Page 13 of Shadow & Stars
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” I said.
He hugged me back. “I miss our flat.”
It most likely burned down in the riots stirred up by Margarite’s hate.
I rubbed his bare back. “We’ll have it again. Lazy Sundays with too many snacks, watching Hugh Jackman and Angelina Jolie movies.”
“Sounds like heaven.”
A harsh truth hit me. If things did get fixed using the jar of time, would he be a rat again? Doomed with the appropriate lifespan? Gone in a year or so?
Oh, man. That seriously made my heart fracture.
“Hopefully we’ll be doing those things as human besties,” I said.
“Maybe,” he answered.
“Because as cute as you are with whiskers, I’d like to keep you like this.”
“A beautiful specimen,” Butterfly whispered, looming over us.
He’d made googly eyes at Darcy before.
Our hug broke, my bestie frowning at the demon. “Uh-huh.”
Butterfly tilted his head, his hair a rippling purple curtain despite the lack of breeze in here. He smiled, raking his gaze across my naked friend.
I covered his body with mine, glowering up at the prick. “No.”
He didn’t answer, taking a step back when Xavier returned with three white robes.
“When I first lost Ismael, I used to come here to think.” He handed Butterfly one of the two large robes. “The idea of this place is to reconnect with your heart. To heal, to meditate and embrace the future after a great loss. You strip off all your clothes, put on a robe, then reflect in silence.” He gave Darcy the smaller robe.
Whoa. Talk about soft—like silky wool but much, much smoother. “Did it work for you?” I helped Darcy into the robe.
My bestie sighed with relief, turning into happy jelly. “Instant warmth.”
“Absolutely is,” Butterfly agreed, tying the belt on his.
Darcy ignored him, blowing a lock of hair out of his eyes.
Xavier slipped into his robe, covering the perfect, muscled planes of his body.
“Sometimes,” he answered my question, not elaborating further.
Talking about this was good, helping me silence any wishes.
Xavier raked a hand through his hair, glancing over to the wardrobe. I noticed a patch of tiles close to it were bluer than the rest of the room.
“We go through there,” he said, pointing at the patch in question.
He seemed distant, as if he was…afraid of me. The way he looked at me changed the air in the room, bringing a painful tightness to my chest.
Oh, God. I couldn’t have him thinking of me as some sort of monster.
Aren’t you?
Gingerly, I approached him. “Xavier…”
