She thought of her father’s lab, sterile and cold, smelling of chemicals and disappointment. She thought of Merrick Bane’s calculating eyes, the way he looked at her like property to be acquired. She thought of Port Cantor, a glittering spaceport where wealthy men kept their exotic pets in gilded cages.
Then she looked at the simple meadow around her. The worn blanket. The remnants of their humble meal. The massive, scarred warrior who held her like she was precious, and the wild-haired child who had claimed her as family from the first moment they’d met.
I’d rather live in a cave with them than a palace in Port Cantor.
The thought settled into her bones like truth.
“We should head back soon,” he said reluctantly, his voice rumbling against her ear. “The light will fade, and the cliff path is treacherous in the dark.”
“Can the Star Lady stay for dinner, Papa?” Lilani asked eagerly. “Please, Papa? Please, please, please?”
His arms tightened around her. “That’s up to her.”
“Yes,” she said, before she could second-guess herself. “I’ll come.”
The smile that spread across Lilani’s face could have lit up the entire coastline. And when she glanced up at Valrek, she saw the same expression mirrored in his golden eyes—hope and hunger and a fierce, protective joy that made her heart ache.
This is where I belong,she thought as they packed up the blanket and began the walk back towards the cliffs.But can I stay?
Lilani fell asleep almost as soon as she finished eating, worn out by the day’s adventures.
“She’s out,” she whispered, turning to face him.
“I’m not surprised. She exhausted herself with the tracking games.”
“She did well.”
“She had a good teacher.”
He was watching her with that warm, hungry look again, but she managed to keep her voice calm. “You taught her. I just… helped.”
“You did more than help.” He moved closer to her, the heat from his big body washing over her. “You made her feel special. Not strange or broken, but special.”
“She’s not broken, Valrek. She’s wonderful.”
“I know,” he said roughly. “But the world hasn’t always agreed.”
She reached out and put her hand on his arm.
“Then the world is wrong. And more importantly, she’s happy, because you love her and because you know how special she is.”
Unlike my father.
Perhaps he saw the change in her expression because he rose to his feet and held out his hand.
“Come with me. There’s something I want to show you.”
CHAPTER 12
Valrek had discovered the Pool of the Moon not long after he’d found the sea cave. He’d stumbled into the hidden grotto by accident, following the sound of falling water through a narrow crack in the rock, and had emerged into a space so beautiful it had stolen his breath.
The pool filled a natural basin carved into the heart of the cliff, fed by a freshwater spring that cascaded down the stone in a silver ribbon. Bioluminescent algae lined the walls, casting the cavern in soft blue-green light that shifted and danced with the movement of the water. Above, a crack in the ceiling opened to the sky, allowing a single shaft of moonlight to pierce the darkness and illuminate the pool’s surface like a spotlight.
It was sacred, somehow. Private. A place he’d never shared with anyone except Lilani.
Until now.
“Oh,” Ariella breathed as she emerged from the narrow passage behind him. “Oh.”
