It wasn’t just Blake; it was all the Aurkai—they were different.
But Blake, in particular, had an effect on me that I couldn’t deny.
Was this lust?
He was heartbreakingly handsome.
I took a deep breath.
Perhaps it was a little bit of lust but couple it with whatever the hell I was missing about these people, and it made it nearly impossible to think around him.
I groaned inwardly and continued up the steps, my hand trailing the outside wall of the tower as I spiraled to the top.
When I finally reached the upper landing, I found an open-air archway leading to the sky bridge. The lanterns flickered in the wind, their light glowing within the covered area beyond the archway. Beyond that, the bridge stretched out high over the grounds, with the starry night sky overhead.
Blake was there, leaning against the stone railing, the glow of the lantern casting half of his face into shadow. With a subtle shift of his head, his gaze settled on me. My entire body tensed.
A strong wind caught my hair, wrapping me with a chill that had little to do with the cold.
I bit my lip and took several steps toward him, the stone bridge grounding me as my heart pounded.
“You came,” Blake said, his body relaxed and his voice a smooth baritone that exuded such warmth it quelled my mounting anxiety.
Something was drawing me to him beyond my curiosity and desperation to know the truth about that night and my mother’s past—something that was inextricably about him. It was as if this connection between us were tangible threads drawing me to him.
“You can feel it, can you not?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper, but I could feel each vibration as if he were speaking to me within my mind.
I swallowed hard.
“What is it?” I whispered, my voice trembling. “What’s happening?”
Blake smiled softly.
It felt like the entire night sky around me was holding its breath. This inability to identify this intensity was killing me. Blake watched me, the glowing light glinting across his features. There was a hint of pity in the way his eyes narrowed, as if he could sense my discomfort.
“Come with me,” he said. “There is something I want to show you.”
We crossed the sky bridge in silence. I followed at his side, one step behind him, calming my nerves. The feeling I got around him was so intense I could hardly speak. I needed to breathe.
Aurkai or not, he was still a man.
Right?
When we arrived at the Celestial Observances Tower, I was nervous when I realized how high we were.
“I’ve never been up here before,” I said as Blake opened the heavy wooden door.
During my lessons, we used the observation decks and lecture halls, but the upper viewing area was off-limits to Initiates.
“Come on,” he said.
I stepped inside, impressed as I took in the circular chamber. Golden sconces lined the marble columns, their flickering light reflecting off the polished stone walls, but the roof took my breath away.
In the dome-shaped glass overhead, the night sky stretched vast and endless. The glass amplified the view, like I could reach out and touch a star. The Milky Way sprawled across the cosmos in a shimmering river of stardust, and beyond it, swaying bands of jade and purple moved like waves through the northern sky.
A massive telescope, an ornate piece made of brass and carved wood, loomed in the center of the room. Walkwayscurved around the chamber, leading to the upper levels, lined with bookshelves and charts of the night sky.
Taking my hand, Blake led me up the pathway to the upper deck.
