Page 57 of Fallen from the Stars

He entered the shallow water; it was cooler than the tidal pool had been. Theo stepped in behind him, the gentle splashes of her boots magnified by the stone walls all around. As they passed into the darkness, Vasil made his stripes glow to cast soft blue light on the walls and water.

“You canglow?” Theo asked, her astonished whisper echoing throughout the cave.

He paused when her hands settled on his arm. Turning his head, he watched with a furrowed brow as she ran her fingers over his glowing stripes, back and forth, up and down, her eyes rounded.

“This is sexy. I’m definitely going to have you do this later while you’re—”

“Tentacular Penetration!” Kane said.

Theo stilled for an instant before bursting into laughter. “Wesoneed a new safe word.”

“How aboutshut up?”

“Works for now.” Theo looked at Vasil, smiled, and brushed a kiss over one of his stripes before stepping away to trail her fingertips along the damp cave wall.

When Vasil continued onward, Theo followed. The air cooled as they moved deeper into the cave. The sound of the waves became a low, pervasive rumbling, felt more than heard. A familiar tightness threatened to grip Vasil’s chest, and his skin tingled with the first hints of a coming itch; this place was isolated, dark, oppressive.

As if she knew what he was experiencing, Theo reached out, brushing her fingers over his back. “It’s okay.”

He squeezed his eyes closed and drew in a long, slow breath. The air smelled of stone and sea — a familiar enough blend to soothe him.

You’ll have moments of…relapse, Theo had said.You can overcome them.

Vasil released the breath and opened his eyes. The walls were in the same place they’d been before — no closer, no more menacing.

“I know,” he said. “Thank you.”

Theo stopped several times to gaze at the rock formations, but she never lingered too far behind; her hands occasionally settled on his arms, her fingertips glided over his skin, reminding him he wasn’t alone.

“There’s a strange…buzz,” Theo said, scratching behind her ear. “Do you feel it?”

Halting, Vasil dropped his gaze, focusing on his hearing and the feel of the air against his skin. There was a faint current both in the air and in the water, and he still sensed the muted rumbling of the ocean, but that was all.

“I do not feel anything out of the ordinary.”

“Hmm. Must just be me, then.” She reached out and ran her fingers over the wall.

“I’m picking up a strange energy signature, but it is very faint,” said Kane. “It doesn’t have a match in my database.”

Theo’s exploration slowed their progress, but Vasil was unbothered. She was like a youngling, curious and unashamed, finding wonder in everything she saw. He couldn’t help but smile when she drew her knife to pry free a colorful shell that had been embedded in the wall. She called it asouvenir.

“This is pretty,” she said, staring at the shell as though there weren’t dozens more just like it lodged in the stone all around. She turned and took a few steps deeper into the cave only to stagger to a halt. She swayed forward and raised a hand to her head.

Vasil moved closer to her. “What is wrong, Theo?”

“That buzzing. I can feel it vibrating in my head. It’s strange… It’s like a headache, but it’s making this weird pinch.” She lowered her hand and looked up. “Is something glowing up ahead?”

“Theo, those readings are strengthening,” Kane said, his voice oddly distorted.

Brows falling low, Vasil followed Theo’s gaze with his own. The cave narrowed up ahead and curved to the left. A patch of impenetrable darkness waited beyond Vasil’s soft glow, and beyond that shone another gentle light, cast from around the bend.

Vasil frowned. “It is halorium.”

“That’s what the IDC came here for, isn’t it?” she asked. “What your people were forced to harvest?”

“Yes.” He glanced behind them; only more darkness lurked beyond the light of his stripes. They weren’t terribly far into the cave, but the sea was fickle. This place could flood in moments if the tide came in, and he’d have trouble protecting even himself from being slammed into the stone walls when that happened. “We should go back now.”

“Hold up. We’ll leave in a second, but I need to see this first.” She ran ahead, water splashing around her legs.

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