Page 154 of Stardusted

That would’ve saved us a lot of headaches. Literally. My forehead still smarted from where I’d smashed it on the vending machine.

Sky studied the cuff then me. The dashboard’s display washed everything in an ethereal blue-green glow. His torn, drenched shirt clung to the lines and swells of him as he took a deep breath. For once, I was almost too cold to notice.

Almost.

“Bastjustironed out the design details,” he said, shoving a hand through his dripping hair. I tore my gaze from his upper body. “We’re not even sure how long it’ll hold. Which is why I’m in a hurry. I had to throw it together with what I had on hand, and he’s much better with this type of thing.”

“With what you had on hand,” I repeated, raising a brow. “Which happened to be…what, alien metal?”

A short laugh escaped him, almost reluctantly. “Yeah. It’s Pladian alloy. The last of what I had to work with.”

Pladian alloy. I was wearingPladian jewelry.I held it away from me, eyeing it. I didn’t exactly have a great track record when it came to touching strange alien artifacts.

But…I blinked, forgetting my worries about radiation and brain melting for a second as I turned slowly to Sky. He’d volunteered that information without a fight.

Maybe hewasserious about explaining everything.

Another bubble of anxiety rose, this one laced with anticipation. This, too, felt like a turning point.

Sky held out his hand, and, confused, I glanced from it to him.

“Can I see it?” he asked, nodding toward the cuff.

I shrugged and extended it between us. He wrapped his palms around it, rotating it from side to side, like he was checking for something. He bent close enough that his wet hair dripped onto the center console. A few drops slid over the back of my hand, too.

When his fingertips brushed the inside of my forearm, I nearly shivered.

A semi-truck raced by, and its tailwind rocked the SUV. In the silence that followed, Sky spoke without looking up. “It’s a map.”

He trailed one finger along the curved metal. I could’ve sworn colors shifted beneath the surface, and the band warmed slightly. A subtle pulse of heat. I tilted closer and…nope. Not my imagination. Something wasmovingin there, and it almost looked like symbols or writing?—

Then his words registered, and I straightened, frowning. “Wait, what’s a map?”

With his head tipped toward the cuff, I couldn’t see his expression, only his forehead furrowed beneath that floppy curl. He gently turned my hand over, exposing my marked palm. Goosebumps rose as his fingertips traced the shapes and swirls, a featherlight caress. My pulse skipped, and I bit my inner lip. This time the shiver escaped.

He must’ve felt it because he stilled. When he spoke again, his voice was rough, like the words were being dragged from deep in his chest. “The halix contained a map.”

I waited a beat, mulling it over. A map? He’d said it was an informational cache…

“I thought you said it was a greeting,” I said, my frown deepening.

“This is.” He tapped my palm before easing back. His fingers slipped from my wrist.

I clasped my marked hand in the unmarked one, unable to look away from him. My skin tingled where he’d been touching me. Like the phantom pressure lingered.

When he finally looked up, there was something achingly raw about his expression, the emotion in his dark eyes. “The halix contained a greeting and sort of a… You could call it a roadmap to Pladia. We wanted humans—or any species we’d left the messages for—to find us. Pladians have always been obsessed with gaining knowledge, and the chance to learn from another civilization…”

He leaned back against the door again, gaze skipping toward the watery windshield, where the wipers squeaked over the glass. “I guess thewhyisn’t important. Just that the halix contained a map. And that map is the reason Pairs like Bast and me were sent to all these worlds to find any caches left behind. It’s why the Enil are hunting the halix, too.”

“Butwhy?” I swallowed, my stomach twisting. Unfortunately, I had an inkling what he was getting at. Thanks to my handy new palm tattoo, he thought I had this map now. He didn’t need to spell it out. “Why would they need a map to Pladia? Why doyou? Isn’t that where you’re from?”

“No.” He turned his head, and his attention slid to my marked hand again. I balled it up into a fist in my lap. “I’m notfrom Pladia. I was born in the stars, remember? Bast and I both are Starborn. Part of the generations born in space.”

“Yeah, you did tell me that,” I said slowly. Something about the way he was looking at me, somber and weary, made it hard to breathe. “But then why…”

“This is going to be a lot, so…” He sat up and rubbed his hands on the thighs of his soot-stained jeans, flicking a glance at the highway. “Just…bear with me. I’ve never—well, I’ve never done this.”

Told anyone. Trusted anybody enough—or maybe neededtheirtrust enough—to break his code.