Page 94 of Stealing the Star Stone
The light and hum grew bolder.He squeezed his eyes shut and cuddled into her embrace.‘I love you’ burned the tip of his tongue, urging him to confess, but he hesitated.Time slowed.The air charged with electricity, tickling the hair on his head and arms.
Boom.
A force threw them backward.He bounced off a pillar.But all he registered was that she was no longer in his arms.
When he opened his eyes, the altar was as they’d found it with no stones in sight.He scrambled to his feet, pain ricocheting in his skull.Gripping the lump forming, he gaped at the altar.
Only then did he realize he was taller than moments ago.
He was Eli Thorne again.
“Eli?”Nova moaned, struggling to stand.Her shoulder throbbed, and her hip burned.A steady pain in her core was an all too familiar sensation—her periods were due.
She froze, sat up, and stared at her knees, peeked inside her shirt at her cleavage, then cupped her face.The presence of her eyebrows, nose, lips, and chin sparked a cry of joy.
She was Nova Blake again.
And yet, what was inside her was deep loss, lingering like a devouring shadow.
She whipped her gaze to the altar in time to catch Eli climbing to his feet.Her heart swelled, heat exploded outward, and she swallowed a gasp by biting her lip.
I love him.
How the hell had that happened?When?Did that even matter?Loving a movie star was a one-way-road to misery.He’d be away all the time.Like Seth had been, and she’d coped with that just fine.The crux was Eli’s fans.Many women would throw themselves at him.Could she trust him to resist temptation?
That was all moot when there was no sign that he loved her, too.
Oh, no.She wrapped her arms around her stomach and bowed.This’s bad, Nova.You’re such an idiot.
“You okay?”Eli cupped her cheek, snapping her from her sorrow.
“I could do with a cup of tea,” she said, forcing a smile.“It worked, Eli.Can you believe that?”
“Yeah, now we need to leave this moon.”
She waved a dismissive hand.“First, a real meal.A bath, maybe.That’s a luxury right there, and if things go our way, we can hitch a ride.”
“If I had a comm device, I could announce my willingness to leave, and a random news outlet would send a shuttle in the hopes of an exclusive interview.”
She grimaced.Before this…adventure, she would’ve scoffed, thinking he was bragging, but now she knew.He endured the attention, used the fame for his own ends, and somehow had mastered it.
“I’m glad this happened with you,” she said.“I don’t know anyone who can swordfight their way out of a situation.”
He grinned.“Got taught that inShadow Huntress of Andromeda.”
She squealed, clapping and bouncing on the spot.“I saw that one!You were Cassidy Collin’s side kick.”
He shook his head.“Trust you to have seen my worst performance.”
She snorted.“All you did was walk around shirtless.”
“Exactly.I learned little from that role.”He laced their fingers and tugged her toward the altar.“Come, we need to leave the egg.”
“Oh, yes,” she said, digging in his right pocket where she’d slipped it.But when she went to place it on the altar, it clung to her palm.“It’s stuck.”She couldn’t yank it free.
“That’s not possib— Sorry, forgot our souls were swapped by magic.Here, maybe if we do it together?”He cupped the egg and guided her to the altar.
When he pulled away, she rotated her hand, hoping gravity would be on her side.
