Page 54 of The Breaker of Stars

Shrugging off the criticism of the Starsearchers, I ducked through the archway. My heart pounded as I waited.

When Vale finally slipped through the sliver of moonlight gilding the floor, I thought back to the way I’d surprised her last night when she arrived and how hard my cock got with only the gasp she’d elicited.

We didn’t have time for any of that tonight, though.

Vale’s gaze was dragged down that staircase, her hands flexing at her sides.

“How do you feel?” I whispered.

She may insist on returning, but if she froze again, I wouldn’t hesitate. I’d get her out of here through whatever means possible. Whatever answers the archives held weren’t worth hurting her.

She looked over her shoulder, eyes alert and jaw tense. “I’m fine.”

She wasn’t, though. Now that she’d admitted the pressure her magic had been exerting on her, the tells were clear. She blinked rapidly with a hand against the wall, like the power was trying to force her into the depths of the stars and she needed to ground herself.

But she wanted to be here, and she deserved that choice.

“Let’s continue,” I said, rolling my shoulders to dispel the uncertainty stiffening my entire body.

As she nodded and turned back, her cloak—the one I’d given her from the Castani market—slipped over her shoulder, exposing that silver tattoo. And even in the dim light, it pulled at me like a calling card, igniting the anger in my chest.

I pushed it away.

On light feet, we crept toward the mouth of the spiral staircase. Its descent was just as intimidating as it had been last night. Vale went first, hand clenched on the rail—much tighter than last night. Orbs dropped from the ceiling, the wavering mystlight within paling her skin.

The deeper we went beneath the earth, the more the magic stored in Gallantia’s land wakened my senses. I kept my heightened stare trained on the Starsearcher before me, ears attuned to any unexpected noises. Nothing but silence echoed along the stone.

My gut tightened as we passed the first three levels without issue.

“Wait,” I whispered on the fourth landing, gently grabbing Vale’s wrist and pulling her to a stop.

I peeked around the corner. A labyrinth of shelves stretched as far as I could see, but no footsteps echoed between them. No acolyte was stationed at the central desk. Just pale mystlight bathing empty aisles and the flickering cracks of fires in the grates.

That couldn’t be. Slipping my hand into Vale’s with a slight shake of my head, I ducked down the nearest aisle and quietly wove through the rows.

But no matter how far we went—we didn’t meet anyone. My weapons itched for me to pull them.

When we reached the end of the floor, I tugged Vale against a shelf and sank low to the ground. I met her eyes, and it was clear we were both wondering the same thing.

“There’s no one down here,” she whispered.

I peered around the end of the aisle, almost hoping to hear footsteps in the distance or the clink of a guard’s armor. “Is there any reason the acolytes would be called away?”

“If there was a celestial event, they’d be called up to read.” I turned back to Vale to meet her slightly-hazy eyes. When had that begun? “If it was large enough, they’d be in the courtyard beneath the open sky, not in the temple itself. But there’s nothing tonight. Not unless there’s a festival we don’t know of or an emergency gathering.”

“Even if there was an event, wouldn’t you feel that pull, too?”

“Maybe, with the way my magic is behaving, I wouldn’t notice the difference,” she said, tenuously.

“What about the guards?”

Vale swallowed, and it took every bit of my strength to remain focused on the larger mission rather than the nervous bob of her throat. “They could be up there, too.”

I dragged a hand through my hair, searching her face. The wide olive eyes and how she bit her lip to keep it from quivering.

“You want to keep going?” I asked.

“I need to,” she whispered.

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