Page 92 of Stardusted
“It’s part of the suit…” He looked away with a resigned sigh. “A neural wipe. The ability to control brain waves via electrical…” He shook his head, sweeping out with a hand like he was brushing that insane sentence away. “It’s just a failsafe in case?—”
I finally found my voice. “Did you just saycontrolbrain waves?Are you kidding me right now?”
His eyes slid back to mine, narrowed. “It’s harmless?—”
“Have you done that to me before?”
“No!” His mouth took on a downward slant, like that question hadoffendedhim. “No, I haven’t. Why would I?”
“I don’t know!” I threw my hands up, the movement wild enough that he lurched back to avoid being clipped by the mace. “Maybe I saw your spaceship or something. How am I supposed to know if I don’t remember?”
He blinked, then said blandly, “I don’t just go around showing people my spaceship, Raven.”
No, of course he didn’t. My bubble of hysterical laughter burst free, and Sky’s frown deepened into something likeannoyance. Especially when the giggles kept coming. In fact, I laughed so hard, I had to catch myself on the counter.
“Sorry,” I managed, swiping my wrist over my eyes. I flapped the phone at him. “It’s just…too much.”
He rocked back on his heels and slipped his hands into his pockets. When I could see again, I found his annoyance had dissipated, tucked away beneath the calm mask.
“It’s fine,” he said, glancing away. His jaw ticked. “This is a lot.”
“Yeah. That’s an understatement.” I snorted. Oddly enough, the laughter had helped, like a pressure valve had released. I took a deep breath, let it out, and went back to it. “Okay. So if you were in the lab, you saw…the robot then.”
Looking back at me, he nodded. “That robot—although it isn’t technically a robot—was an Enil.”
I’d suspected, but putting a name to the thing that’d haunted my nightmares for days felt just as surreal as hosting an extraterrestrial in my apartment. “And what happened to it?”
“I took care of it,” Sky said absently. His attention drifted to my marked hand still fisted around the mace.
“Took care of it,” I repeated, gawking. “You took care of the seven-foot robot from outer space.”
“It’s not technically a robot,” he said again with a hint of exasperation.
“Not a robot. Sorry.”My bad. Arobotfrom outer space was ridiculous. I leaned against the counter. “And the tablet thing. They were after it?”
“More or less,” he said, reaching for me—for my mace, specifically.
I recoiled and clutched it to my chest. “What are you doing?”
“Sorry.” He eased back, his voice gentling like I was a skittish animal. “I just want to see the marks on your palm again.”
I didn’t loosen my death grip. All the shapes and swirls were hidden by the canister.“Why? What are they? I thought it was just scars from a burn or…”
Or at least that’s what I’d been trying to tell myself. Before it lit up and effectively ruined that excuse. Now, that theory seemed…highly unlikely.
Sky didn’t answer. When I eyed him warily, his expression tightened. Like he was bothered by it.
Yeah, well…so sue me. Frankly, I thought I was doing awesome. I hadn’t sprayed a single person—orPladian—with mace, nor had I fainted during this extraterrestrial info dump. I was a champ, thank you very much.
Excuse me for having some reservations about flashing the alien-y looking artwork that’d started this entire thing. I held my ground, knuckles whitening around the pepper spray. My fridge kicked on, humming away in the kitchen. Loud in the silence.
After the standoff stretched another long heartbeat, Sky sighed.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” he murmured, his deep voice rasping.
I stared at his shoulder and scraped my teeth over my bottom lip, my heartbeat unsteady. He ducked his head, giving me no choice but to meet his eyes again.
“I promise you’re safe with me,” he said. The conviction shone in his gaze holding mine. “I’d just like to see the marks again.” When I didn’t immediately protest, he reached for me, slower this time, watching my face. “If that’s okay.”
