Page 24 of Secrets and Starlight

My mouth dried as Zayne led me through the darkness again, this time into the main suite.

We stood in an office, a bedroom door ajar on the side wall. Most of the room was filled by a large hardwood desk, the window imposing behind it. Like the floor below, the floor-to-ceiling glass looked out upon the sea.

Zayne pointed at the table. “There.”

An ornate box shone from the center of the table, its walls decorated with golden stars set against a dark blue sky. A heavy lid sat upon it, a diamond pommel for its handle.

And once my gaze found it, I couldn’t look away. Something about it felt so familiar, and magic welled within me.

Drawn closer, I stepped from the safety of Zayne’s side.

“Wait” —Zayne snatched my elbow— “Be careful!”

He slowed me down, but I couldn’t stop.

The same power that had burned in my hands when I’d danced with the king returned. My hands glowed, yellow and hot, but I didn’t feel any pain. Opening and closing my hand, I watched as a pinprick of light formed at my palm, growing bigger.

Starlight.

This time when Zayne caught my upper arm, he didn’t let go, forcing me to take a step back.

Startled, I blinked several times, struggling to pull my gaze from the box. “What is happening?” I rasped.

“Like calls to like, and that box is built from starlight.”

“Oh.” Looking about, I noticed how the darkness that had so comfortably disguised us had thinned. “Your shadows…”

“I know.” Zayne growled, guiding me back another step, and his darkness grew a little thicker.

“So how do we open the box?” I asked.

Zayne’s lips drew into a line. “We don’t.”

“Why—” I began to ask.

But before I could finish my sentence, he gathered the shadows around us and leapt, leaving the shards behind.

Chapter nine

Escape

Ayla

I gulped the fresh sea air.

Our jump had come as a shock, and my hands still glowed with starlight. Looking about, I saw we now stood on yet another balcony. Realizing this one belonged to our room, I sighed with relief.

Zayne knelt before me, inspecting my hands as his darkness thickened around us in a dim aura. In such a short time, I’d grown to like it here, secured in the halo of his shadows.

“How does it feel?” he asked, probing my palm.

“It’s hot, but it doesn’t burn me.” I said, curling each of my fingers as the last of the light ebbed away. “I’m fine.”

“Good.” His jaw loosened as he lifted my hands to his lips.

The sensation of him kissing my fingers. The sight of him on his knees.Everythingstirred something deep inside me.

“Why didn’t we try to do something?” I asked. “You jumped us away before we could even make a plan to open the starlit box.”

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