Page 63 of Passions Ignite

“Are you sure you’re just hungry?” Zoey asked.

“Well, not entirely,” Lux said.

Zoey’s eyes asked the rest of the questions. Lux hesitated, her eyes fixed on the ground in front of her. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to have this conversation.

“About last night,” she said quietly.

Zoey didn’t respond right away, and Lux could feel the tension in the air between them. “What about it?” Zoey finally asked.

Lux sighed, turning to look at Zoey. “I said something last night, something I’m not sure I should have said.”

Zoey’s expression softened, and she reached out, placing a hand on Lux’s arm. “You mean when you said you love me?”

Lux nodded, her heart pounding in her chest. “I didn’t mean to make things complicated. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

Zoey looked at her for a long moment. “Do you regret it?”

Lux hesitated, then shook her head. “No, I don’t. I just…I don’t know what happens now. There’s no way for us to be rescued anymore. The station probably thinks we’ve been lost to the fire by now.”

Zoey’s hand tightened on Lux’s arm, a small gesture of comfort. “I’ve been thinking about that too,” she said. “But we can’t give up hope. We’ve made it this far.”

Lux wanted to believe her and hold on to that hope, but it was slipping through her fingers like sand. “What if they’ve given up on us, Zoey? What if we’re all alone out here?”

Zoey was silent momentarily, her gaze distant as she stared ahead. “Then we accept it,” she said as she stood up. “Come on, we should keep going.”

Lux stood up. “Okay.”

24

ZOEY

Zoey trudged through the rocky terrain, her boots scuffing against the uneven ground. The trees thinned out as they climbed higher.

She glanced over at Lux, who was walking a few steps ahead. For most of the day, she’d seemed stuck in her thoughts. Even when she spoke up, something else was on her mind.

As much as she felt attracted to Lux, she didn’t want to scare her off.

Attracted?

Zoey slowed down somewhat. This wasn’t mere attraction. She was falling in love with Lux, as strange as it sounded to her own ears.

“Shit.” She stumbled.

Lux turned. “You good back there?”

“Yeah, sure,” she replied hurriedly. “Just tripped on some stones.”

The ground was littered with shrubs, their tough roots gripping the rocky soil. This area differed from the dense forest they had left behind. It felt more open, more exposed.

“We should be easier to spot from the air now,” Zoey said.

“That’s if they’re looking,” Lux said.

“We’d better hope they are.”

Lux nodded, still focused on the path ahead. “Yeah, and hopefully, the fire won’t spread as quickly up here. There’s less fuel for it.”

Zoey’s gaze drifted upward, taking in the vast, clear sky. The smoke from the fire was still visible in the distance, but it felt like they had finally put some distance between themselves and the danger.

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