Page 39 of When the Universe Sings

He pressed a black button beside him, a small box rising from the center of the console. Static filled my ears, nodiscernable sound present within it. But Asher tilted his head to the side, eyes growing strangely glassy and distant. “Can you hear it?”

I shook my head. “No…I can’t.” And for some reason I was truly sorry I couldn’t.

Asher exhaled softly, pressed two fingers to the box and reached toward the engine switches. They roared to life, teeth-rattling after that silence. I thought perhaps he’d slip back into that cold shell of himself, but right before we made the jump to our final destination, I could have sworn he murmured:

“One day you will.”

CHAPTER

TWENTY-SEVEN

Louxuria wasbeyond my wildest imaginings.

We’d been stalled for an hour or so at the atmospheric security checkpoint in a queue full of offworlders traveling in for the gala. Cruises and starships of every size and kind lined up near to the quadrant entry point. But the backup was to our advantage. By the time we were next in line the security officers were frazzled, content to merely check our logs and confirm our invitation with Lesephous before sending us on our way. They hadn’t so much as scanned our ship.

Asher had put on the same smooth façade he’d used before—and I was sure it was a façade from the way his gloves clenched the controls. But I couldn’t find much energy to worry about his tension when we descended into the atmosphere.

From space, the planet appeared to glitter like a perfect sphere of crystal, but now I knew it was merely the reflection of the small cluster of moons that orbited. We broke through fluffy white clouds, punching holes in our wake as we descended. While we were lost in one, an escape pod shot out of the side of our ship, the bright silver hull barely detectable against the shimmering rocks.

The others couldn’t join us at Lesephous’ estate, but Rhiaon had managed a security rotation of one small landing dock that had no scheduled deliveries. It was the perfect opportunity—so perfect Hudzon had grumbled about it for over an hour at dinner last night and forced them through an additional three security checks to ensure there was no suspicion.

I watched the pod shoot off and disappear within another cloud before the ground came into view. Well, not ground as I’d known it on my planet. Instead, a shimmering purple sea spread out beneath us. Tiny waves with frothy pale green foam broke through the glass-like surface, and hovering above were not ships as I had first thought, but large islands of crystal.

Asher flicked a few controls on the panel to level us out. “We’ll need to be careful of what we say once we land. Rys said they have top-of-the-line security droids and microphones littered throughout the entire estate—especially within the sleeping quarters. I’ll do my best to pinpoint the microphones and shut them down.”

As we flew closer, I made out grand buildings built from the same substance, as if they were honed from the rocks. There was lush greenery, though I couldn’t understand how it flourished dotted within the courtyards and gardens of the large estates.

He gestured to the looming island in the distance. “That’s Listra’s estate.”

“Maker,” I cursed. “All that for one male?”

He looked at me for the first time since the engines had restarted, the corner of one eye crinkling, making me wonder if he was grinning. “One male with hundreds of servants and sycophants ready to swarm the moment he drops dead.”

I grimaced. “How old is he?”

The ship curved to the right and I leaned into the straps holding me to the chair as he positioned us toward a glittering runway littered with other cruisers. “Four hundred and seven standard cycles.”

My noise of surprise might have been somewhere between a gasp and a choke. Selhveniains lived to be around one hundred, if given the opportunity. The eldest within our village had been perhaps one hundred and ten when he died.

“They don’t live that long naturally, maybe to two or three hundred depending,” Asher explained. On board theDaskquahI’d heard about the treatments and procedures citizens of Class One planets had access to. “Lesephous, our gracious host, is pushing six hundred if our intel is correct.”

I must have made a face, because he huffed a laugh, easing the ship down onto the runway. A male decked to the nines in swaths of impractical silks directed us toward one of the small nesting hangars. With a sigh, Asher powered off the engines and sat back, staring toward the rough-hewn crystal walls. “I’m sorry.”

My hands froze around the last buckle on the seat.

“I’ve been unfair to you and it’s been to the detriment of this…arrangement.” He chose his words carefully and even now I was aware anyone could be listening, even from inside our ship.

I shifted, hands falling as the buckle unclasped. “It’s?—”

“Don’t,” he breathed, cutting me off with a raised hand that he kept extended as he stood.

There was a flash of something behind his eyes, gone in the next moment. I stared at his palm for a heartbeat longer before I finally put my hand in his, fighting back the shiver rippling down my spine. The leather was warm beneath my palm, smooth in contrast to what I was sure were the raised scars of his skin.

Only then did I notice he wore a nicer version of his usual clothing, similar to what he’d worn when we visited Lesephous’ ship. Dark trousers, a black shirt open at the collar, complete with his waistband holster, and cloak. We would look like a pair in our dark clothing—like we belonged together.

He led me toward the lowering ramp, leaving me to retrieve our cases that floated behind us. “I’ll need to…” he began uncertainly.

I nodded and stepped closer to him. If we were to be successful there could be no hesitation. The last few days I’d come to terms with that fact, even if the mission laid out before me was murky at best. I still hadn’t had the stomach to ask Kal what Asher would do with the stone, even though we were nearing a point of no return. Instead, I hoped whatever happened, I could find a way out without breaking Kal’s trust and the tenuous reunion we’d found.