The sand kept rising, hitting the underside of her jaw.Come on, Dathan. Please don’t leave me.
A grinding noise echoed through the chamber. The sand stopped and there was silence.
He’d done it. With a smile, she let go of her star. The others did the same.
No Dathan.
Her chest tightened as she stared at the sand.Come on, Phoenix.She saw worry line Nik and Zayn’s faces. He’d been under too long.
“Dathan!” She fought to climb onto the sand and crawled over to where he’d disappeared. Nothing moved, no smiling face appeared.
She was sobbing, clawing at the sand. Then Zayn was beside her, helping her. Then Nik.
Where was he?She kept scooping away the sand.
Nera Darc knelt beside Nik and started digging.
Dathan, please don’t leave me.
Then a hand shot upward.
Eos gripped it and so did Zayn. They tugged and pulled. Dathan emerged in a rush and fell onto his back. His hair was covered in sand.
“Are you okay?” She cupped his cheeks. His eyes were closed, his face pale. But his chest was rising and falling.
“Fine.” He coughed, rubbing his eyes. “Did it work?”
“It worked, you foolish, courageous man.” She leaned down and pressed her lips to his.
“Hmmm.” He kissed her back and yanked her down. “I should save the day more often.”
“You idiot.” She thumped his chest. “You can’t die, because I’m falling in—” She snapped her mouth closed. All the feelings of thinking he’d almost died swirled inside her.
Life was too short to hold it in.
Be brave, Eos. “Because I’m falling in love with you.”
He froze, shock running over his face.
Her belly contracted. For once, she saw Dathan Phoenix speechless. At a time when she desperately wanted to hear him say something.
Suddenly, the sand beneath them shifted. She squeaked, and he gripped her.
“The sand’s retracting,” Niklas said.
They all stayed in place as the sand was slowly leaked out of the room. The energy field cutting off the way out blinked off.
Soon, Eos stood beside Dathan on the mosaic floor. He still hadn’t said anything, but at least he reached out and held her hand.
Another noise echoed through the chamber. They all turned toward the vault door.
It slowly swung open.
Holding Eos’hand, Dathan walked into the Star’s End vault.
It was more than he’d dreamed. Paintings with large gold frames lined the wall, all kept inside pressure-controlled cases. In the main part of the vault, low metal shelves were lined with treasures—statues, jewelry, boxes. All pieces of Earth’s long-distant past.
“This is amazing.” Eos’ tone was reverent, her face dazed. She walked forward, then stopped by the first painting. “I think this is a Titian. We don’t have any surviving images of his work, butwe have a description of the red-haired, voluptuous women he painted.”
