Page 34 of Shadows of Stardust

Everyone except Roslyn, who tromps stubbornly forward, wincing again as she steps on another rock.

I grab her arm.

Murder, in that emerald gaze of hers. Daggers that would cut me to bits as she rounds on me and opens her mouth to give me some fresh hell.

“Your shoe,” I explain, cutting her off before she can slice into me. “Wait here.”

She’s either startled or confused enough to obey as I walk back over to the section of fence she was trying to climb, keeping my eyes firmly trained away from the pack hidden in the underbrush.

The pack that would absolutely give away what she was doing, if it’s stocked with supplies for an escape attempt as I suspect.

Returning to Roslyn with shoe in hand, I drop to my knee and grab her ankle. She tries to hop awkwardly away, but I keep her where she is with an arm slung around her lower back. It brings her close enough for the gentle swell of her lower belly to nearly brush against my nose, and I try not to lose my head as I inhale her.

Delectable, this human. Sweet breezes and earthy florals and lush morning dew.

“Easy,” I murmur, dropping my arm to work her boot back on over her foot.

I hope she hears the word for what it’s meant to be.

A warning.

A reminder.

We’re running this con together now, and we’re not likely to succeed if she can’t get her temper under control.

Do Iwantus to succeed?

Fates above, what am I doing?

The suggestion we do this—deceive the crew, dive head-first into a lie that’s a thousand times more likely than not to blow up in our faces—sprung out entirely of its own accord.

I’ve never acted so impulsively in my fatesdamned life.

But Roslyn’s face was…

I shouldn’t think of her face. The devastation there. The horror of realizing her plans were destroyed. The way I might have heard her heart breaking if I’d leaned down to take a listen.

She’s a criminal.

She was about to break several intergalactic laws and treaties by leaving the production zone, and likely adding theft to that list of charges when she stole a hover to do whatever she intended out beyond the fence.

I should have turned her in.

I shouldn’t have hitched my fortune to hers like this, shouldn’t have protected her, shouldn’t have…

My eyes dart to our spectators. All of them are looking at her like the sideshow they’ve made her, or calculating how many more ounces of flesh they’ll be able to carve out of her when the show is edited and aired.

And I still want to know.

I’m cursed for it, but I still want to know why she’s here, what she’s after, to solve the puzzle that’s been haunting me from the moment I laid eyes on her.

It’s all a fatesdamned mess.

Above us, cameras hum. The first showed up just in time to catch our dramatic kiss, and it’s been joined by half a dozen more. Silent eyes, watching, waiting to catch any minor slip up.

Hands braced on my shoulders for balance, Roslyn’s tense muscles loosen. Her grip eases, she sways into me, and when I dart a glance up at her, she almost seems relaxed.

Almost.

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