Page 91 of Stealing the Star Stone
“See it again?”Eli called from west of the pyramid.
“Thought I did.”She hurried to him, mostly because Senmut had said west.They might be screwing themselves over by not checking all sides, but she was desperate.It was a gamble.
“Nothing yet,” he said, stamping the stones.“We could cut off a tendril.Maybe it will light the way?”
She grimaced, not wanting to harm anything.For all she knew, what looked like a plant was a living creature.
He ventured out until the ring of darkness started.There he paced.“Could be a leap of faith.”
“Again?”she moaned.
He glanced at her, drew in a deep breath, and moved into the shadows.
“Eli!”
Blue lights lit the path, and he stood there, beaming at her.
This man was going to kill her.She stomped across to him, ready to smack him.
“Fuck, she fires my blood,” he rasped.
“Quit it,” she said, “You were lucky we did it once.I knew better than to trust their chief, but no, you were all gung-ho about getting naked.”
He chuckled.“You don’t regret it, Nova.”He held her gaze, waiting.
She huffed.“No, I don’t.”Before he could ask her any more revealing questions, she marched past him, aiming for the archway in the rock wall.
It was then a shape formed on the path between them and freedom.
Her voice lodged in her throat.
Chapter Twenty-Five
The moon, Lethara
A Lethaar Temple, near to Vael’Tir.
When normal’s not that awesome.
Day Six.
“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,
And we’ll dock nice and snug for a lovely long trip!”
Eli squawked in Nova’s caterwauling.He even adored that part of her.No one was perfect, and her dismal singing voice made him love her more.
The shimmering crab-spider splintered into fragments like a kaleidoscope.For a moment, five white eyes lingered before they too faded.
“Run,” she hissed, bolting ahead.
The flat cobbles lost the light once they’d gone over them.He didn’t care as long as they showed the way.
Sweeping movement stirred a breeze across his neck, but he didn’t think about it, not willing to peek over his shoulder.He echoed Nova’s frustration.As much as he’d enjoyed this time as Nova Blake, he wanted to move on, to confess his love, maybe begin a new life with her.God willing.
