Page 18 of Starfall

A smile touched my lips, and I scooted backward, deeper into his embrace. He startled for a moment, but the second my back became flush with his chest, his body seemed to vibrate, a deep growl working up his throat .

“You all right back there, Elias?” I asked, smiling. I enjoyed his silent distress far too much. “Are you swooning? Because if you are?—”

“Quiet. We should get some rest,” he grumbled, even as he snuggled me at the same time.

“Well, I’m not tired.”

“Too bad.” I felt the reverberations move up my spine.His arms banded around my waist, the weight of them oddly comforting.

“Why does Alecks want you dead?” It was the question begging to be asked, and frankly, I wanted to think about anything besides the feel of him. It was beginning to make my head all fuzzy.

Elias groaned. “I didn’t lose a fight he had a lot of money riding on. The man wasn’t pleased. End of story.”

“So…you were supposed to lose?”

Another growl, and then, “Sometimes Darren has me lose a fight to win a larger pot. But I messed up and let my temper get the best of me. I couldn’t let the asshole I fought win.”

“Why?” I asked, barely breathing. Eternal, he shifted closer, the hand on my waist tightening. I swore I ceased breathing entirely.

“Because he said something foul about someone I care about.” Elias’s words were clipped, and he clearly grew uncomfortable with where the conversation headed.

“Was it her?”The woman he was risking everything to save.

“Yes. But it doesn’t matter now.”

I wondered if she was beautiful, if she had luscious black hair, or if she possessed a crown of golden locks. Was she kind? Seductive?Did she make Elias less insufferable?

I wanted to ask, but instead, I took pity on him and changed the subject. “Tell me a story,” I begged. “Any story. Doesn’t have to be good, but it has to be something personal.”

“Seriously?” he asked, his breath tickling my cheek. “That hardly seems appropriate.”

“If you haven’t noticed, we’re both naked, so I’m imagining this is already pretty intimate. What’s the harm in a little story?” I wasn’t tired, and since he was the first human I’d ever met, I was curious to see if more than annoyance and cynicism lay beneath his rugged exterior.

“You’re such a pain,” Elias mumbled even as I grinned. His muscled chest quivered at my back. “I’ll tell you one story if you go to bed directly after and cease your incessant chatting.”

“So grumpy,” I admonished, earning a deep sigh. “But I promise.” My grin became something wicked. Good thing he couldn’t see.

A minute passed before Elias spoke, and the deep quality of his voice gripped me in its clutches.

“I used to go hunting with my father all the time in these woods. It would be just the two of us.” He let out a bitter scoff.

“Mother wasn’t one to venture outside the comfort of the farm.

But we liked the unknown, the wide open spaces.

Nature, you can’t control, and that’s half the fun. ”

I closed my eyes, picturing a younger version of Elias before life hardened him.

“One day, we stumbled across a magnificent stag. It had been injured, a fatal wound, and blood gushed from his belly. I remember begging Father to save him, to do something . It was too formidable to die, and I couldn’t bear the thought of sitting by as it suffered.

“He grabbed my shoulders and leaned down into a crouch. ‘Sometimes, things are beyond saving, and the only thing we can do is ease the pain,’ he told me. Father’s words angered me, and I argued as I so often did with him.

” This time, his scoff turned into a gentle chuckle, and my own smile widened.

I could all but feel the love he had for his father.

“Still, he insisted nothing could be done, and the stag was doomed to a slow death…unless we helped ease its pain.”

My smile faltered, and Elias sucked in a sharp breath.

“Father made me slice its throat right then and there.” Elias’s heart thundered as he spoke.

“I cried for hours, for days after, Father forced to comfort me. When I stopped crying, he picked me up in his arms and cradled me against his chest. ‘What you did was extremely brave,’ he’d said.

‘Some people kill and feel nothing. But you, my son, sacrificed a piece of your soul, and in doing so, saved an animal from needless pain.’ He told me I was brave .

In reality, I was just a scared child. Sometimes, I still think about that stag.

About being the hand that delivered its death.

The lines between right and wrong blurred for me that day. ”

I craned my neck to meet his eyes. They were dark, overflowing with memories and grief.

“I don’t think I could’ve done what you did,” I said as softly as I could.

Something told me the story he shared meant more to him than he let on.

My fingers instinctively reached out and traced his stubbled jaw.

He flinched but didn’t shake me off. His face was so heartbreakingly stunning in the light of vulnerability.

There was a chance he wasn’t all muscles and impatience like I thought.

Just a single story told me so many things—that he cared about the world he lived in and all its many creatures.

That he and his father had been close, and that his father had died.

How he died, I wasn’t certain, and I wouldn’t bring the subject up.

Either way, Elias had a strong moral compass, even at such a young age.

“You were brave, Elias. You felt sorrow for the stag and wanted to save him. And when you couldn’t, you did the one thing that would ease its passage into the next life.

The hard thing, even if it pained you.” My finger glided to the tip of his chin, and I gripped it between my thumb and forefinger.

Couldn’t he see that rescuing someone or something didn’t always mean saving them?

Elias stared into my eyes, his features rigid, emotionless. The only tell that my words affected him was the subtle twitch in his eye. I dropped my hand and rolled onto my side, the hard terrain biting into my bare skin.

I blamed Lily for my need to comfort.

“Goodnight, Elias,” I said, watching the fire dance. If I squinted, I could make out the young stag’s image in the wavering flames.

“Goodnight.” Elias shifted, and my eyes fluttered when his arm slung further over my frame, his hand almost cupping my abdomen.

I barely exhaled, too focused on the buzzing sensation his palm inflicted.

Tension made his hand stiffen, but as the minutes passed and his full weight settled, his thumb absently traced nonsensical patterns on my skin.

The innocent touch, the solidness of him, compelled my own heart to perform cartwheels.

Is this why humans asked for love? The touch, the intimacy?

I knew full well what happened when two people spent the night together.

More than enough dreamed about it, but I hadn’t realized how nice a simple embrace could feel.

How sharing a story beside a fire could cause me to go slack, my head finally finding rest in the sense of safety I felt blanket me.

The shivers wracking Elias’s frame ceased, and his breathing evened out. The hand on my abdomen tightened, curving slightly around my waist. I huffed when he pulled me closer. He must’ve fallen asleep.

I willed myself to follow, but all I envisioned was that final glimpse of Lily, scared and alone and screaming. I thought of how her golden brown skin had turned gray, her lips crusty and wan. Her once brilliant eyes dulled and clouded.

I cringed at the thought of never seeing the violet in them ever again. A single tear fell, sliding down my cheek and splattering on the ground.I couldn’t let my friend wither away in some hellish purgatory, not when I still had the chance to save her.

Maybe this was a test given to me by the Eternal to see if I was worthy. I prayed I wouldn’t let him down.

Ari .

A groan sounded from deep within my throat.

My lashes fluttered against my cheeks as I peeled my eyes open. Darkness pushed in on either side, gripping my heart like a vise. There was nothing but endless night—no Elias, no fire, no cave.

Shh , a voice whispered, You’re safe .

Somehow, the assurance made my heart beat faster. I got to my feet, feeling around for anything to grab a hold of. Without any light, with all that black surrounding me and rendering me helpless, I couldn’t feel my limbs, couldn’t take in a deep breath, couldn’t?—

A flare of light flashed ten feet from where I stood, and I gasped, stumbling back.

What I glimpsed sent a shiver down my spine.

The flickering sparks illuminated a tall, broad- shouldered man.

Shrouded in his own cloak of darkness, I couldn’t see the features of his face, but his body—Eternal above, it seemed larger than life.

Wearing only black trousers and a matching shirt decorated with silver buttons, my eyes roamed his bare skin, his toned muscles visible with his sleeves rolled up to his elbows.

I’d never seen him before.

“Who are you?” I asked, trying to move closer. I grunted from the effort—my damned legs refused to comply, almost like I was stuck in mud. Or held in place. The last thought made my pulse dance wildly at my throat.

You’re asleep, the man said in reply, the deep timbre of his voice graced with a surprising lilt.

I’ve sought you out to warn you. His shape wavered before my eyes, flickering like a candle in a breeze . You’re headed on a dangerous path. While I suspect the outcome will be the same, I am here, trying.

The way he said “trying” sounded pained. He made no sense, and even while I told myself I was dreaming, I still had to ask the question burning in my mind.

“Are you…are you the Eternal?” I inquired, excitement inflating in my chest. Had he finally come to rescue me and show me the way to solve this mess? Perhaps dreams were his method of contact.