Page 6 of Stars At Dusk

Her therapist was right. At her last session, she’d encouraged Harlow to take a few months off dating. She’d even suggested an entire year away from it. Harlow agreed. She needed more work on herself to shake off her past.

Starting with tonight. Having tossed Ziemer out of her life, Harlow felt surprisingly free of the burden of trying to be with another man who didn’t accept or respect her for who she was. At least she now recognised the red flags when they started waving their sorry little signs around.

Twelve months sounded reasonable on the grand scale for her to dedicate to her transformation. Right then, Harlow Meridien made up her mind to be free and single for a year. To get her head screwed back on straight.

Her decision felt right. Even Lake Axuma agreed, blowing the most gentle of sweet breezes onto Harlow’s face.

She strolled along the lake’s edge, sipping her fresh juice and dipping a hand every so often into her to-go bag to nab one more delicious garlicky buttery curl.

The warm air, the lap of the lake’s tiny waves - and the sounds of children playing on the water’s edge as they enjoyed a balmy summer evening - was everything.

Life could not get better than this.

The air was soft and satiny. Pillowy clouds chased stars across the evening Dunian sky. Eden II sparkled like a jewel above.

Harlow meandered past trendy lakefront restaurants filled with lovebirds and spilling over with friends soaking in the summer vibes. It was hard to imagine that the chaos of a coup lay just beyond the minor city’s dome.

Her mind strayed, as did her feet, until she felt a tingling at the back of her neck.Were those eyes on her?Nothing was distinctive, just a nagging feeling that someone was watching her.

She flung a narrowed look to her left. There was no one close. She walked on but couldn’t shake the feeling someone was trailing her. Once, she feinted a stone in her shoe so she could look behind her. Besides the regular evening traffic along the scenic promenade along Lake Axuma, there didn’t seem to be any standout ‘stalker’ near her.

She returned to her food and stroll, lulled by the beauty of a warm summer night. Soon she drew up to the steps leading to her apartment block.

The Lakeside Springs development was reasonably new, within walking distance of local shops, parks, cafes, the maglev train and an abundance of local amenities. It was also just across from her work lab. Best of all, Harlow loved waking up in her tranquil home with its private courtyard overlooking the lake and expansive forest views.

She was just about to swipe her wrist comm over the security pad when she paused. She took a long breath and pointed turned her eyes to what looked like the empty wall beyond the entrance doorway.

‘Who the heck are you? And why are you following me?’

Kage

All he’d wanted was for this freaking long day to be over.

So he could burn to Eden II in under three hours, land at J’Urg Mihòr, and smash through the doors of his moonscape retreat.

Shower in a head that flowed with hot water pouring from a ceiling of stars.

Nab a bottle of craft beer and a large plate of homemade deliciousness.

Fall into his floating bed. Under a nebula-filled plex ceiling.

And there he’d remain. For days. On end.

Instead, he was on Axuma doing a favour for Dunia’s Prime leader in exile, Selene Munene.

It wasn’t working in his favour, though.

Evidenced by the fact his quarry was staring straight at him as if she could see right through his meta fractal shield.

Damn! She’d detected him. But damn, she was good.

He felt a mix of wtf-ness shoved in with a hella lot of respect.

‘You’re wasting my time!’

Kage’s brow lifted, his stealth gaze drawn to her tapping foot. Through the haze of his exhaustion, he appreciated that Harlow Meridien was one gorgeous woman, even while working her foot like she was. Then there was those lavender eyes that had stopped his heart, their lilac shine so like the healing, dusky twilight that floated perpetually above Eden City.

‘I don’t have time for this,’ she snapped.

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