Page 101 of Stardusted

He leveled me a cutting stare, obviously not a fan of my hilarious sarcasm. “If you’re set on going, I’m coming with you. That’s the compromise, Raven.”

The way he growled my name in that low, irritated voice wasn’t helping me stay impartial. With effort, I persevered. “So now you’re just my alien bodyguard? We’ve graduated from lurking to full-blown shadow status?” When he simply folded his arms, jaw jutting obstinately, I pushed away from the counter, scooping up my phone and narrowing my eyes at him. “All because I’ve got some fancy alien tattoo I can’t even read, and you refuse to tell me why it matters? You realize this is completely insane, right?”

“Is it?” He squared up to me, eyes sharp. “Which part is insane, exactly? YouknowI’m right. Something happened to you. You saw your hand glow.”

He had me there. The hand in question tingled.

“Then there’s the fact you withstood a memory wipe,” he continued tightly. “And there’s the signal you emitted. I saw the residual readings with my own eyes. Is that enough for you?”

My pulse quickened, and I ground my molars. He was being infuriatingly rational. I, on the other hand, wasn’t entirely sure why I was pushing back this hard.

Maybe it was because everything felt like it was spiraling so out of control, and this was justone more thing.

Sky’s eyes slid back and forth between mine, too astute. Too perceptive. “You might not remember anything yet, but something’s in there, Rae. And until we figure out what, or at least until we figure out how to block the signal from the Enil, you’re in danger and I’m sticking close.”

We were back to staring at each other again, back to that stand-off. He had me. A phantom fist wrapped my heart, squeezing tight enough to make breathing tough. It was the uncanny sensation of being trapped.

Sky searched my eyes, and like he saw the hopelessness threatening to swell up, his expression softened. “Come on, Rae. You’re smart. One of the smartest people I know. You know I’m right.”

I bit my cheek. Well, wasn’t that just sweet? If I wasn’t damn near miserable at being told my life wasn’t going back to normal anytime soon, I might have basked in the genuine compliment coming from Sky Acosta. Nothing was better than a guy admiring your brain.

Unless he was admiring it because it held alien secrets, that is.

I buried my face in my palms, shoulders slumping, suppressing the urge to yell in frustration. Dropping my arms, I sighed. “Fine. I won’t go waving my hand at any Enil.” He started to relax, but I pinned him with a tight stare. “But if this is all so dangerous, why won’t you tell me what they want with this tablet? Or whatyouwant with it, while we’re at it.”

He turned his face away. “I just can’t. It’s better if you don’t know.”

This time I did move closer, shifting to the side until he was forced to look at me. “When is ignorance ever the better option?”

“Ican’t, Rae.” White lines formed around his mouth before he bit out, “I told you. It’s complicated.Pleasedon’t push.”

He looked miserable enough, I relented. If only because he’d obviously smashed his rules to bits tonight giving me this much.

I filed it away, though. Bet your ass I’d be trying again later.

“Fine,” I whispered, and his eyes sprang open, lips parting in surprise.

“Fine?”

I spread my free hand in a shrug. “I’d rather not end up as robot bait, so…whatever you need to do to prevent that from happening.”

“Great.” His smile was quick and bright—and damn that stupid dimple. I was still recovering from it when he twisted and gave the living room an assessing glance. “I’ll take the couch.”

Whoa,whoa.

Everything went quiet. My brain. The storm. Possibly my heartbeat, because I was pretty sure I’d just keeled over and died.

Did he mean what I thought he meant?

“The couch?” I repeated, breathing faster. “Are you saying you’re stayinghere? Now?”

He turned back around and frowned at me. “Well, yeah. That’s the easiest way to make sure you’re safe. Right?”

Seeming not to notice me staring in mute horror, he peeled off his jacket. A bolt of heat flashed through me. His shirt beneath was still damp and stretched tight across his shoulders as he walked away from me, carrying the wet leather into the kitchen.

I turned my attention to the blank wall.

If his synth-skin really mimicked human biology, did it also go out of its way to includeunderwear modelupgrades?