Her eyes fell to his lips, satisfied that she’d broken his resolve, no matter the mess poised to crash over them. Astra followed him to the door, leaning against the cool stone, a chill forming at her back.
He loomed over her. Heat whispered between them, no longer emanating solely from him, but from the space between their chests, the Tether a lightning rod stitching them together. Lux’s eyes searched hers, finding a thousand answers to questions he’d never asked.
“You’re thinking too loudly,” he laughed, a soft curve to her lips holding back a comment. “Ameera will hear you.”
Her nose scrunched. She beheld his face—and it was something to behold, merely looking would never be enough. The worry lines she’d carved beneath his eyes had been replaced by fresh, new fears.
“I’m still unsure what to make of you.”
“Make whatever you desire of me.” He touched the freckles across the bridge of her nose. “Make me your sunlight, make me your darkest secret,” he murmured, leaning into her, letting himself pour over her one more time before that door opened and he’d have to do the impossible and return to his king’s side. “Make an irreparable mess of me.”
She tucked into the space below his throat, craving the sound of his heart beating against hers.
“We’ll find a way to fix this—all of this.”
He said nothing for a moment, the fear that fled in wisps of smoke last night now rekindling.
“We need to be scared. Much more scared than you are right now. What happened with Solan and Leona...” He would not dare speak the dark thought to life.
She heard it, nonetheless, rushing in reds and violets beneath his shirt.
“Once you leave this room, I promise I’ll behave.”
“We both know that’s not true,” he chuckled. His fingers brushed her shoulder as he lifted her chin toward him. “We cannot be reckless.”
“Of course,” Astra said, pushing her bedroom door open, the moonstone edge scraping gently across obsidian tile.
The door stopped as it came into contact with something.
Someone.
“Oh!” Nayson yelped as he caught the knuckles of his right hand on the handle, sending a coffee kettle flying across the hallway.
“Father!” Astra gasped. She pulled the trim of her robe tighter around her neck, scarlet smoke choking her lungs.
“I was—oh, gods—I was just leaving some coffee, and your lights were on. I know you’ve been having a hard time with your mother back. I thought you could use some comfort…”
Her father stood and turned away, the commander’s heart slamming hard enough against his sternum the Tether between them pulsed.
“Nayson,” Luxuros said, but the king held up a hand, waving in surrender.
“I didn’t see anything,” Nayson mumbled. “I—well—I should let someone know to clean this up.” He darted down the hallway, not risking a glance over his shoulder.
Astra bit her bottom lip, her fingers twisting into the silk of her robe. She looked to the commander, a similar wince taking hold over his countenance.
She rubbed her forehead. “You were saying?”
“I’ll see you at breakfast.”
He squeezed her hand in a farewell gesture, stepping over the puddle of steaming coffee pooling in the middle of the hall.
Do you think Mother and Father are fighting?
Lunelle caught her sister’s eyes halfway through a miserable breakfast across from the Plutonian prince as a leather boot tapped Astra’s foot under the table.
She shot the commander a warning look, still in a daze from this morning’s run-in with Nayson, and though she tried to rise above it, she was all but drowning in the heat of the commander in new, wholly consuming ways.
What makes you ask that? Astra replied, her eyes searching the end of the table where her mother sat stiffly in her carved chair, her lips pursed in a fashion not unfamiliar to Astra.
