Amid Stars and Darkness

by Chani Lynn Feener

  “It appears I won’t have to punish you after all,” he told her once he’d swallowed. “This is actually very good.”

  “Being here is punishment enough,” she expressed. She’d tried to ease the tension, tried being passably nice, and he’d wanted none of it. Sure, he was scary and could kill her bare-handed, but one attempt at being the voice of reason here was enough for her.

  He didn’t get angry by her words anyway, motioning to her own untouched food instead and ordered, “Eat.”

  Not having a good enough reason not to, she did as he said. They settled into a reasonably tolerable silence, both of them diving into their food. And why not? It was the only thing in the room either of them actually liked.

  For the second time that day Delaney felt bad for Olena—and for Trystan. It must suck being told you were going to share your life with someone you couldn’t even share a single meal with. If she’d been in Olena’s shoes, she’d have wanted an out as well; though, she liked to believe she was a better person and wouldn’t have screwed over some innocent in order to save her own skin.

  Trystan got up suddenly, startling her from her musings. Even more surprising, she noticed that they’d both finished eating. At some point, she must have sipped more of the bergozy as well, for the glass that’d been mostly full was more than half empty.

  That explained the fuzzy feeling in her head.

  Grabbing the last two trays on the bottom rack, he brought them over and placed them on top of their empty dinner plates. Without waiting for her this time, he lifted the lid on his and picked up a golden fork to his left. Still, he didn’t take a bite, but met her gaze across the table. During the silence, some of his insufferable humor had come back, and along with it the challenging glint.

  Opening her tray, she couldn’t help the slight smile at what she found.

  A single slice of pumpkin pie was displayed, perfectly positioned in the center of the gold plate. It was roughly four inches across at the crust, tapering down to a perfect point. A huge swirl of lightly whipped cream topped it off.

  The dessert on Trystan’s plate was different, a chocolate brownie-type pie with a chocolate crumble crust and a matching heaping of cream. He twirled the fork in his left hand, the light in his eyes only brightening with her reaction.

  “I chose the right one,” he said, and nodded, pleased with himself. He must have noted the way she’d all but overlooked his pie for her own.

  “Pumpkin pie is my favorite,” she tentatively divulged. Unable to resist, she picked up her own fork and cut a decent chunk off the end. “All fall things, really.”

  It tasted like bliss in her mouth, and she struggled not to make the same moaning sound he had when he’d bitten into his burger. It was hard though, really hard, especially because he’d somehow managed to find the best damn pumpkin pie she’d ever had in her entire life. And she’d eaten a lot of pumpkin pie over the years.

  She wanted to stop him when his arm stretched across the table, but figured he’d been the one to get the pie in the first place, so … She leaned back as he scooped some with his own fork, and watched as he brought it to his mouth. The widening of his eyes actually made her laugh.

  “It’s good, right?” She took another bite. The sliding of metal across glass had her glancing up a second time, and she blinked when she found he’d pushed his plate toward her.

  “So is this,” he said, as if she needed prompting, then waited patiently for her to try his dessert. When she had, he pulled it back, continuing to eat.

  Slowly, she placed the fork into her mouth, the bittersweet taste of dark chocolate coating her tongue. She had to admit he was right: It was also very good. She wanted to ask where they’d gotten the ingredients, whether or not they actually had pumpkins and cocoa beans here on Xenith, but refrained. Making a note to ask Ruckus about it later, she finished off her pie.

  “You should ask for it at your Uprising,” Trystan suggested, smirking at her now empty plate. “It’s still two weeks away; I’m sure the Basileus won’t mind changing the menu. I believe I was told the Basilissa had chosen gremming in your absence.” He made a face. “Dreadful. How they even call that a dessert here in Vakar is beyond me.”

  She was still caught on the Uprising portion of his speech. What was it, and why was it happening in two weeks? Surely, if it was still on, the Basileus thought they’d have found Olena by then. That was good, wasn’t it?

  That was all she’d have to survive, another two weeks at most, and then she could go back to Earth. That wasn’t so bad. She could manage until then, especially now that she’d gotten a burst of fresh hope.

  “That’s an interesting choice.” Finished now with his dessert as well, he’d leaned back in his chair and was eyeing her outfit.

  She’d worn what Ruckus had pulled from the closet, a ruby-red dress that hugged her curves in all the right ways. There was a layer of lace that made up the sleeves that went to her elbows, and while the original material only dropped a few inches down her thighs, a sheer skirt went the rest of the way, long enough to practically trail on the floor even in her three-inch black heels. The bottom part of the sheer material turned red once more, with it trailing upward to her shins in patterns that reminded her of flames.

  While she’d been a bit uncomfortable with it at first, after Ruckus had shown her a few pieces from the rest of Olena’s closet, she’d immediately agreed with him. Apparently, the Lissa didn’t own anything longer than mid-thigh, and not a single pair of pants. There were a couple of shorts, but those were even shorter than the dresses had been.

  Because of the type of table, Trystan was getting a perfect view of what might as well have been bare thigh, considering the sheer material. The neckline was also low enough that every time she’d bent toward her dish, she’d probably given him a decent look down the front. He knew about her black bra at that point, that was for sure.

  Back home, Delaney hadn’t been a prude by any standard, but she wouldn’t have been caught dead in something this revealing, either. She’d even worn decent clothing to the club the other night. Up until this point, the room and the meal had distracted her, but now she felt her cheeks staining, and she uselessly smoothed her hands over her lap, leaving them there to cover as much bare skin as possible. Which wasn’t much at all.

  If anything, her tiny hands only managed to make her legs appear longer, and she gritted her teeth, wondering if he saw the same thing.

  The sudden spark of heat in his eyes killed any hope of that not being the case.

  “Not any more so than what you went with,” she said, indicating his suit and trying to regain control of the situation.

  “Are you a wolf in sheep’s clothing then, Lissa?” he asked. “That is how the Earth saying goes, isn’t it?”

  For once his underlying threat actually made her more comfortable. They needed to get back to the two of them trading barbs, forget that this odd moment had ever happened.

  “Well.” She pushed her chair back and stood, hoping her legs weren’t visibly shaking. “As great as this has been—”

  “You’re afraid you must excuse yourself?” he teased, throwing her words from earlier at the Tandem back at her. He didn’t rise, remaining calm and relaxed in his seat. He was almost too relaxed.

  “Are you mocking me?” she asked, despite the pressure in her chest urging her to just let it go and leave.

  “Not at all.” He shook his head. “It took you longer than I expected to run.”

  She bristled. “I’m not running.”

  “Of course not,” he agreed in a tone that was clearly disingenuous. “You’d have nowhere to go, and you’re smart enough to know not to bother trying. Aren’t you, Lissa?”

  “You’re threatening me.” Oh yeah, she totally should have left a minute ago instead of starting down this path. For a moment things between them hadn’t been so bad, but now that stealthy Zane from before had returned in full force.

  This had been a mistake, a huge
mistake. She needed to get out of there.

  “I’m merely pointing out what you astutely did earlier,” he explained. “That so long as the Rex and the Basileus continue to seek out this ridiculous merger, you and I are stuck here. I can’t escape any more than you can.”

  She froze, panic momentarily buzzing in her ears so loudly, she couldn’t hear anything else.

  “What do you mean by that?” she said breathlessly, hating how her voice quavered.

  “Only that you can’t hide”—he leaned forward, though he still didn’t rise—“not even on Earth.”

  She thought of something, grasped on to it like a lifeline. “You still don’t believe I went to a fair.”

  “No.” He shook his head. “I do not. The Lissa Olena I know wouldn’t be caught dead at a grungy human fair.”

  “Well, I’m clearly not the Olena you think you know.”

  “Clearly,” he repeated, angling his head at her.

  When he didn’t say anything more, she gulped and took a step back. He didn’t stop her, so she moved all the way to the door, turning with her hand already on the handle to glance back at him over her shoulder.

  He was still watching her, but she couldn’t read his expression, and she didn’t like the way his lips were curved up in a knowing half smirk that turned her blood to ice.

  “Have a nice evening, Lissa,” he murmured, and despite being on the other side of the room, she heard him clear as day. “We’ll do this again.” He caught her gaze, smirk broadening. “Soon.”

  She wasn’t proud of it, but she threw the door open and fled.

  CHAPTER 13

  She’d been—not so proudly—spending the morning hiding away in her room when the brisk knock came at her door. Ignoring it, Delaney remained where she was, lying back on the bed, looking up at the skylight. Above, the sky was a mixture of sea green and grayish blue; she’d been staring at it for the past hour.

  The sound of the door opening had her stiffening, but she still didn’t move. A second later Ruckus’s face hovered above hers, forcing her to acknowledge his presence. He shook his head and pulled back, silently waiting.

  With a groan of annoyance, she sat up and glared at him. “What?”

  “Get dressed.” He tossed a bundle of clothing onto the bed at her side and crossed his arms. There was a patient but steady look about him, like he was prepared to wait all day if he had to, but he fully intended to get his way.

  She fingered the bundle to give her a moment to stall, then asked, “Why?”

  “I have a surprise for you.” The corner of his mouth turned up, but aside from that, it was the only part of him that budged.

  “I’m good, thanks.” She pushed the clothing away.

  “Delaney.” He sighed, dropping his arms to his sides. “I understand you need some time after dealing with the Zane last night, but I’d like to show you something good about my planet. Something to remind you that we aren’t all bad.”

  She hesitated. It wasn’t as if staying here could actually keep Trystan away from her; the fact that he’d barged in yesterday was proof of that. At least if she went now, she’d be with Ruckus, whom she trusted a hell of a lot more than anyone else on Xenith. Seeing no other good option, she stood and snatched the bundle off the bed before heading toward the bathroom.

  A few minutes later she came out and lifted a brow at him.

  The swimsuit looked exactly like the ones back home, and she wondered if that was where it had originally come from. The bottoms were gold, and hung a few inches below her navel. Apparently, the Vakar hadn’t gotten the memo that high-waist bottoms were back in. The top was a shade lighter, with a glittery material that tied behind her back. A mint-green sundress had been given to her to put over it.

  “Swimming?” She crossed the room to the closet and grabbed a pair of white wedges off the nearest shelf.

  “It’s much more than that.” He waited until she’d slipped the shoes on and then asked, “What’s wrong?” Now he was watching her with a slight frown, an odd expression on someone always so put together.

  And he was. His spine was always straight, shoulders always back. His gaze assessed everything at once, and even when he appeared relaxed, she could tell his body was ready to snap into action at a moment’s notice.

  It was clear he could be hard, but ever since discovering her true identity, he’d been, for the most part, gentle with her. He certainly hadn’t treated her like the Basileus had.

  At his pressing look, she sighed.

  “You mean besides the fact that I feel half naked in front of you? I’m not used to wearing a bikini in front of aliens.”

  He chuckled and she narrowed her eyes. “Don’t worry. I’ll be in a similar situation once we get there.” There was a suggestive note in his tone, and she quickly looked away.

  “Where are we going, anyway?” she asked the second they were out in the hall.

  “You’ll see,” his words trickled into her head.

  “That’s never gonna stop being creepy,” she told him aloud. Unable to keep her own smirk at bay, however, she added, “And awesome.”

  “It can be annoying,” he confessed. “Imagine over a dozen people trying to speak to you telepathically all at once.”

  “You have that many people dialed in to your frequency?” That seemed like way too many. She was already uncomfortable with just the one. “Can they talk to you all at once?”

  “In a way.” He pursed his lips, clearly trying to think up the best way to explain. “It’s more like voicemail. I receive the first one sent, and then it continues to play the rest. But I can’t pause to respond, so if I have five messages, I have to wait until I’ve listened to them all and then remember what they said before I can answer. I can turn the setting off, but being connected to so many people is risky without the delay. All those voices reaching my head at the same time could cause an overload in the system.”

  “What would happen to you?”

  “Basically, I’d have an aneurism.” He shrugged like it was no big deal.

  “Let’s just keep that setting on”—she patted the side of his arm—“forever.”

  Passing her a sly look, he asked, “Why? Would that bother you?”

  “If something in your brain pretty much exploded? Yeah.” Okay, she was being a bit dramatic, but picturing it, a strong guy like him helpless to stop something like that, made her queasy.

  “You’re worried about me.” He flashed her a smile, then pressed a flat palm against the double doors in front of them.

  There were no guards in this section of the castle—she couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen someone—and these doors were unlocked. Made from a flimsier material, they swung inward at just the slightest push.

  Ruckus entered first, then held them open for her, a challenging light in his eyes that she couldn’t resist.

  It was an indoor pool, but nothing like what one would find at a hotel or a mansion back home.

  There wasn’t sand, or traditional tile; instead the ground was covered with a fluffy plant, almost like grass that’d been given a perm. The pool itself was an odd shape that curved in some places and went straight in others, flowing around the bumpy walls made of various stones, and swirling around the three large stone columns that sprouted upward toward the ceiling.

  In the center of the pool was another smaller pool, perfectly circular, that stood at least a yard higher than the original, with a set of winding stone steps that curled from the edge of the main pool around the left side of the rise to disappear in the back.

  There was a green tint to the water, and a sweet smell of almonds permeated the air. She would have believed they were outside on some jungle island if it weren’t for the skylight above, a clear glass bubble that shielded them, curving down to meet walls covered with climbing vines and other foliage.

  She moved over to the edge of the pool and reached up to touch a tiny white star-shaped flower. There were seemingly billions of them, sp
routing from the vines in scattered pinpricks of white and pale yellow. Their petals were silky soft but were pointed in five directions. The almond smell was coming from them.

  “Stellaperier. The best translation I can think of would be ‘star climbers.’” Ruckus had stepped up behind her, close enough so that his warm breath blew against her neck, causing the petals of the nearest flowers to flutter. “There’s a story to them, where it’s said that each bloom was really a star reborn. They reach for the sky because they remember their old lives and wish to return.”

  Sounded familiar.

  “Ruckus,” she said, “I want to go home.”

  “I’ll get you back there,” he assured her. “I promise.”

  “I shouldn’t keep making you tell me that.” She forced a smile. “But it helps to hear it.”

  “At night the flowers glow,” he told her after a pause.

  “They do not.” Then she spun around quickly, too quickly, and almost tripped. His hands at her arms stopped her, and she sucked in a breath at their proximity. She took a moment where all she did was stare at his chest, the part that came at her eye level. Then she risked a glance up, and her heart rate increased.

  Oh no. His attractiveness was starting to work on her.

  He grinned knowingly and released her, moving over to the edge of the pool. Then he reached back and tugged off his black T-shirt in one swoop. He tossed it onto the strange ground without a care, deft fingers already moving to undo the button of his pants.

  She turned, pretending to find something interesting across the room, but his barely restrained laugh clued her in that he knew exactly what she was doing. She’d never been shy around the opposite sex before—didn’t have a ton of experience with them, either, but enough not to blush every time a guy dropped his pants.

  He’d come prepared, having put swim trunks on underneath. They were a bright ruby red, a sharp contrast to his golden complexion. Hell, to his golden everything.

  “A real golden boy,” she thought, not really meaning to, and froze when she realized what she’d done. Her hand slapped against the back of her neck, cheeks staining the same shade as his suit, and a wide grin split across his gorgeous face.