Page 24 of Stealing the Star Stone

Chapter Seventeen

The moon, Lethara

Into a dark cave.

Where the hell am I?

Day Three.

To be weightless twice in a day was new to Eli.

He fought the urge to scream, to snatch at air like that would slow his descent.

Have faith, the writing had said. And oh boy, did he.

One moment, his mind had been filled with sensual images of Nova, the way she’d looked bare-chested, the kiss on the cheek, her admitting to liking him.

The next, he was plagued by sorrow. Someone had died.

A man…with platinum hair, a scruffy beard, and the brightest smile.

His gaze held such love. But it was snatched away, drenching Eli with ichor.

There was no other way to describe the dense sadness.

Images flickered, conveying the passing of time.

And yet, the wailing of despair echoed in his mind.

Only to be awoken with eels tickling his wounds and wrapping around his limbs.

“Eli,” she said, her voice snatching him from a troubled sleep. She’d called his name. Hugged him.

Cold water engulfed him, breaking his fall. He surfaced, peering into the shadows while trying to swim away. Nova would follow, and landing on him would hurt. She hit the water next to him, coughing when she came up for air.

“See anything?” she asked, touching his shoulder.

“A blue flame.” He squeezed his eyes shut then opened them again, just to be sure he hadn’t imagined it. “Over there.” A flicker of light had to mean something good.

“I wonder if we can use these little lights, like a torch?” She started swimming toward the flames.

“Yeah, I kind of don’t like the idea of navigating a new cave by touch.” He brushed his fingers along her sides, summoning a chuckle from her.

“Thorne,” she gasped around a giggle. “No fair. You know your tickle spots.”

“Where are yours?” he asked, smiling in her direction.

“My feet, alas. Oh, land. I can touch down.” She stood, then waded out of the water.

It was a minute or two later before he could follow—another downside to being short.

He shivered, standing on shore, drenched and cold.

Two burning sconces marked the entrance to a cobbled path.

On either side, stone pillars ran the illuminated length.

They were covered with letters glowing in the torch light.

“I think we hit the motherload,” he said.

“Shit!” She wiggled and pulled a sopping wet book from the back of her pants. “It’s ruined.” She flipped through the ink-coated pages, stopping at the alphabet. Some of the lettering had blurred together.

“Keep it open. Let it dry.”

“I’m such an idiot,” she mumbled.

“We can still read most of it,” he said, throwing an arm around her waist for a quick squeeze. “And if all else fails, your tattoo can help.”

He moved back and almost tumbled over when his heel hit the first cobble. Light illuminated the path for about three feet, then shut off when he leaped away.

“What was that?” she squeaked.

“I…” He rested his booted toe on the cobbles, and again, the path lit up, each letter carved into the stones glowing blue.

“Yes!” She danced on the spot, the rifle smacking her ass. “All right, let’s do this.”

He stared at her offered hand, then grabbed it. She led the way, marching along the stones. They glowed only for as long as needed, going dark after they passed.

“Have faith,” she said, “With each step testing us.”

“The path could fall away, and we wouldn’t know until it’s too late.” He almost wished he hadn’t said that when the lights wavered.

The stairs down yawned, darkness engulfing its depths. With one step, blue carvings exploded into life, showing them the way. Nova turned to help him as if he didn’t have two legs of his own. He did appreciate the constant warmth of her hand, keeping him grounded.

“I’d love to know what this place is like. If we had a drone, tons of lights…” She released him to twirl, then she laced her fingers through his and drew him nearer.

“We’d be the first people in a long time to see it.” Gemstones embedded in the walls glowed violet, crimson, gold, white—so beautiful that he slowed. “Looks untouched,” he said, the weight of millennia draping over his shoulders. “I hope Orien doesn’t find it.”

“Same.” She sighed, dipping her chin to her chest. “We’ve led him right to it, though.”

“Do you think it has a stone?”

The narrow path opened to a hall, its high ceilings enshrouded, but massive pillars dominated the space, too wide for him to hug. As they ventured deeper, circles of light glowed beneath their feet.

“There?” She pointed to the far end at a deep alcove—an eerie red glow emanating from it.

At the end of the rock-lined alcove, a pedestal on a dais took up centerstage. Floating above it was a star stone, a red ray of light bathing it.

“Seems too easy,” she whispered. “Walk up to it and touch it; that’s all we have to do.”

He studied the cobbles, any holes in the walls that could fire darts at them, a slab in the lowered ceiling that was loose? “Yeah, I’m distrusting this, too.”

She rocked on her heels. “Let’s run for it. Together. We both have to be on the other side for this magic to undo.”

“Magic?” He smirked.

“What else would you call it?” She ran a hand over the nearest glowing letter in the stone wall. “Want to tell me how your aura’s powering this place?”

He chuckled. “Fair enough.”

“On the count of three?”

He nodded.

“One… Two…”

As she counted, he admired the sparkle in her eyes. This was it. They were so close to being free.

And yet, his chest ached. Everything within him wanted to head the other way.

“Three.”

They bolted, sprinting across the cobbles. Something flicked his hair back, stinging his cheek, but he didn’t stop to see what. She reached the dais first.

The floor disappeared beneath his feet, crumbling in a deafening roar.

He screamed and threw himself forward, catching the edge of the dais’ lowest step.

A glance down showed nothing but darkness below his dangling feet.

His arms began to burn, unable to hold him in place for much longer.

Then he was safe, whipped onto solid ground with her hands under his armpits.

“What the hell,” he snapped, gaping at the chasm. “I…I couldn’t pull myself up, like your ass is too heavy for your arms.”

“I can carry my weight,” she said, peering into the darkness below.

“Pfft. I doubt it. This body of yours is useless,” he muttered, touching the sting on his cheek only to stare at the blood on his fingertips. “No upper body strength.”

“Excuse me?” she gritted out, slapping her chest. “Not everyone can bench press planets.”

“Yeah? Well, your body’s clearly allergic to mine because I swear it’s been blushing since we left orbit.”

She leaned in, jabbing a finger into his borrowed chest. He shortened the distance, nose-to-nose, the light flickering red over them.

The tension thickened. Thoughts faded, and he shifted, bringing their faces into kissing distance.

Her ragged breathing rubbed her chest over his breasts, tightening the nipples.

He’d be damned if he kissed her first, as much as he longed to.

She had to do the conquering, proving she wanted this.

No more denials. This was sexual. An ache twisted in his gut.

Their lips collided.

He blinked, not sure who’d moved.

A moment of silence followed as he stared into her green eyes wide with shock.

She recoiled, scrambling back like she’d been electrocuted. “You kissed me!” She waved a finger at him.

“Uh uh, you kissed yourself,” he said, fighting the urge to touch his lips where the imprint of hers still lingered.

“This doesn’t count,” she said, straightening her spine.

“We shall see,” he said, casting a glance at the chasm that could’ve been his grave. “Thanks,” he mumbled, jumping away from the void where the floor had been. “We’re trapped, again.”

She caught his wrist and guided his palm to the warm star stone. “Thorne, we’re here.”

A spark zapped his fingers, but he didn’t pull away. She touched the other side, meeting his gaze over the egg-shaped stone.

“It’s been an adventure,” she said.

Minutes ticked by.

He released a breath, allowing the tension to drain from his shoulders.

“I’m still in you,” she said, frowning and slapping the stone. Slap, release, slap again—nothing happened.

“Yeah, and it’s still colored. Last time, we broke it.”

“We?” She scoffed. “Now you admit it wasn’t just me?”

He grinned, not about to admit to anything.

She glared at him then dropped her hand. “This isn’t working. See what those symbols mean.” Smacking him on the chest with the book, she sat on the edge of the dais and hung her legs off the edge.

He switched his gaze between the wall and the book. “These symbols aren’t in the book. Maybe a different dialect or some ancient language, but if I had to hazard a guess, we need two stones,” he said, drumming the wall where one of two figures held a star stone to their chest.

“Two!” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “Orien swore getting his hands on one was hard, and yet, boom, here’s one. We can’t be lucky enough to find another.”

Eli trailed a finger along wavy lines. “Flowing water?”

“We have to go back over that?” She pointed her toe at the chasm.

“Yeah, we’re sitting ducks if we stay here. These pictograms say something about taking a river and jumping off a cliff.”

“Off a what?” she squeaked, clambering to her feet to study the ruined alphabet then the wall. “I don’t know how many leaps of faith I can take.”

“So back we go.” He eyed the chasm. “Dunno how without dying.”

She huffed and circled the pedestal. “If I was an alien culture, I’d put in a secret exit.”

He smiled. “I like that idea way too much.” He tucked the book into the bag. “So touch everything?”

She laughed. “Yes,” she said, running her hand along the top of the pedestal.