Page 174 of Fallen Stars
“Is it possible for a person to be a tether?” she demanded, looking between Eli and Isra, who was rubbing her temples, squinting.
“Wha—?” the seer slurred.
Eli cursed softly, and Elara’s head snapped to him. The Star was bare-chested, more tattoos that she didn’t know he had on display—words in neat script inked all over his torso.
“Eli, tell me now,” she bit.
The Star’s eyes were wide in alarm as he looked at them both, shock rendering him mute.
“Iz?” Enzo asked, strangely calm. Elara looked up to his face, a serious cast to it in the candlelight. Merissa’s eyes were wide as she rose, Leo frowning.
“Can someone tell me what the fuck is going on?” Adrian asked. He’d taken a seat next to Isra at the table and was pouring himself a large rum with shaking hands.
Elara would deal with the pirate later, so she steadfastly ignored him.
“The only way that it could be possible is if Enzo’s tether had been tampered with. But he awoke normally and hasn’t shown any signs of that?” Isra replied.
Eli’s gaze was stuck furiously on the chair leg before him, but they suddenly widened as they flew to Elara’s.
Her stomach lurched as she saw the dawning on his face matching her own realisation.“Enzo, tell them what you told me.”
Enzo raked a hand through his long curls, sighing. “I don’t know what’s spooked El so much, but we were…” He glanced at Elara. “In the middle of something.”
“No shit. We could hear Elara’s moans from the ship,” Adrian drawled.
“Talk about my Elara moaning again, and you will find yourself a pile of ashes by morning,” Enzo replied.
Elara waved a hand through the air impatiently. “I don’t have time for euphemisms. We were making love, and Enzo was climaxing when something took over him.”
Adrian choked on his rum. Merissa gave him a pitying look.
“It was a hunger or a desperation,” she continued, “which I felt too, as though we were both floating. But I found my tether to come back down, as I always do, and Enzo… Enzo completely lost control.”
“Sounds like a good time,” Leo remarked.
Elara didn’t laugh. “He told me that he felt like he was lost, and that I was his only tie to reality. Now what does that sound like to you?”
“A tether,” Merissa whispered.
“Exactly!” Elara said, slamming her hands on the table.
“And why would that be a bad thing?” Adrian frowned, taking another gulp. “Surely with how insufferably in love the two of you are, it would be a good thing if you were tethered to each other.”
“No, it wouldn’t,” Eli replied quietly, alarm he so rarely possessed bright in his eyes.
“Enzo,” Elara said, “I’m getting the strangest sense of déjà vu. Remember that time where everyone spoke in riddles, and I had to die before anyone explained a thing to me?”
Enzo’s lip quirked, but the rest of the group remained sombre.
“Use your powers, Iz,” Elara demanded. She pushed Eli out of his chair, and Adrian gawked, likely at the fact that she had just shoved a Star out of his seat. But Eli barely batted an eyelid, standing behind Elara as Enzo walked round to her too. “Do your seer thing on Enzo and I and tell me if we’re tethered.”
Isra huffed a breath, swiping the bottle from Adrian’s hands to take a swig before handing it back. “Enzo, hand please.” Enzo stood next to Eli and passed his hand over. Isra clutched it in one hand, taking Elara’s with the other. Then with a deep breath, her eyes turned white.
“What the fuck?” Adrian slurred, scraping his chair back.
“She does that sometimes,” Elara drawled, not taking her eyes off Isra. The seer began mumbling in that archaic Svetan Elara had heard before. The table waited, enraptured. Merissa’s worried eyes flicked between the three, Adrian bewildered, Eli’s dark gaze unreadable as it focused on Elara.
Leo patted Enzo on the back. “Whatever this is, it’s going to be okay,” he murmured. Enzo only nodded in response.