Page 89 of Stars in Aura

‘Nada,’ he rasped, eyes still on her countenance, heart, soul, and body throbbing for her.

However, he had to trust her before exploring the idea of an entanglement with her.

Ki’Remi leaned back in the plush booth, studying Issa like a man dissecting a puzzle with too many missing pieces.

His fingers tapped against his glass, slow and deliberate.

‘Before we proceed, Issa, I have to know everything you’re not telling me.’

His voice was timbred, unwavering, a command laced with intent.

She got it.

He perceived it in how she inhaled, and her pulse ticked at the fragile column of her throat. She freakin’ understood what he was saying.

Trust.

If we’re going anywhere, we need to start with trust.

They stared at each other for long, charged seconds, the air between them crackling with tension.

In time, she nodded in quiet surrender.

Ki’Remi lifted a hand, sending a neural node directive to his implant.

A metanoid-powered shield dropped over them.

The room beyond faded from view.

Sound dimmed. The background noise of the bustling lounge disappeared like a tide retreating into the abyss.

Issa arched a brow. ‘Privacy, Commander?’

‘Naam. So you’ve no option but to tell me the facts. All of it. No one outside this booth will hear us now.’

She sighed, swirling the remnants of her cocktail, eyes on the liquid catching the light as she set the glass down with precise care.

The brightness in her astral eyes faded, replaced with clouded darkness. ‘You want the truth?’ she murmured.

She lifted her wrist and tapped the chrono strapped to her pulse. The numbers glowed, counting down.

‘I sense my chances to dodge you are limited, like the time of this ticking timepiece.’

He frowned at the device. ‘True. You don’t have the luxury of keeping secrets anymore.’

Silence fell for a beat before she parted her lips and announced, ‘I was once a Ssigis.’

Ki’Remi’s brow furrowed. ‘A what now?’

She exhaled, gaze locking onto his. ‘A Sedevan warrior and celestial defender in the Sacran Immortal Army. I was not just a soldier but also a trained medic and surgeon.’

His gut clenched.

Immortals? Celestial defenders? What in the everlovinfokk?

She must have seen the bewilderment in his eyes and pursed her lips.

‘For years immortal, Sacra has been the home of a race of Descended demi-gods, the Savatti, who live in the city of New Savartin on the planet’s surface. Above them are a series of divine abodes inhabited by pure supernals, the Sedevans. The Heavenly Realms are invisible to mortal eyes and exist on a plane just beyond the physical world. You can only travel to them via a Celestial Pathway, a dimensional hyperspace conduit unknown to mortals. We Sedevans, the Ascended, are beings of immense power and intellect, and we once ruled over Sacra until war drove us into the heavens. Now, Sarvastivada sustains itself and its inhabitants through the resources, spiritual energy, rare minerals, and unique materials harvested by the Descended. Those who live in the cities on the planet’s surface.’

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