Page 72 of When the Universe Sings

And with those final words, she fell apart and took me with her.

CHAPTER

FORTY-NINE

“You knowwe can visit any time, right?” Asher murmured beside me in the cockpit.

He tugged my hood down and tucked a lock of hair behind my ear. I could only nod as I stared forward at the expanse of free space before us while he navigated us toward the jump point.

We’d said goodbye to theKuxatanaand its crew this morning. Asher had officially given up his role of captain, handing it over to Hudzon who would take up the mantle. He hadn’t given much of an explanation as to why we were leaving, but from the way our hands were linked and every pair of eyes moved back and forth between us, it was clear they assumed it was because of our recent…development.

It was common knowledge Asher ended up in my quarters every night, or carried me back to his rooms if he found me elsewhere on the ship. No one had said much about it, save for Kal who had given Asher theolder brother treatment,as he called it, even though Kal and I were barely a quarter cycle apart in age. Asher didn’t hover per se, but he almost always found a way to touch me if we were in the same room, whether that was a hand on my arm, or shoulder, or even just curling a loose piece of hair around one finger.

I’d been surprised by the ache in my chest and the bittersweetness of saying goodbye to all of them. The past few days Zoleka had been eyeing us speculatively and I had a feeling she knew more than she was letting on. After so many cyclesstudying the mating rituals and traditions of the Akahzyrians, she had to have put two and two together.

Asher and I had spent the last day or so spending as much time learning about each other as we could. He’d taught me most importantly about his family and his mother’s reign. She’d been the Valissa, or ruler, of their planet after her mother died when she was fifteen. I’d worried about what that meant for us, as Asher was her only child, but he reassured me if the Valissa had no female heir, she chose one to train to rule in her stead. A fierce female called Hazal had been anointed when Asher was in his teens once it was clear his mother would not produce an heir through any of her consorts.

His father had been a high-ranking warrior within his mother’s inner circle and one of her most beloved lovers. But he’d died in a fight during an off-planet rebellion, one the Federation had asked for Akahzyr’s help to quell. It was the reason why his mother had been considering pulling out of the alliance in the first place before the stone was taken.

But all I could think now was we were on our way to Asher’s home and I would be an outsider, an unknown.

“They’re going to love you.” Asher wrapped a hand around my nape and drew my worries from my skin.

I couldn’t find the words to tell him I wasn’t so sure. Not after all he’d explained about their distrust of others, especially after what had happened with the stone. After twenty cycles away Asher would return the hero, restoring their long-lost and most sacred artifact. If it was me, I would be distrusting of the female he had in tow, especially one without any family or planet to call her own and covered in Federation brands.

The click of a belt unbuckled and then Asher was leaning over my chair, turning my face toward him. He bracketed my chin, tilting my face up until his lips were barely brushing mine.

“I can waste my breath with pretty words to soothe your panic, but I don’t think they’ll do any good,” he breathed, stroking my hair back from my face. “So know you will not be alone. I will be by your side every moment and I won’t allow anyone to hurt you.”

There was no response I could think of, but his mouth crashed against mine in the next moment, nipping and sucking until I was breathless. My fingers curled into the front of his shirt. The hand bracketing my chin slid lower and the pressure on my throat made a moan slip through my lips.

Asher kissed me until the blue and white lights of the jump faded and the Outer Rim of quadrant four slid into view, an alarm blaring on the console to warn we were near our destination. I panted as he drew away, only to lean down to kiss me again and again with gentle caresses that made my heart hurt. Finally, he dropped back into his seat, reaching out to cover my knee while I pressed my fingers to my swollen lips.

His hand flexed, a ripple of energy moving through his spine and down his arms before sliding into my bones. It was so much emotion at once I struggled to understand it all, but his attention remained fixed to the planet growing steadily larger in front of us. I covered his hand with mine, interlacing our fingers.

The planet was a myriad of gold and green, with white swirls of what I thought might have been clouds. I realized with a start that it was very close to the forest planet I’d run to when I’d first gotten the stone, so close, in fact, if I looked out the side view, I could just make it out in the vast distance.

“Cruiser 2457, state your business,” a tinny voice called through the comms.

It took him a few times to find his voice, a few false starts. “This is Asher Kalisya, returning planetside.”

A long silence met his statement and his hand shook in mine. I rubbed small circles with my thumb, my other palm smoothingup and down his arm. Then he leaned toward the comm again, the flowing language of Akahzyr slipping from his lips. Though I hadn’t learned the language, our bond translated the best it could.

“I have heard the song of the universe. It sings to me of peace and stillness. It sings to me of sorrow and laughter. And it is a song…” He paused, waiting.

“Without end,” they answered with heavy emotion in their tone. “Welcome home, Ra’jakan.”

Asher initiated the atmospheric entry sequences with a trembling hand, blinking rapidly. We slipped through the clouds that glittered as if with gemstones, though they evaporated as we sliced through.

My voice came out barely more than a rasp. “It’s beautiful.”

As we descended, the landscape spread out before us. Gold-tipped trees lined a wide, churning river. In the distance, white-capped dark blue mountains loomed across the expanse of deep greens and blues, with slices of gold and ripples of silver. The silver, I realized, was from buildings that grew in number and size as we approached the mountain and the intricately carved building in the face of it.

I chanced a peek over at Asher in time to watch a silvery tear slide down his cheek. But he didn’t wipe it away, only took a deep, shuddering breath, and clicked on the landing gear. We passed over an ornate square filling with people before a hatch opened in the side of the mountain and we plunged into darkness for a heartbeat before light bloomed around us. The hangar was small, only a few crafts parked along the sides of the rough-hewn walls, but a crowd spilled through a side door as he clicked off the engines.

Asher stared at the controls and, when he didn’t move, I unbuckled and stood. I pressed my hip against his shoulder andhe turned, arms wrapping around my waist as he buried his face in my chest.

“You’re home,” I whispered, running my hands through his hair. The words set my throat to aching, a burn pooling in the corners of my eyes.