Page 68 of Star Bringer
“I think it’s probably too late to worry about that,” she mutters. Then her eyes widen as if she’s just realized what she said.
Ian laughs. “Don’t worry, Princess. I won’t tell anyone you kissed me on a rooftop under the setting sun.”
All of us are watching them now. It’s like watching a story play out in real time.
“Is that how you remember it?” Kali glares at him.
He lifts a brow. “We can try it again. See how you remember it the second time.”
“Third,” she mutters, which only makes him laugh harder.
She growls deep in her throat, then snatches the bottle from him and takes a really big gulp. Her eyes widen, but she swallows and hands it back as if it’s a challenge.
“That’s my girl,” Ian says with a smirk.
She narrows her eyes at him. “You’re a jerk. You know that?”
“Never pretended to be anything else, Princess.” He tilts the bottle to his lips, but not before giving her a wink that makes her snarl a string of uncomplimentary things (almost) under her breath.
I can hear them, and I’m pretty sure Ian can, too, but he doesn’t look the least bit upset. Which doesn’t make any sense to me. If Beckett said something mean about me now that we’ve kissed, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from crying.
But Ian just takes another pull of gerjgin before passing the bottle to Merrick while Gage hands around glasses. I take one, and Max pours some amber liquid into it from his bottle. I’ve had fruit liquor in the monastery but never gerjgin, which I believe is alcohol distilled from some sort of grain.
I sniff it. It has a warm, musky smell that isn’t the least bit unpleasant.
I take a small sip and roll it on my tongue. It’s hot and harsh, but I like it. I swallow and take another sip. Almost immediately, I can feel the heat in my belly. Idefinitelylike it.
I empty the glass in one swallow, then look up to find Max watching me, a small smile on his face.
“Can I have another?”
He grins and tops off my glass with a waggle of his brows.
I scoot back to lean against Merrick’s chair, then peer around me. These people are all so different. So vibrant and alive, even their bad parts. And I know it’s a really wrong thought, but if theCaelestishadn’t gone down, I wouldn’t be right here, right now, with them. People probably died on the space station, and I hate that so much, but since I’m here, I want to notice everything. Do everything. Feel everything. One day soon, I’ll be back in the monastery, where I’ll spend the rest of my life locked away forever.
But for now, I’m on a spaceship headed to Vistenia, flown by the girl who gave me my very first kiss. And my second, as well. How could I possibly regret a moment of this?
“Hey, you ready to try out some new clothes?” I look up at the sound of Kali’s voice. “Because I’m more than ready to ditch my outfit—no offense, Merrick.”
“None taken,” he answers, sounding surprisingly mellow as he takes another sip of gerjgin. And I have to say, now that I know how much it chills him out, I think I’m going to keep a flask on my person at all times.
“You found some clothes?” I ask, leaning forward.
“Yeah, let’s go see if they fit. I hope so, because I somehow don’t think we’ll be welcome at the shop again.” She thinks for a moment. “Or anywhere else on Askkandia, for that matter.”
It’s still hard to read her expressions, but I don’t think she looks sad when she says it, just pensive, and I wonder what could possibly have happened to her and Ian out there. Yes, the fire was bad, but Askkandia is her home planet. She lives at the palace, for the Light’s sake. How can she possibly think she won’t be welcomed back there?
And if that’s actually true, how can she sound so nearly okay with it? She’s talking about her mother. I’d do anything for a chance to know my parents.
I get up to follow her and find myself swaying a bit. My head feels weird, and I’m a little dizzy.
Kali leads the way, and I follow. I can feel a lot of eyes on us, but I don’t look back. I’ve never had clothes other than my high priestess robes, and part of me knows I shouldn’t be excited about the idea. But I am.
Please, please, please don’t let them be white.
We head to the room we’ve been sharing. When Kali hands me the bottle as she starts tipping out the contents of the bags onto the beds, I take a gulp of gerjgin.
“I got two each,” she says. “In case of disasters. And I had to guess the sizes, so I hope they fit.”
