Page 52 of The Mist of Stars

“What were you going to say?” he asks. When I shrug, he shakes his head and rolls his eyes. “You’re afraid to be alone with me. Whatever.”

“Hey, those are your insecurities, not mine,” I point out. “I have no problem with what I saw. I feel awful that it did, but I get why you did it. And it’s not like it’s totally abnormal for a keeper to kill a paranormal creature—it’s our job.”

His jaw muscles are tense. “It wasn’t because of the job. She was innocent.”

“Maybe. Maybe not. We don’t know her story.” I prop my hip against the edge of the table. “But you did it for Aislin. And I do believe you protected her. No offense, but your dad is bat-shit crazy, and creepy.”

He studies me while unfolding his arms and lowering his hands to his sides. “How bad did he threaten you when you stumbled onto the machine? And what did it even look like?”

I give him a quick recap of the description and what occurred. By the time I’m finished, we’ve moved over to sit in the chairs.

“The thing is, the only reason I knew it was there is because I could feel the energy,” I mutter with my legs stretched out. “And that energy felt like the energy between us.” I gesture back and forth between the two of us.

“Really?” He frowns, his face set in deep thought. “That doesn’t seem coincidental to me.”

“Why would it be connected? And how?”

“I don’t know. Maybe the machine is doing something to us.”

“Like what? We’re super far away from it, and I can still feel this thing between us … Wait—can you?”

He rakes his teeth along his bottom lip as he nods. “But maybe it’s not necessarily connected to us, but it caused it to appear between us.” He’s sitting backward in the chair, with his arms crossed on the top part, his leg bouncing up and down with restless energy, causing the change in his pocket to clink together. “I need to see this machine, but my father has cameras everywhere in the house … Speaking of which, let me check on responses to the message I sent out for help getting the security footage.” He slants back to retrieve his phone from his pocket then checks the screen. His mood elevates. “I gotta bite.”

“From whom?”

“Noah.”

“The guy who eats his own boogers?”

He bobs his head up and down as he types a response. “But those booger fingers are really good at hacking into computers.”

I choke on a laugh. “Dude, why’d you have to put it like that?”

He flashes me a smirk. “Because I knew it’d make you laugh. Besides, you’re the one who pointed out that he picks his nose. Why you’re staring at him while he’s doing it is beyond me.”

I playfully kick his foot. “It’s hard not to notice when he’s your weapons knowledge partner. Do you know how often I saw him do it, and then we had to assess weaponry? I had to devise some really creative ways as to why I wasn’t examining the daggers and blades and stuff after he touched them with his booger fingers.”

He chuckles, his eyes crinkling around the corners. “What were the reasons you came up with?”

“I went through a lot, like my hands hurt and dumb shit like that. But the one I landed on that really helped was that I’m a germaphobe.”

He smiles. “Smart thinking.”

“I know, right?”

We fall silent, and he stares down at the dirt floor. It’s clear he’s lost in thought again, and I find myself wishing I knew what was going on in his mind.

“Alex, has your dad done that kind of stuff to you a lot?” I proceed cautiously.

His lips are smashed together as he starts bouncing his leg up and down again. “What’s considereda lot?”

My chest feels weirdly tight. “It’s not your fault.” I duck my head to catch his gaze. “You got handed a shit card when it came to a father.”

“I know that.”

“Okay, so you’re fine? As fine as you can be, anyway?”

He drags his tongue along his teeth, considering this. “I’d be more okay if you let me kiss you again.”