Our Dark Stars
Page 26
Half-mock and half-human.
Not that she cared what his arm was made of as he held her face in place and brought his lips down over hers. The kiss was soft. Tentative. They were both still exploring this new development between them. A faint groan slipped from Will’s lips as his hand tightened in her hair, crushing her to his hard, warm chest.
“Is this too much?” he breathed, pulling back to gaze at her. His pupils were huge, his lips parted and hair more tousled than usual from her fingers raking through the coppery mess. It was hard to imagine this beautiful man could snap her spine without breaking a sweat.
“Shut up, Captain,” she commanded.
“Yes, Sovereign.”
Footsteps barking over metal drew Talia’s gaze to the hallway, where Lux and Dorian waited. Lux flung a hand over Dorian’s eyes. “Gross. Get a room, guys.”
Dorian ripped his sister’s hand from his wide eyes and beamed at Talia. “Hey, Talia!”
Lux smacked him behind the head. “It’s Sovereign now.”
Reluctantly, Talia disentangled herself from Will and crossed to meet the siblings. “In here, Dorian,” she said with a wink. “Talia’s fine.”
“Good to see you haven’t changed,” Lux added with a warm grin. “Hungry?”
“Depends. Is Leo serving something other than sardines?”
“We’ve recently undergone an upgrade on supplies.”
“Then let’s eat.”
The Athena was a gorgeous ship. Every rivet and bolt in place. Every wall painted and every surface shined. There was no rust, no cold, damp spots or broken equipment. It was—or had been—the crown jewel of the Federation Fleet. Yet Talia still found herself missing the Odysseus as she wound through the Athena’s bowels, following Dorian and Lux to the main mess hall.
A long metal table was set up in the center of the large rectangular room, bordered on one side with a curved plexi-glass window looking out onto the valley and a fully stocked bar on the other. Talia could easily imagine Will’s old crew making use of this space.
“Wow,” she quipped as she sat at the head of the table, “you guys must really hate slumming it in this old thing.”
“It’s not bad,” Will said, sitting to Talia’s left. “Though it’s missing a piano . . . and someone to play for.”
Thunking down on Talia’s right, Lux cut her eyes at Will. “What, we’re not good enough to appreciate music, Captain?”
Will slid his gaze to Talia, ignoring his navigator. “Think about it, if you ever get tired of giving orders and dealing with politicians. There’s always room for you on board the Athena.”
Before Talia could respond, Leo burst through the silver swinging doors that led to the high-end galley, carrying a tray full of cookies. A lit candle sat atop the tallest one, and Talia bit her cheek to keep the tears from her eyes as Leo rested the plate on the table. The cookies were appropriately burned to hard black discs.
Leo blew out the candle. “Happy birthday, Jane. Your cooking was horrible, but your friendship and loyalty was one of a kind, and we miss you like crazy.”
Talia had only recently found out Jane would have been one hundred and five years old today. Most mock bodies didn’t make it over fifty years before they had to jump, but Jane was tough like that. They spent the next few hours telling stories about Jane, and Talia realized that although the mock captain’s life had been cut short, she’d lived a rich and fulfilling life most humans could only dream of.
Soon, Talia would have to climb back up the mountain and become Sovereign again. As much as she yearned to shirk her duties and join the Athena crew and Will, as much as her soul called out to explore the vast expanse of space, she knew she belonged here, and she was ready to give her life to destroy the Federation and broker peace between her people and the mocks.
For now though, in this stolen moment, she could pretend she was just a girl who liked a boy, hanging out with her friends and eating burned cookies and laughing at inappropriate jokes. And if she let the tiny seed of hope that she kept hidden inside bloom, she could even imagine a day when that illusion became reality.
The End
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About the Authors
Audrey Grey is the award winning and USA Today bestselling author of several books, including the Moonbeam Children’s Awards bronze medalist, Shadow Fall. She lives in the charming state of Oklahoma with her husband, two little people, four mischievous dogs, and one poor cat. You can usually find her hiding out in her office from said little people and fur kids, surrounded by books and sipping kombucha while dreaming up wondrous worlds for her characters to live in.
Read More from Audrey Grey: http://audreygrey.com/
Krystal Wade is the USA Today bestselling author of six Young Adult Fantasy and creeptastically imagined fairytale books. She can be found in the sluglines outside Washington D.C. every morning, Monday through Friday. With coffee in hand, iPod plugged in, and strangers who sometimes snore, smell, or have incredibly bad gas-sitting next to her, she zones out and thinks of fantastical worlds for you and me to read. How else can she cope with a fifty-mile commute? Good thing she has her husband and three kids to go home to. They keep her sane.
Read More from Krystal Wade: http://www.krystal-wade.com/