Page 158 of Stardusted

I didn’t move either—or bother to hide my shaky laugh. “How the hell do we fix this? We tried your suit powers, and it nearly melted my brain.”

He winced a little at the reminder but shook it off, fixing me with an imploring look. “Come with me. Let me take you to Bast. He’s a god with technology, and we’ll figure out a way to extract the halix’s data from you.Safely,” he added when I flinched.

“Stop saying extract,” I muttered, pulling back. I raked my fingers through my hair, getting tangled in the remnants of my braid. It was drying in a frizzy mess.

“Fine,” Sky said, breathing a chuckle. “Remove, then. We’ll find a way to safelyremovethe signal—the map. The information the halix gave you. And then you can go back to…to a normal life.”

Right. Because normal was possible after finding out he was an alien in a human skinsuit and there was a whole galactic war happening somewhere overhead.

I couldn’t help my snort. “Normal,” I whispered, glancing outside. “Sure.”

“Something like it, yeah.”

Even if we managed to do what he was proposing, things would never return to normal. I would never be the same. Not knowing all I knew.

I turned back to him and raised my brows. “Nothing says normal like defeating alien robots from outer space, right?”

Sky’s mouth curved upward, flashing that damn dimple. His hair was beginning to dry, too, but in tousled waves and curls. Even drained, dripping, and looking like he’d been through a tornado, he was still unfairly attractive.

Flushing, I dropped my eyes, but then my heart stopped when he leaned forward. I sucked in a sharp breath and tipped my face up. Our faces were kiss-close.

Intensity had replaced his smile, and for a wild moment, I thought he’d do it. That he’d kiss me again. Iwantedhim to. Badly. If only to make me feel something besides the sensation of falling.

But he didn’t. He fixed me with an entreating look instead. “I asked you before, Raven. I’m going to ask you again: do you trust me?”

It was barely louder than the rain. A soft question.

One that felt rhetorical at this point, because somehow, despite the hidden truths, the revelations, despite the fact he wasn’t evenhuman…Ididtrust him.

After today, after seeing him nearly die defending me—even if it wasjust because I might be carrying the salvation of his race—how could I not? He’d still risked his life. He’d risked everything.

Hell, I trusted him more than I trustedmyselflately, when it came to life-and-death decisions. I felt safest when he was there.

But because I couldn’t—wouldn’t—tellhim any of that, I cleared my throat and asked, “Exactly where isBast?”

“Florida.” Sky shifted back a little. I had the overwhelming urge to chase his heat. Hope lightened his expression, like he knew I’d already made up my mind. “Is that a yes?”

“Your super-secret alien base is inFlorida?” I deadpanned.

Sky’s grin bloomed, a little lopsided. “I wouldn’t call it a super-secret alien base, but yeah, I guess so. For now, anyway.”

Florida, of all places. I would’ve loved to say it was surprising. But it kind of made tons of sense.

“Isthat a yes?” he asked, serious again. “Will you go with me? We’ll have to move fast and keep our heads down. That means going dark for a few days. I don’t know how long that cuff is going to work, and I have a feeling what happened at the university is going to attract more than the Enil.”

I didn’t doubt it. I’d already seen those people in suits once, after the lab incident. Kelly’s FETR friends thought the government was involved, too. I absently twirled the metal encircling my wrist.

This rabbit hole was getting deeper. A hell of a lot more crowded, too. It wasn’t going to be easy, making it all the way to Florida with both Enil and—if Kelly’s information was right—License 16after us.

Us.

God, I was doing this. I was throwing in with an alien, going on the run. Nerves twisted tight in my belly. Nerves and something else, something fizzy and light that felt a lot like excitement.

Because I was going on the run withSky.

“No more secrets,” I said, turning to him. I waited until his eyes met mine again. “I get your whole Creed thing, and I know you broke rules to tell me all this. But I want to be partners, Sky. It’s my life on the line here, too. I want to know exactly what we’re up against and why. Ineedto if I’m going to stay sane.”

“I can understand that.” He didn’t look away. “And I agree. It’s not safe for you—or for me. From now on, we’re partners. Okay?”