Page 33 of Born of Starlight
She dragged a finger over the ink on my bicep. “You, and whatever this beast is, have a purpose to Henosis. I hope you’ll agree to come with us to Luz. But first, put any philandering thoughts aside. Save your flirtations for the women of the courts.”
The cool touch of her finger lingered on the ink. She was so close—full lips beckoning me to taste them. But then, she leaned back.
“By the way, the charm wore off minutes ago. I have been backwashing. That was simply from the heart.”
A sigh escaped my lips. I was a fool for even contemplating this.
“I know of an Egress that will make the journey shorter. It’s in the township of Belray—a little over a week of travel on foot if you know which way to go.”
Emmerick cut in, “They’ve all been destroyed—we’ll need to travel on foot.”
“I assure you this one is well hidden,” I answered.
“So you agree to come with us?” the boy Commander asked from behind the sofa.
“I agreed to sleep on it,” I drawled, glancing over at the tempting enchantress next to me before physically shaking the lust from my head and standing.
Asterie had returned to the infuriating muted version of herself—her hands were folded in her lap and her expression neutral.
I couldn’t go back to any court with her. No matter how long it had been, I still was not fit for the realm. Letting her step across my doorstep tomorrow would be hard. This strange beauty, who willingly charmed herself to the truth to prove her cause, would haunt my fantasies long after she left. But, by all logic, I needed her to go. I needed her to gobadly.
Yet I could kneel before her and beg her to stay.What, in fuck’s sake, was wrong with me?I avoided looking at Asterie for a second longer and turned to the boy Commander.
“Would you two like to take the bedroom?”
“No, I’ll take the floor. Asterie, you can take the sofa,” he answered.
I nodded. “Goodnight, then.”
I’d sleep on it.
But what I really needed was time—time to understand what this connection was that made it so difficult to think about her walking away from here.
I’d spend the rest of the night thinking of a way to stall them.
* * *
“You found her.”The ethereal whisper shook me awake.
I needed to see her.
Asterie. Where was she?My pulse rose and my heart thumped hard in my chest.
When I slammed the bedchamber door open, there was no sign of her on the sofa. Blankets were neatly folded and draped over the armrest. Emmerick sat at the table with a cup of tea and some flat cakes on a tray—there was a second empty plate on the table that told me he hadn’t been alone all morning.
“Where has she gone?” My voice sounded erratic, panicked even, and Emmerick eyed me cautiously.
He set down his cup. “She went down to the river for some fresh air.”
In seconds, I pulled on my boots over the woolen socks I’d worn to bed and threw my cloak over my shoulders.
“She’s rather moody in the mornings. I wouldn’t do that if I were—”
His warning was snuffed out by the sound of the cabin door shutting behind me. The sun was just breaking over the horizon, casting limited light into the depths of the forest. Dew drops made the grass slippery under my boots as I hiked the quarter mile down to the river.
When I approached, she was barefoot in the shallows. One of her hands held her skirt above the water. The other hand was delicately outstretched toward the bubbling current.
She was forming glowing orbs of flickering pale blue light. At least three orbs floated down the darkened riverbank, creating a glow illuminating it from all angles. Golden rays of the morning sun began to peak through the trees.
