Page 95 of Starchaser
“I know exactly what I’m offering. For Will’s sake—”
“For Will’s sake, I will never ever let myself come close to even tasting your blood.” A shadow passes over Titus’s face, a honey-gold light sparking in his eyes. Then he smiles, flashing his teeth in a roguish grin. “You don’t need to worry about me, love. I’ll be ready for Morana, and you”—he points at the medallion hanging from my neck—“can take a nice, long honeymoon to the Red Island, wherever that may be.”
Heat flares in my cheeks, my mouth gaping slightly.
He must regret the words the instant he says them, because his face pales, and he looks at the statue once more, his expression nettled.
Honeymoon.Did Will tell him he proposed?
Did he tell him I didn’t give him an answer?
I clear my throat, attempting to pretend I hadn’t offered Titus my blood, and he hadn’t thrown my potential engagement in my face. “So, you really don’t know how to find the Red Island, then?”
He rubs his chin, his brow furrowed. “It’s best I don’t.”
I nod, looking up at the depiction of Hildegarde once more—her triumphant expression immortalized in stone. “But my mother knows. She knew, and she pretended she didn’t.” I almost kick myself for saying the words aloud, because while my mother lied to me about the Red Island, Titus kept plenty of secrets for her.
Titus’s fists clench at his sides. “Aster,” he says softly, but this time he doesn’t try to explain, and I’m glad. The last thing I want to do is spend the rest of the night arguing with him.
“The sun will rise soon,” I say. “We agreed to justbe, right?”
He sighs, his face falling. “I don’t know what I was thinking bringing you here,” he says, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I just—I reasoned it could be my last chance—”
I close the distance between us, placing a hand on his cheek, and his eyes widen, his lips parting on a shaky breath.
“Thank you for showing me,” I say.
He dips his head, my fingertips skimming his jaw. Tenderly, he whispers, “You’re the only person I’ve ever wanted to share this place with.”
His secret. His hiding place. His escape.
“I trust you, Aster.”
He leans in, and I almost allow myself to want—to truly just be.
But tomorrow, he’ll be married. Tomorrow, we go to war. Tomorrow, Will begins his transformation. Tomorrow, everything changes.
Everything.
I force myself to say, “We should head back.” Force myself to pull away, my heart caught in my throat. Force myself to put distance between us once more, to let my hand fall from his cheek.
“Of course,” he says, blinking as if to clear a haze that momentarily clouded his eyes. “We should head back,” he echoes, every word punctuated with something akin to agony.
By the time we reach the cavern, the moon descends slowly toward the horizon. Titus and I lie on our backs on the cave floor, still gasping for breath after our swim home turned into more of a competition than either of us intended.
“You’re quite fast,” Titus says between pants. “I’m impressed.”
“And you’re rather slow,” I say, wincing from the stitch in my side. “If Margaret had known Captain Shade was such a poor swimmer, it might have changed the way she felt.”
He snorts a laugh. “Your sister would be pleased to know Captain Shade is afantasticswimmer—second only to Aster Oberon, of course.”
I smile, and it feels natural. Easy. “Was that a compliment?”
“Was it?”
I roll onto my side, facing him. “You said something nice.”
He turns to face me, a challenge in his eyes. “I say nice things all the time.”
