I sighed. “I prefer being the one doing the observing. My mind was wandering,” I admitted, and she understood where it had gone.
“Mine does that often.”
“I can tell,” I said as we ambled down the street. “A light fades from your eyes when you’re thinking about it. Like all the stars in the sky have gone out.”
“Sometimes”—Vale swallowed—“it feels like they have. But when that happens, you’re there. You’re brighter than the stars, Cypherion. When I can’t fight through the darkness, you’re brighter.”
“You’re more than all the damn stars, Stargirl,” I whispered.
From the soft tones of our voices, I wouldn’t have thought we were in a public place. The lack of privacy somehow made the conversation more intimate. Deciding to forget the bartering vendors and children running around, to be able to have this conversation right here and share this reassurance.
I kissed her, thinking of how she tasted under the moonlight in the hot springs. When a Soulguider in the tent across the alley whistled, I pulled back, bristling.
“Let’s go,” Vale said, catching my hand and tugging me toward Erista and Celissia. The Engrossian was asking Erista about how her magic replenished during the Rites as they browsed elaborately embroidered blankets woven with shimmering gold thread.
“Where to next?” Vale asked the Soulguider when they were done.
“I told Celissia I would lead her and Barrett to the city council hall first thing in the morning,” Erista said, nodding at the Engrossian. “We’re going to head back to the inn to wait for Jezebel and the others.” She turned her amber eyes on me, brows raised.
Vale tilted her head questioningly. I hadn’t mentioned this idea to her yet, mainly because I was afraid I wouldn’t follow through. But I had asked Erista for directions in case I wasn’t a damn coward.
I cleared my throat. “We’ll be visiting that vendor.”
“Areyou going to tell me what this is about?” Vale asked, voice soft.
I squeezed her hand as we wound through the market, moonlight and an increasingly-searing heat paving the way. “Pretending you haven’t figured it out, Stargirl?”
“I was going to allow you to explain first,” she said with a mocking sigh.
I laughed. “I’m tired of us living without answers.”
Us.
Something in this entire mess—her staying with Titus, me finding out about my father, the mission to get her back, everything it had devolved into—had cemented the concept ofusin my brain. I’d been ready to lay my life down for hers before, to sacrifice anything for her, but it was somehow more real after all the risks.
Perhaps it was being back with my friends. Seeing how they considered Vale a part of our family certainly made the weeks we spent in Starsearcher Territory less of a dream and more of a foundation for a future.
But I wouldn’t lead her into that future without a sure understanding.
I pulled her to a stop in front of the tent Erista had told me about. Orange light glowed from the sliver between the flaps, heat sliding underneath the unsecured edges.
I took a deep breath, but before I could enter, a hand cupped my cheek, turning my attention toward her. “Whatever is said in there, it doesn’t change a thing.” Vale’s thumb stroked across my cheekbone, her olive eyes boring into mine.
I nodded, kissing her palm softly.
She could have gone on, but Vale always knew precisely when to speak and when silence said more than anything. Tonight, the support flooding through the quiet was louder than words.
Perhaps that was something everyone felt with the person they loved. Perhaps it was some deep understanding she read in my spirit, some rightness that proved we were it. Regardless, as I pulled back the tent flap and held out my hand for her to cross the threshold first, I swore I’d do anything to nurture that stability.
“We’re closing up soon,” a gruff voice hollered from beside the forge. Spirits, it was hotter than the volcano in here.
“We’re looking for the owner of the shop,” I said.
The man brought his hammer down, the clang against steel ringing in the small space. “Yes.”
“We were wondering if we may ask a question?” Vale peeked up at me, a warning ofwe better tread carefullyin those olive eyes.
“And?” he asked.
