Page 160 of Until the Stars Fall

“If there’d been no rebels, no threats—if I hadn’t been stupid and had told you the truth—what would you have done?”

Lieke leaned in close, pressing her forehead against mine briefly before she planted a light kiss on the tip of my nose. Then she whispered seductively, “Wake up and I’ll show you.”

CHAPTER 87

Lieke

Connor didn’t wake up though.

For two days he remained in his bedroom, and I lay beside him, only leaving when Brennan forced me to eat or Gretchen insisted I bathe. By the second afternoon after returning from Minerva’s cottage, Mrs. Bishop came up herself to retrieve me. Since Connor’s condition had remained unchanged—even after our shared dream last night—I agreed to accompany her.

Walking arm in arm, we made our way downstairs in silence. Once in the kitchen, she pulled the kettle from the fire and poured boiling water into two cups while nodding to me to sit at one of the stools at the worktable. She didn’t sit but rested her hips against the table’s edge.

“Marin left,” Mrs. Bishop said, looking up at me from beneath her lashes.

“What? Why?” I asked.

“Honestly, Sunshine, I was hoping you might know.” She paused to take a long, cleansing breath. “She left with no word, no goodbye. When she didn’t show up for her shift the other day, I went to her room and found it empty.”

“And none of the guards saw anything?”

“I’ve been meaning to ask Matthias, but he’s had a bit too much on his mind with Connor still unconscious,” she said.

Lifting my cup, I blew across the hot drink. “I can talk to him for you if you’d like. I’ve been meaning to check on him anyway.” She nodded her thanks, and after another moment of silence, I said, “That reminds me though. I told my friend, Raven, to come to the palace so we could help keep her safe.”

“There have been no human visitors—actually no visitors at all—since you left,” she said.

I sighed, my shoulders hanging low as I bent over the table.

Where did you go, Raven?

What are you doing?

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Mrs. Bishop said in her most hopeful tone. “But if she does arrive, rest assured I have a spot for her in my kitchen.”

When I returned to Connor’s room, I found his heartbeat had quickened and grown stronger. Sitting beside him, I pulled his hand into my lap and held it while I watched for any sign he would wake soon. For hours I sat there waiting, hoping, and fighting my growing disappointment. When the sun finally set and the room grew dark, I reluctantly released him so I could light the lanterns.

I had just lit the first one when Connor stirred. My name fell from his lips, barely audible.

“Sapphire.”

I nearly tripped over my own feet as I rushed to his side. “I’m here.”

He turned his face toward me, opening his eyes and finding mine at once. A tired smile crept across his lips, and before I could stop him, he was slowly lifting himself up to his elbows and then into a seated position.

“Feels good to move again.” His voice was so quiet that he could have been speaking only to himself. Swinging his feet off the bed and dropping them to the floor, he reached his hands out for mine and pulled me toward him so that I stood between his legs. He regarded me, a contented look lighting up his face.

“You’re not mad at me for taking you to Minerva?” I asked quietly, immediately kicking myself. Why was that the first thing I said to him?

He shook his head before raising a brow quizzically. “I am awake, aren’t I? This isn’t another dream?” I dipped my chin once in answer. “Then I believe you have something to show me?” He posed it as a question, as if I might not remember what I had told him in our shared consciousness.

My core heated, sending tendrils of warm desire through my veins.

Stars, this male.

My mate.

Memories of the dreams we’d shared flashed in my mind, and my body tensed at the thrilling realization that Connor was truly here, his hands in mine, his body close to me. And he wanted me, a lowly human servant, who—for some strange reason—fate had chosen as his mate.

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