Page 89 of Stealing the Star Stone
She hummed in agreement, having already bitten into the half he’d given her.The mealy texture didn’t matter, nor the fake sweetness.She’d eat ten of these if she had them.
She froze.“Wait, how can I see you?”
“Mirrors reflecting moonlight,” he said while he chewed.
She shifted into the pool of light and looked up.Sure enough, tiny discs were embedded into the rock walls and beamed light from one to the other.“That’s clever.”
He cracked open a bottle of water and gave it to her.“We head this way.”He hitched a thumb at a blue flame in the distance.“If you see anything move, scream.”
She scoffed.“You do realize it’s pitch black, right?I doubt these mirrors project the light into the deeper recesses of wherever the fuck we are.”
“That’s what Senmut said we needed to do.”
“And not to get bitten.Gotya,” Nova said, rolling her eyes since he couldn’t see her.
“Nova,” he said, his tone serious.“The moonlight, remember?”
“Oh, yes.”She ducked her head, her cheeks warm.
“Yeah, wish we had a torch…that works.”He headed on, placing his feet with care.
While sipping water, she followed, her ears pricked for any sounds.
The air was stagnant, the smell that of wet rock.And yet, they couldn’t see enough to know what was on either side of them.
Then blue light exploded into life, blinding her.Crying out, she threw up her arm, sloshing water down her chest.She handed him the half-empty bottle and dabbed at her face with the coat’s sleeve.
“One of those,” he said, stepping off a raised and marked stone.The light faded, leaving spots in her eyes.And on again when he repeated the action.
“So much better,” she said, accepting that they were in a tunnel.Carved black rock was on all four sides: bottom, left, right, and top.Words lined them, noticeable for their lack of glowing.
“More shol guardian names?”he asked, studying the closest one.He drained the water, capped the bottle, then slipped it into the bag.
“Could be,” she said.“Or the names of those who died here.”
He chuckled.“Pretty bleak thought.”
With the tunnel lit, he strolled ahead with too much confidence.After everything they’d been through, her level of distrust had ramped to paranoia.
“Make noise?”She coughed to clear her throat, then started to sing.As soon as the deep baritone left her mouth, she stopped.Damn.No wonder he was such a superstar.When she sang, crows joined in.
“Oh, I once met a lass on the moons of Magree,
She said, “Mind the low grav or you’ll float off o’ me,”
We tangled in orbit ‘til our thrusters ran dry,
Then she launched me away with a wink in her eye!”
Eli watched her, a grin splitting his cheeks.“Please, continue,” he said when she hesitated.
She drew in a deep breath and added a little gusto for the chorus.
“So grab all the booty, boys, plunder the skies,
From her Milky Way curves to her bright starry eyes,
We’ll pillage their ports and we’ll board every ship,
