Page 78 of Stardusted
I swallowed hard, deliberately flattening my hand again. “Does this look like something I’d do on purpose, Sky? It’s not even…”
Human, I almost said. I couldn’t seem to force the word out.
His eyes dropped back to my hand. His chest rose and fell with his uneven breathing.
That was totally fear. Not of me, but maybeforme. A chill slithered down my spine.
Maybe I’d miscalculated. Maybe this wasn’t the power move I’d thought it’d be. Thunder rolled above us.
I jumped when Sky took a jerky step back, but he only scrubbed his hands down his face, exhaling heavily. I watched wide-eyed as he dropped his arms to his sides and bowed his head. His gaze was trained on nothing, his jaw working.
What the hell wasthis?
I drew my hand back and clasped it in my unmarked one, but it was too late. There was no hiding the marks. Nor this weird reaction he was having to them.
I’d thought he’d deny it, and I’d have to force him to admit he’d manipulated me. Or he’d spout some wacky alien theory, and I could scoff because I knew therealtruth.
But this…this was something different. He looked like I’d just ripped the rug out from under his feet. Likehisworld had just been rocked, not mine.
When he raised his head again, tossing his bangs from his eyes, his expression had closed. I could read nothing in his stony countenance, but I’d already seen enough.
My pulse stuttered.
Maybe I should’ve kept pretending. Ignored the artifact, the lights, the weird scars. All of it.
I’d been right, though. Heclearlyknew something. And ifthiswas his reaction…what did that mean for me?
We stared at each other. I rubbed my thumb across the markings. It’d become a habit, despite the lack of texture. As if I could rub away this sudden shift in reality.
The skin there felt normal. But it was a lie.Noneof this was normal.
One of us needed to say something, so I licked my dry lips and went for it. “You know something about this, don’t you?”
His mouth tightened. “How did you get that mark, Raven?” he countered, tone grave. “I need you to tell me.”
I bit the inside of my cheek hard enough to hurt. That question again. He wasstillasking. Still offering nothing in return. And just like that, some of the fear faded, drowned out by smoldering anger.
I had started this conversation. I wasn’t going to let him hijack it.
“No. I needyouto answer the question. Whatisit? And while you’re at it, what do you know about…”Here went nothing. “What do you know about the aliens?”
A muscle ticked in his cheek, and his nostrils flared, but to his credit, he didn’t look away. Instead, he stilled. I saw something spark there, though, a shift in his eyes when I said the wordaliens.
Confirmation.
Oh my God. I gaped at him.
I’d been right.
He held my gaze. This push and pull, this awareness, sizzled between us like the lightning arcing overhead. The air hummed with tension. It tingled along my skin like static.
“What do you mean?” he asked so softly it was nearly drowned out by the thunder.
I shook my head. “No, don’t do that. Don’t play dumb now. Iknowyou know something.” My heart jackhammered in my chest, and I squeezed my marked hand. “The night of the accident, you weren’t just out for a country cruise, were you? Were you chasing them down or something?”
His tanned throat worked before he jerked his chin toward my palm. “Tell me about that.”
I nearly rolled my eyes. This back-and-forth was getting us nowhere. One of us had to give.
