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Then he takes us higher, out of the lane and up through the gap between two towers, and for three seconds there's nothing on any side of us at all. Just black and the planets hanging over it and the whole of Sero turning underneath.
“Still with me?”
“Yes.”
“Say it properly.”
“I'm still here, Ciaran.”
His hand leaves the grip, finds mine where it's fisted against his stomach, presses it flat once, and goes back to the bike.
On Düren you only ever see anything from underneath. The Ward wall, the freight lanes, the towers over the processing yards, all of it above you, and you spend your life looking up at it through dust with your neck aching. I've been on this planet for weeks now, but I've never once been above anything. Now the whole of it is turning under my boots and I can't work out whether the feeling in my chest is vertigo or something worse.
He climbs again. Glass gives way to older stone and layered rooftops spread across the hills below while ribbons of traffic thread through the darkness like rivers of light. Above us, planets hang massive against the night sky, their reflected colors spilling across the clouds while distant transport lanes burn faint lines through the dark.
He brings us down onto an upper platform built into the side of an old structure overlooking the city. Sero stretches beneath us, all light and shadow and impossible height.
The engine dies and neither of us moves. Below us the lanes keep running in their slow bright threads, and the wind up here is thin enough that I can hear the metal of the bike ticking as it cools.
He swings off, steadies the bike, and holds out a hand, waiting to see what I'll do with it.
I take it.
He pulls his helmet off and shakes his hair out of his eyes. "I've been thinking about it. Luneth and I got off to a rough start, and I've decided it was her fault."
“It was entirely your fault.”
“You should play for me again tonight. Let me prove it.” Before I can answer, he catches my hand and starts walking. "I come here sometimes. When I want people to stop talking. Or when I want them talking.”
I snort at that.
“Oh, come on, mouse.” He bumps his shoulder against mine as we start walking. “You dragged me all the way out here for something.”
An incredulous laugh escapes me. “Me, dragging you? You practically kidnapped me."
“Mm, perhaps I did." His eyes flick toward me. “But some things have been on my mind. Honestly, my life was kind of boring before you arrived on Sero.”
“What's that supposed to mean?”
He shrugs, looking amused. “Before you arrived, I was just admired. Now I'm admired and desired. It's exhausting, really.”
I elbow him in the stomach and he doubles over, feigning hurt while he cackles. Before I can retaliate again, he catches my wrist and pulls me closer. His lips are warm and soft on mine.
One hand snakes around my nape, holding me close. “What are we digging for, baby? What are they digging for?"
I have enough room to turn and let my gaze wander over the city's magnificent view. “Remember the first time I sat on your bike?”
He pivots impossibly closer. “You mean the first time I had to save your ass?”
“You didn't save—”
“Mouse.”
I exhale, nerves swirling in my stomach at the thought of opening up to him. "I found something in the library. A lead, I think. And I wanted to…go and check it out.”
His expression hardens. “What was it? That district isn't somewhere you should be after dark.”
My fingers tighten around the helmet. “Remember I mentioned I'd lost something? … It isn't a something, but a someone. My sister, Sola.”
