Page 124 of Stardusted

“I know. But I’ve…” He pursed his lips. “Well, I’ve never tried this with someone who actually knewwhat I was doing.”

Right. Because he’d never told anybody what he was. Belly twisting, I set my empty cup aside again, the thunk of ceramic against cheap faux-wood loud.

I felt Sky studying me. I didn’t look at him. Sitting back, I dropped my chin and twined my fingers in my lap.

He wanted to zap my brain with Pladian skin-suit tech. I should be running in the opposite direction.

But if it helped solve this mystery—if it proved one way or another whether this halix of his had actually stored something—it had to be worth it.

Besides, I was alittlecurious. And he said it wasn’t going to hurt…

Curiosity was really going to be the death of me. Steeling myself, I raised my head. “Fine. I’m not saying I think this will work, but I’m willing to try.”

“Okay.” Sky’s eyes roved my face, as if trying to glean my thoughts. Maybe he’d be reading those soon, too. God, I hoped not.

“Okay,” he said again, adjusting to face me. He tucked one leg beneath him, the other balanced on the floor. “I’m going to try some light hypnosis. More of a…suggestion for your mind to open itself. Hopefully let things come forward naturally.”

“Lighthypnosis?” I snorted. “You’re going to Jedi-mind-trick me? Really?”

“I think I’m flattered you’ve put me in the Jedi category,” he said, smirking again, though this time with much less wickedness.

I didn’t know if I was more surprised that Sky had seenStar Warsor how relaxed he seemed. He was in a good mood. It was a stark change from the tortured, broody Sky who’d shown up at my door last night.

Maybe he was a morning person. I could see it. I normally was, too, when my night hadn’t been filled with late studying and finding out I was at the center of an intergalactic womanhunt.

Or maybe he was just relieved. Maybe, under that tough, alien-on-a-mission exterior, he’d needed to talk to somebody. Maybe, like humans, Pladians sometimes had to get things off their chests. Their wide, muscular chests.

I forced my attention away from the chest in question and back to Sky’s now-focused expression. I needed to know before we did this: “You’re not going to be able to…like, read my mind or anything, right?”

Because the last thing I needed was him finding out just how deep this fascination with his shoulders went.

“No,” Sky said, with a breathy chuckle. I exhaled in relief, and he shook his head, dark tufts of hair shifting with the movement. “Not at all. Like I said, it’s neural manipulation via electrical stimulation. I can’t actuallyseethe memories or anything. I’m just sending electrical impulses.”

I fought the urge to shudder at the wording. “And you know what you’re doing.”

“Trained for years.” He held my eyes. “I’ve never used it quite like this, but we’ll start slow.” Queasy, I stared when he held out a hand. “I want you to close your eyes. I’m going to touch your wrist. Your pulse point. Think of that as grounding. You might feel a little tingle.”

Little tingles were pretty normal when it came to Sky touching me. Big ones, too. I didn’t tell him that.

“We’re going to try to relax your mind and step back into your memory,” he said, when I continued to hesitate. “To the moment you touched the halix. And go from there.”

I gave a sniff at that, settling further into the couch. “Do I want to know how you learned to hypnotize humans?”

He shrugged a little. I took that as a no. Dragging in a deep breath, I tried to tamp down another swell of nerves. I’d never been hypnotized before.

Then again, I’d never been zapped by an alien before, either.

My insides twisted into a knot, and I swallowed hard. I still wasn’t convinced therewasanything for us to dig up, but I’d agreed to try. So try I would.

I braced myself and extended my arm. The couch groaned when Sky shifted to face me more fully. The light brush of his fingertips on my wrist sent a frisson of electricity up my arm, and my gaze snapped to his. Was that it?

His eyes were closer to cerulean in the dim morning light. That messy curl slid over his temple when he nodded gently.Encouragingly. The pads of his long fingers pressed against the thin skin over my pulse point.

“Go ahead and close your eyes,” he murmured. I silenced the cynical, anxious clamor in my brain and obeyed. “Good. Now, take a deep breath.”

I nearly smiled, biting it back just in time. His voice was oddly soothing—and he almost sounded like he knew what he was doing. Maybe Sky dabbled in psychotherapy between bartending, battling evil robots, chasing down artifacts, and being forced to rescue me.

I did as he instructed, drawing in a lung-stretching breath, holding it, then letting it out, slow and steady.