“Uck.”Gem groans. “I’m out.”
I grin. “See you in the morning.”
“Mm-hm.” She waves a hand over her shoulder before disappearing into the bungalow.
A gleam of renewed energy dances in Kalden’s irises as he holds out an arm. “I’d like to show you something.”
I feign a grimace. “Please tell me that isn’t an innuendo. I swear, if you pull your pants down right now, I’ll follow Gem inside.”
Kalden chuckles. The sound is just like everything else about him—edged in a warmth that leaves me craving more.
He leads me around the winding pathway past a few more sizable bungalows, then stops at a more modest structure, the slightest bitbigger than our cabin back in Caligo. Unlike most of the neighboring homes, its exterior glass walls are fully opaque. As if the owner prioritizes privacy over vibrant transparency.
“Awfully bold of you to take me to your home on the brink of sunset.”
He lifts a dark brow. “What gave it away?”
I point to the solid glass. “You and your walls. Always hesitant to let people in.”
He blows out a breath. “I’ve always been like this. Ignorant of most social cues and decorum. Content with being alone. But after losing Aurick and nearly burning through my own humanity, it got worse. I think a part of my soul never fully recovered from that. Emotions that used to come easily just . . . don’t. I’m not sure I realized how numb I’ve felt until I saw you in that tunnel.”
The memory of our meeting flashes to mind. “You looked angry.”
“Not at you.” He shakes his head, forehead creasing. “I caused that earthquake. I needed a way into Caligo to see if the Shades had any more info on the missing Sols, without barging in through the front door. And I remembered what my mother had told me about the transport tunnels, so I waited until the city was asleep before sending a blast of power into the ground. I hadn’t expected anyone to be there. When I saw you, I was terrified that I’d hurt an innocent. And maybe a bit frustrated. I’d wanted to get in and out without drawing notice. But there you were, noticing me.”
I hold up a finger. “You’rethe one who came up to me with that boulder. I wouldn’t have noticed you at all if you’d stayed hidden.”
“Probably, but I couldn’t do that.”
“Why?”
“When I first heard someone shuffling around, I wanted to make sure they weren’t gravely hurt. Then I saw you reach into that beamof sunlight, and I was curious to see how you’d react. After months of apathy, there you were, making me feel too many things. Curiosity. Frustration.” Kalden’s chest rises and falls as he leans in. “Anticipation.”
A heady shiver skirts down my spine.
“Hold on.” I press a palm into his chest, ignoring how the heated contact pulses through me. “How did you make yourself look so normal?”
When we’d met, there’d been no trace of the sun’s golden light in his veins or eyes.
“This,” Kalden says, reaching up to take off the nightstone pendant resting below his collarbone, then he snaps it open like a locket. “The outer shell is painted with a matte onyx that’s meant to imitate nightstone, but the inside is sunstone.”
He places the open pendant in my palm. The orange-and-yellow stone glimmers as I lift it for a closer look.
“It allows us to stow away our power when needed,” Kalden explains.
“Like nightstone?”
“Nightstone depletes. Sunstone stores. It acts as a vessel, either temporarily or indefinitely. A Sol can reabsorb whatever they channeled into the vessel at any given time without the presence of the sun.”
My eyes flick back up to his. “Even at night?”
He nods. “Only until the Sol uses up the amount of power that was put into the stone.”
“Wow,” I breathe, marveling at the unassuming stone for several more seconds before handing it back to Kalden.
“Keep it.”
My brows pull together. “I can’t.”
