Chapter 27
Nova
I wake up slowly.
I lay there with my eyes closed. My body feels better than it did yesterday, less ache and more… warmth. Solid warmth everywhere.
My hand.
Someone is holding it. Fingers laced through mine, palm pressed against palm, and I don’t remember reaching for anyone but here we are.
I open my eyes.
Trey.
He’s turned toward the couch sometime in the night, hip pressed against it, arm across the cushion with his fingers wrapped around mine. His cheek rests on his forearm, face inches from where my hand lies.
I should pull away. I should—
But his skin is warm and his grip is loose and something about it feels right in a way that settles into my chest instead of making me panic.
I look at his face.
He’s already watching me. Gray eyes half-lidded, mouth curved up at one corner like he’s been waiting for me to notice.
“Hey,” he says. Barely a whisper.
“Hey.”
He pushes up on his free arm, leans in. Stops. Like he’s checking to see if I’ll run.
I don’t.
His nose bumps mine and I smile before I can stop it. And then his mouth finds mine and it’s softer than I expected. Tentative. I let myself sink into it.
He makes a small sound against my lips, surprised, and I feel him smile into the kiss—
Someone shifts.
I pull back. Turn.
They’re all awake. Every single one of them. Watching.
Oh god.
My face floods with heat. I’m already pulling my hand free, already trying to figure out how to explain, how to apologize, how to—
“Nova.”
Locke’s voice. Low. Steady.
I make myself look at him. He’s still in the chair, eyes half-lidded, expression unreadable.
“You don’t need permission to act on what you feel. Not with us.”
I stare at him.
“What?” My voice comes out wrong. Too high. “You can’t be serious. I mean you guys can’t all—”
I look around the room. They’re all watching me. Something in their eyes I don’t understand. Something that looks like—
I’m on my feet before I decide to stand. My legs are shaky but they hold.
“Shoes. Where are my shoes?”
“Nova—”
“Where are—”
Rane sets them down by my feet. Doesn’t say anything.
“Thanks.”
I shove them on, fingers clumsy.
“Nova, you can’t leave.” Vaelor’s voice. Careful. “Not again.”
“I’m not.”
“Nova—”
“I’m not. I’m going for a walk. I just—I can’t—I don’t know what—” I make a sound that’s not quite a word. “I need air.”
I’m out the door before anyone can stop me.
The morning is cold and gray and I don’t care. I just need to move, need to think, need to figure out what the fuck is happening and why they’re all looking at me like—
“Stop.”
Kyron’s voice. Twenty feet behind me.
I don’t stop.
“Nova.”
“I can’t.”
“You can turn around.”
“I can’t do that either.”
“Why?”
I keep walking. He keeps following. I can hear his footsteps, steady, unhurried. Like he’s got all the time in the world.
“Because I can’t let you go.” His voice is closer now. “Not anymore.”
I stop.
I don’t want to. My legs just stop moving.
I turn around.
He’s standing there, dark hair messy from sleep, those blue eyes fixed on me like I’m the only thing that exists.
“What do you want?” The words come out sharper than I mean them to.
He blinks. “What?”
“What do you want from me?” I’m getting louder and I can’t stop it. “People don’t do this. People don’t just give you food and kindness for no reason. And if you think I’m going to—that I’ll just—”
“No.” He cuts me off. “Not like that, Nova.”
“Then what’s it like?”
He runs his hands through his hair. For a second he looks almost lost, and that’s wrong—Kyron’s never lost, Kyron always knows exactly what’s happening—
“You’re ours, Nova.” He says it simply. Like it’s obvious. “Rane said it last night. No one corrected him because it’s true.”
I open my mouth. Nothing comes out.
“It’s not just the system. Not just a cluster label.” He takes a step closer. “We knew. All of us. The moment we saw you.”
“But what does that even mean, Kyron?”
He doesn’t answer. Just watches me with those impossible blue eyes.
“I had never even heard of a cluster until a few weeks ago. I don’t understand why the woman who did my makeup when Zoe and I were shopping kept talking about it like it was something every woman wanted. Why she was so happy about her own and kept telling me how lucky I was.”
I take a breath because I have to get this out.
“And you guys are just there. Walking me to class. Making sure I have things. Fuck, you paid—” My voice cracks. “You paid for me to go shopping. And I got the softest sweater and creams that Zoe said I needed and I don’t even know why and… and…”
I finally stop talking and look at him.
He’s beaming. Not a smirk, not that knowing look he usually wears. A real smile, huge, reaching his eyes.
“You’re perfect,” he breathes, and steps closer.
I don’t step back. I roll my eyes without meaning to.
“Nova.” He steps forward again, his hand coming up, thumb brushing my cheek. “We want to do those things for you. It’s not fake. It’s not a burden.”
His palm settles against my jaw, tilting my face up toward his.
“We want to see you happy and fed and safe. And we want to be here while you figure out who you are and who you could be.”
And then he kisses me.
Kyron kisses me like he’s been thinking about it for weeks. Like he’s had a plan and he’s finally executing it. Precise and deliberate and thorough.
My hands find his shirt without permission. Fist in the fabric. Pull him closer.
My breath catches, and then his other hand is in my hair and he’s tilting my head back and there’s nothing else. Just the slide of his mouth against mine, the way he tastes, the sound of my own heartbeat drowning out everything.
I’m just here. In this. Wanting this.
Wanting him.
The realization doesn’t scare me like it probably should. It settles and stays there, warm and terrifying and undeniable.
I want this. I want them.
When we finally break apart, we’re both breathing hard. His forehead drops against mine, his hand still cradling my jaw, his thumb tracing my cheekbone.
“Oh,” I say. Stupid. The only word I can find.
He laughs. Low and warm, breath fanning across my lips.
“Yeah,” he says. “Oh.”