Chapter 32 #2
“Sure.” An ache lodged in my throat. Even as I said it, I knew it probably wasn’t going to happen. “That sounds…good, yeah. I’ll catch up with you later.”
“Sorry,” Sky interjected, though whether that was directed at me or her, I didn’t know. I only knew that sinking feeling was growing heavier, tugging my heart down with it.
Amelia backed away. I wanted to reach for her. Wanted to grab her arm and whisper: This isn’t what it looks like.
But it was even weirder than she could imagine.
“Nice to meet you…I think?” she told Sky.
He murmured something back.
She cast one last, loaded glance my way before stepping into the elevator. I stood frozen as she turned. Her eyes held mine until the doors shut.
She left a vacuum in her wake. Lonely and empty. I took a deep breath and held it, throat aching.
More lies. More of a chasm.
More distance forming between me and everything I knew.
Because it was easier, I turned a glower on Sky, gripping my bag’s strap. Frustration heated my chest. “So I can’t see Amelia now?”
The elevator dinged and opened again, spilling out a group of students. They parted around us. I moved closer to Sky, my shoulder brushing his sternum, and his hand hovered at my waist again, stopping just shy of touching me.
When they’d passed, I stepped out of the half-embrace and looked up at him expectantly.
This time when he reached for me, he grasped my wrist, tugging me into the corner, away from the flow of foot traffic. Only a trash can and recycling receptacle could overhear us here.
“I’m sorry,” he said, and this time there was no doubt it was directed at me.
He still held my wrist lightly, fingers on my pulse.
It reminded me of this morning, and for some reason, I didn’t pull away.
“It’s not that I don’t want you to see your friends.
I’m not trying to come between you. Trust me. I know how isolating this all is.”
I swallowed, a twinge of empathy rising. I’d wondered about that more than once, how he must feel. I saw the understanding in his dark eyes, too, as they searched mine.
“But you can’t tell her,” he said, with a hard note that stung.
My shoulders sagged. I knew that. I did. But it still felt like a punch to the gut.
I turned my head and pressed my cheek into my shoulder, unable to look at the quiet regret softening his expression. A couple ambled past holding hands. To them, Sky and I probably looked like that, too. A couple huddled in the corner, whispering.
If only this were a conversation about something as mundane as romantic feelings.
I realized he was still touching me, and I tugged my arm free.
Sighing, he pulled off his hat, pushing his hand through his wavy dark hair, leaving it sticking out in tufts before planting the ball cap back in place.
Focusing on the common area instead of me, he leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.
He didn’t say anything. Like he was giving me a moment to process.
When my traitorous eyes flitted his way again, I found him contemplating me with a faint frown, his mouth pulling in at the corners.
There were bruises under his dark eyes, too.
He must’ve shaved earlier at his apartment because there was nothing to obscure the tightness of his jaw. He looked tired. Tired and on edge.
Which checked out. That couch he’d slept on was pretty shitty.
Not only that, but he had protecting me and the burden of his mission weighing on him.
The stakes of which I probably couldn’t fathom.
Not knowing the rest of this story frustrated me, but maybe I had enough on my plate, worrying about my own skin.
I probably didn’t need to be worrying about his, too. Silver or otherwise.
Which led me full circle. I hated it, but Sky was right. Even if I didn’t take his Creed into account, I couldn’t bring Amelia into this. I couldn’t risk it. Her.
That didn’t make this any easier.
Another round of elevator riders boarded, and I watched the door slide shut, bitterness coating my tongue. God, why was I even here in the first place? What was I trying to prove by playing at normalcy? Nothing was going to be normal until we could figure this out.
I licked my lips and turned back to Sky. “Maybe I should just skip this midterm—”
“No,” he said. Firmly enough, I peeked up at him.
He shook his head slowly. “No, Raven. We’re already here, and it’s important to you.
I know I seem overprotective—and I wish I could tell you why this matters so much.
Why you matter so much. But I can’t. I can only say…
if the Enil get to you, Rae, it’s not just your life at risk. It’s bigger than you can imagine.”
“So you’ve said.” It came out snappier than I intended. I fisted my marked palm instinctively and tried to lessen the bite. “And I get it. You can’t tell me everything.”
Sky dipped his head in confirmation. “No. But I know it makes it more difficult for you to trust me. I want you to. Trust me.” He hesitated, and when I tried to look away, flushing at the direct, intent stare he was giving me, he bent until I met his eyes again. “I want you to trust me.”
Something about the way he was looking at me, like I mattered—and not just because I was possibly carrying a Pladian info cache, for once—threatened to make that lump in my throat rise again. It had to be because I was so overwhelmed.
A large group of girls rushed by, talking loudly, their words a jumble. When they passed, I glanced up at the clock on the wall. Five minutes left before my test began.
I did trust Sky. Enough. I mean, I didn’t have many options, but there was something about him.
Something easy about his presence, even knowing all I knew.
Something dangerously comfortable, too. If I wasn’t careful, it was liable to get me hurt in a way that didn’t involve mech-suit attacks and glowing tablet burns.
Unable to help myself, I slid my attention back to him. We stood close enough now, tucked in the corner, I could see flecks of otherworldly glitter in his dark blue irises. Even worn-out and frowning like he was, he was still beautiful.
See? Dangerous.
I lifted a shoulder, not sure what to say. I didn’t really have a choice but to trust him, did I?
Once he saw he had my attention again, he sighed. “I’ve got a mission, and you’re a part of that now. An important part.”
A mission. I tucked my tongue into my cheek. How romantic. Just what a girl wanted to hear from the guy she’d been pining after forever.
But Sky was my best bet for staying safe. For getting answers and solutions. After all, he was the only one I happened to know who could take on an evil space robot.
“Okay,” I said, managing a small smile. “I’ll do my best. And I do trust you. For the record.”
Mostly, anyway.
He searched my face for another breath before pushing off the wall. “Good.” He cast a quick look around us before his gaze came to rest on me again. “I’m sorry about Amelia. Maybe we can figure something out once we get a handle on things. I’m still waiting to hear back from Bast on some options.”
“Yeah. Maybe.” I didn’t have much confidence in that.
From now on, I was committed to getting this alien mess figured out. The faster we did that, the faster I could go back to normal life and coffee dates with Amelia and maybe even sleeping through a whole night again.
And then Sky could do what he’d come here to do…and go. Back to the stars.
Speaking of confusing feelings.
He moved then, angling closer and lifting his hand. His fingertips were warm as they skimmed my cheek, and I froze in place. He brushed a strand of hair behind my ear. Barely a graze, but it was the first contact we’d had since the ill-fated hypnosis attempt this morning.
I stopped breathing, wide eyes tracing up his tanned throat to find his. He stiffened a little, like he hadn’t meant to touch me. For a heartbeat, we stared at each other, the sounds of the university hallway fading.
Sky looked away first, lowering his eyes and stepping back. My skin tingled where he’d brushed it.
He may not have meant it as one, but that tiny touch was a reminder. Everything around me was a spinning, churning mess, but…I wasn’t alone. Not completely.
Not entirely.
He was here, too. For now.
Which was a whole other complication in itself.
When I tipped my head back, I caught the barest flicker of emotion crossing his face before he turned away. “Come on. We’re already here, so let’s ace this test.”
I came back to myself, drawing back too. Before I did something I’d regret. Like lean on him.
Because we might’ve been in this together, but there were boundaries. Boundaries that were somehow just as confusing as everything else.
God, I was a mess.
It was test day, and none of this had been on the syllabus.