Page 50 of The Mist of Stars

“I’m sorry,” I murmur with my hand pressed to my forehead.

“It’s fine … You were asleep, and I was just trying to wake you up.” He sinks down into the driver’s seat, blinking a few times. “You were whimpering like you were having a nightmare.”

I was, I want to tell him.About you killing some pixie.

But that can’t be real. It was just a nightmare. It’s not like I could actually know that happened …

Except for the fact that I’ve time traveled through visions lately.

I eyeball Alex as I lower my hand. Would he kill another creature to protect Aislin? Would I blame him if he did?

No, I’d do the same thing.

Sitting in the driver’s seat with his body rotated toward me, the door is open behind him, and light is emitting from someplace close enough that the cab is illuminated. It’s not only from the interior light, either.

I peer around and realize we’ve arrived at the hideout, and the light is coming from the wooden structure we built a long time ago.

“Did someone put a generator in there?” I wonder, returning my attention back to Alex.

“I did a few years ago.” His gaze is unwavering. “How’s your head?”

“It’s fine.” I flick my wrist dismissively and turn to ask Aislin a question, but the back seat is empty.

“They already got out,” Alex explains, as if reading my mind. “We’ve been here for a few minutes. I was having a hard time getting you to wake up.” He pauses. “You were passed out pretty badly. I’m concerned maybe it’s something either with these visions or the chill of death affecting you mentally.”

“I’m pretty sure I was just asleep.” I chew on my bottom lip. “Unless …” Shaking my head, I shove open the door. “Nothing. Never mind.”

“No, it’s something.” He places a hand on my arm, stopping me. “Just say it. I promise you can trust me.”

Rubbing my lips together, I swing my leg back into the car and face him. “Fine. I was having this dream that I was in this pixie. She had purple hair, and she was crying. I had no control over her. And I had to watch as you … killed her.” The last of my words are faint.

Alex pales. “You saw that?”

I straighten. “Youdidthat?”

Silence is like the boom of an echoing thunder around us.

His throat muscles work as he swallows hard. “I had to.”

My mind is racing. Why am I entering his memories? This is too much—all of it. But I do understand what he’s saying—I saw his father force him to do it.

“I—”

“Guys!” Aislin shouts. “Are you coming or what?”

My gaze snaps to the hideout. She’s standing in the doorway with the light hitting her back and making her a shadow.

I turn back toward Alex, but he’s already jumping out of the car. Great, he probably thinks I’m judging him, but I’m not, at least not about this.

I would like to know why Stephan made him do it and how deep that abuse goes, since Aislin already mentioned how her father hit her. I’ve never liked Stephan, but I could never place my finger on why. Maybe I’ve sensed the evilness in him.

As I get out of the car, I tell myself that that’s the answer, but I can’t stop thinking about that machine in the basement of his house. He’s clearly hiding it from the keeper world, but why? What can it do?

As I near the hideout, I dare a glance around at the trees enclosing the land, looking for a sign of yellow eyes looming in the shadows. But everything is dark, calm, and still.

Too still.

Tearing my attention away, I step into the shelter. It’s small with wooden walls, a table, some chairs, and a dirt floor. Back in the day, the ceiling was simply wood, but someone—Alex, I’m guessing—installed a light.

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