Page 127 of Stardusted

At least, if it had, I didn’t remember it. The eerie sensation of forgetting something scratched at the back of my skull, annoying and chilling all at once.

Sky’s incredulous huff was accompanied by a quick headshake. “Don’t worry about that, Rae.I’msorry.” I slid my eyes his way again. He looked annoyed, but I didn’t think it was at me. His jaw flexed, and his lips pressed into a white line. “I shouldn’t have pushed that hard. Are you okay?”

Good question.

I assessed. The pain in my temples had started to recede. My nose didn’t feel as gross and gushy, either.

I gently disentangled my hand from Sky’s and drew the towel away from my face, grimacing at the deep crimson stain. That wasn’t coming out. So much for the three ninety-nine special. I’d liked that towel, too.

But when my nose didn’t spurt out any blood, I cautiously sat up. Sky’s hands hovered. A groove pinched between his dark brows, and he was a little pale. Maybe he wasn’t great with blood.

Human blood, anyway. Was Pladian blood red, too?

“Are you okay?” he asked, cutting into my disjointed thoughts. “Do you need something to drink?”

Yeah, maybe a shot of whiskey to chase some Excedrin.

“I’m okay,” I said instead, managing a wobbly smile. The headache had subsided to a dull, pulsing throb. Better than it had been, but pain medicine was definitely on the agenda. I should have some in the medicine cabinet. I’d been going through it quickly lately between stress headaches and going toe-to-toe with our Enil friends.

I sat up the rest of the way, and this time, Sky touched my arm to steady me, careful to avoid the bruises visible just beneath my sleeve. He released me as soon as I made it into an upright position, settling back on the couch beside me.

The room spun once, twice. The muted morning light felt too bright.

“You sure your neural whatever didn’t cause that?” I asked, tossing the towel onto the table and swiping my other hand through my hair. I probably looked like a not-so-hot mess.

“I’ve never had anything like that happen.” Sky’s scowl was etched so deeply into the lines of his face, it looked permanent. “But it doesn’t matter. We won’t be trying it again.”

For once, we were in complete agreement. I preferred my brainnotleaking out my nostrils. I let out a noisy sigh. “Sky, I know you’d hoped I could…”

Recall something. Anything. And I thought I had—if I wasn’t imagining things—though, it hadn’t lasted.

I shook my head, rubbing my temple. “I thought it’d worked, but it’s gone. Whatever happened, it was like…” Like my mind was an Etch-a-Sketch and somebody’d just given it a shake.

“Like it’s too much for your brain to recall,” Sky supplied much more eloquently, his expression grim. “I think that’s exactly what just happened. The neural interface worked, but the memory was too much.”

My heart stumbled. That sounded…a lot moreominous than a shaken children’s toy. Did that mean I had some kind of ticking time bomb in my skull I needed to never, ever think about?

He held my wide stare, that calm, unreadable mask sliding into place. “This may not have solved the issue, but I’m not giving up hope. You probably don’t want to hear this, but I think this is just more proof the halix did what it was meant to do. Something’s in there. We just have to find a way—asafeway—to extract the information.”

I made a face. “Extractdoesn’t have the best connotation, Sky. Especially after all…that.” I gestured vaguely at the bloodied dish towel.

He followed the motion, jaw ticking. “I said asafeway. We’ll find a safe way.”

I bit back another protest. After what I’d just experienced, I wasn’t convinced therewasa safe way. But one look at Sky’s determined expression, and I knew he wouldn’t be hearing that.

Whatever had been inside that halix thing, he was determined to access it.

Which meant accessing my brain.

Restless, suddenly uncomfortable, and all too aware of how close we were sitting, I took a breath and pushed to my feet with the couch’s help. I needed some headache meds pronto?—

As soon as I straightened, the world tilted. The floor gave a slow, undulating roll beneath me, taking my stomach and equilibrium with it. My knees melted.

But Sky was there, moving with that uncanny speed. Before I could draw a breath, he’d snatched me around the waist. Strong arms caught me against him.

“Hey,” he murmured. “Careful. Not so fast.”

I braced my hands on his chest. Whether it was the residual effects of what’d just happened or his closeness, I didn’t know, but breathing was suddenly difficult.