Amid Stars and Darkness (The Xenith Trilogy #1)

“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.

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