Page 10 of Shattered Galaxies (Tears of the Siren #6)

“It’s not that…” he drew out, seeming confused on how to explain.

Zander came to the rescue. “Remember, Draven has fought in a war against him—the Cosmos god was very different back then.” I held his gaze for a long moment, and I could practically feel the weight of his magic as it tightened its hold on mine.

I could feel his tension, the concern over my state, and I knew that the situation had affected him more than he would ever admit.

“That’s true,” I murmured, looking back at Draven. “What exactly did you guys go out to get?”

Draven smiled, relieved at the change of topic. He retrieved one of the bags from the floor, and I was taken off guard by the black velvet box he placed in my lap… followed by six more, all in different sizes. My mouth opened in surprise as Rhett chuckled.

“Is this?—”

“Diamonds, yes,” Zander mused. “Draven didn’t realize they sold them like this now.”

Like this? I opened one and found a gorgeous—had to be over six carats—diamond pendant surrounded by sapphires. Cash opened another one and placed it on my lap, a set of emerald and diamond tennis bracelets sparkling in the sunlight, glinting and creating shapes on the ceiling.

“Holy shit,” I squeaked, holding Draven’s gaze. “You got me jewelry. Like, diamonds. I mean, thank you. Seriously, they’re beautiful…but why?”

Draven blinked at me before breaking into a soft, gorgeous smile.

“Because I knew I’d love how they’d look on you.

” And with that, he stood and picked up more of the bags that Zander had brought in.

I melted back into the couch, sitting between Rhett and Cash with an unstoppable smile playing on my lips.

I didn’t even bother fighting Draven on this—how could I?

The man had brought me hundreds of thousands of dollars of diamonds…because he thought they’d look pretty on me.

As everyone packed up for the next leg of our trip, Zander and I sat on the balcony overlooking Dubai’s stunning landscape.

While I was able to focus on the view, Zander had the map spread out over the table between us, his eyes closed and magic circling the map.

Two locations and two semi-, nonspecific clues.

Although the first one had been relatively easy to piece together—a realm tangled in darkness, vines, and blood.

I didn’t know much about the Druid realm, but both Adriel and Zander did, and they both agreed that it was our best bet.

Something that was confirmed minutes ago when Zander star traveled over it and was able to sense a large concentration of siren energy.

So to the Druid realm it was. And considering that’s where we suspected my stalker was from, I knew the others were thrilled—it was like hitting two birds with one stone.

Except for Adriel, who seemed uneasy about the idea of going there.

I needed to pin down why. All I had to go on was his vague comment about knowing someone there.

Luckily, it appeared we’d have a few hours on the jet to discuss that as we traveled to the portal to the Druid realm in Edinburgh.

“It’s not the Dreki realm.” Zander’s voice pulled my thoughts away from logistics, and I frowned, noticing he had blood leaking from his ears. “It’s not anywhere in the Demonic realm either?—”

I was out of my seat, using a napkin from my earlier meal to dab away the orange blood.

His words had cut off, and I didn’t look directly at him, a bit worried about what I would see.

I never knew if I could be in Zander’s space, but I often felt the urge to push it, to test those boundaries, wanting to be close to him.

As I leaned over to do the other side, his hand slid onto my waist in a firm hold, causing butterflies to explode in my stomach.

When I finished, I looked down at him, finding his eyes darkened with heat.

“Thank you, starlight,” he murmured.

“Wouldn’t want you walking around with blood on you,” I teased, feeling a bit breathless at his direct attention. “Might draw unwanted attention.”

Zander’s eyes sharpened. “Don’t want me to draw attention?” It was mostly a joke, but my siren felt a very specific way about that. Unfortunately, my defenses were down enough that the answer got out before I could stop it.

“No, I actually don’t.”

Zander’s chest produced a rumble, and before I knew it, I was tucked onto his lap as he held me firm. He didn’t move his hands or try to kiss me; just held me, keeping me close.

“Remind me to show you how to star travel at will,” he said after a long moment. “Usually it’s much more successful than this.” He gestured to his ears.

“I’m sure we’ll find more clues on where to go next. I have a feeling it may be on Earth realm anyway. The central hub element caught my attention.”

Zander considered my words and nodded, seeming to agree with my analysis.

“I’ve contacted everyone,” Desmond said as he joined us on the balcony, offering me a warm look and not thinking twice about me being in Zander’s lap. I’m sure he noticed it, but I appreciated that he didn’t draw attention to it. I didn’t particularly want to move as it was.

“Thanks for that. Hopefully we won’t be gone long, but?—”

“There’s a time change. Not as much as with the Old Realm of the Ethereal Sea, but we may lose a week or two.”

Shit.

“Hopefully the dark—hopefully they don’t show up before we get back,” I murmured, feeling stressed that we’d be gone for too long, leaving the Earth unprotected.

“We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,” Zander assured me.

My gaze went out to the Dubai skyline in thought. We had a complicated road ahead of us and not much time. I could only hope that we didn’t make any missteps.

We couldn’t afford a mistake.

Not when the Cosmos god himself had chosen me as his champion.