze drifting to the other StarTalk screen across the room where he could see my boss’s video. My ex-boss? Who tried to kiss me two months ago.

“Hi Evander. Yes, I can hear you.” Barely, over the pounding of my heart. Maybe my doom would fall fast.

“Hey Gemma! You get to Gaia with your sister okay?”

His smile was completely disarming.

“Um, yeah, we had some close calls, but we made it in one piece. We landed not an hour ago.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but I couldn’t take the small talk. “Evander, I’m so, so sorry. And I don’t know how to explain what happened, but—”

“No, Gemma, I’m the one who’s sorry. I thought we’d been flirting for a while, and I don’t know.” He scratched the back of his head. “I thought you wanted to kiss me, but I still shouldn’t have—”

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