Page 88 of Stardusted

I waved the pepper spray, refusing to apologize. “I let you in, didn’t I? You’re the one dripping all over my floor instead oftalking.”

As if he’d just realized it was there, he eyed the small puddle beneath him. With a muttered word I didn’t catch, he turned away and crossed to the window, flicking apart the blinds and peering out. I breathed in through my nose and out through my mouth, watching his every move.

After a long pause, he said flatly, “A week ago, a scout for an alien race called the Enil landed on Earth.”

Despite his oh-so-nonchalant delivery, his words struck like bombs. I’d known it was coming, but it still sucker-punched me.

“A…what’s an Enil?” I forced out.

Blank. My mind was blank. It was full of that snowy static, like an old TV. Or Faith’s radio if you tried to listen to any station but the local one since the antenna had rusted off.

Sure, I’d wanted answers. I’dknownthey’d be wild. But hearing itout loudripped all the air from my lungs, leaving me light-headed and floaty.

Aliens. Alienscouts,no less.

I leaned hard on the wall, keeping Sky in sight. He wasn’t looking at me, his attention on the rain-drenched night. He kept talking, though, in that same eerily calm tone. Like dropping life-altering revelations was just another item on his to-do list.

“There are a lot of complicated aspects to all this…too complicated for me to explain, even if Iwasallowed to.”

That was enough to snap me from my haze. I clicked my tongue in annoyance. What, had he signed an intergalactic NDA?

“Allowed to? What does that mean?” I asked.

He took me in over his shoulder. “There’s only so much I can tell you, Rae.”

Definitely an intergalactic NDA.

“You just said…” I tried to steady my breathing, shaking off the dizziness. “Why don’t you tell me whatever you’re allowed to say?”

“Technically?” He turned away from the blinds, exhaled roughly. “Technically, I’m not allowed to say anything. We have a very strict non-exposure clause. It’s part of our Creed. Non-interference.”

Oh, great. Now we were getting into sci-fi prime directive territory.

“Okay,” I said slowly, dragging out the word. “Then let’s try this. Who is…we?”

Even as I asked the question, I wasn’t sure I wanted the answer. Sky stiffened, and his midnight gaze grew penetrating where he stood in the center of my living room. With his back to the window, he was outlined by my tiny lamp. The glow burnished his dark hair.

He didn’t say anything for another moment. I barely dared to breathe. A furrow cut deep between his brows. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was angry.

Like this—this whole conversation—was an inconvenience.

Well, same, buddy. Try this wholeweek.

And yet I couldn’t seem to stop staring. For an alien, he certainly had human mannerisms down. He radiated broody, moody man vibes right now.

It was a lie, though. I knew what lay beneath. When I blinked, I could still imagine the silver sheen to his skin, the black-on-blue, inverted eyes. Not a man at all. I shivered.

And yet,thisversion of him looked torn. Frustrated. Almost…pained.

He lowered his gaze to the ground, hiding the emotions flitting over his face too quickly for me to read. The storm’s wind battered the side of the garage, rattling windows like a phantom creature was trying to fight its way in.

After an eternity, Sky sighed and braced his hands on his hips. “I don’t have a choice,” he murmured, shaking his head.

I started to ask what the hellthatmeant, but then he looked up, focusing on me. Despite the several stride-lengths between us, it felt like he’d grabbed me by the collar. My question died on my lips, and I sucked in a breath. Time itself seemed to pause, the entire universe waiting along with me and my ready-to-spray mace.

Sky lifted his chin and let ‘er rip.

“My race comes from a planet called Pladia. It’s roughly eight lightyears from Earth in a solar system your astronomers haven’t located yet. I’m not from there, though. Those of us born during interstellar travel are called the Starborn. I’m one of them. I was born aboard a transport ship in deep space.”