The Girl Who Fell From The Sky - Rebecca Royce Page 0,65

changed to light snores. It wasn’t a troublesome noise, easy breaths to listen to. The sounds outside increased, and I opened my eyes. What was happening?

As gently as I could, I disengaged myself from Nox’s hold and got on my knees to look out his small window. Tracing my fingers over the glass, I couldn’t help but notice that it resembled the cabin window that had shown the darkness of space in the ship I’d been on. How old was this building? Had they assembled it from crashed spaceships?

The scene outside immediately stopped my musing. Being paraded down the street, covered in feathers and jeering yells following him, was Baron the Great. I gasped. What had they done to him? He’d been trying to hurt us, and I knew Torrin was mad… Had they feathered him?

“Bi?” Nox’s voice sounded tight. “What’s wrong?”

I pointed, not that he could see, but did anyway. “The Baron is covered in feathers.”

Nox’s smile was fast, even as he closed his eyes and patted the bed next to him. “That’s actually kinder than I thought Torrin would be. Little humiliation to go with his humiliation of Astor. They coat him in sweet stuff and then stick the feathers on. Takes hours. It’s embarrassing but not fatal. The good Baron has been feathered before.”

I lay back down next to Nox, and he tugged me closer, putting us back where we were. “Sleep off the remainder of the day. Let it go. I’ve got you. I’m not letting go. You can rest.”

It was like his statement gave me permission to do so. I closed my eyes.

Chapter Seventeen

In my old life, my circadian rhythms were regulated by my holowatch, which talked to whatever environment I was in and adjusted the lighting accordingly. I didn’t sleep long unless I was medically induced to do so, and if I were in a particularly cutting-edge medical facility, I’d even get an injection at key points during my sleep cycle to trigger REM and dreams.

Here, I didn’t dream. And although I didn’t have a working clock—hello, busted holowatch—I suspected I was sleeping way longer than eight hours. Even so, I woke up thinking of feathers. Also possibly giggling.

Nox must’ve heard me either moving around or giggling, because he leaned his head into the doorway.

“Breakfast?”

I sniffed. If he had cooked something, I couldn’t smell it, which of course wasn’t a criticism of his cooking. Most food didn’t have an aroma. Or maybe Astor’s food and Mattis’ brew were spoiling me.

“I’m up,” I said, pushing back the cover, shuddering at the chill in the room—they weren’t kidding about the weather changing fast around here—and forcing my legs to swing over and my body to sit up. Parts of me wanted to stay in the night just a little longer. I could still feel Nox’s body wrapped around mine.

“And happy?” he asked, still not coming into the room.

“Very.” I searched his face, but his careful frown hadn’t completely gone away. “Did you hear me giggling in my sleep? Or did I talk through all those scorching sex dreams?”

He flushed and ducked back into the other room, which almost made me laugh again. Instead, I started collecting clothes and padded over to the bathroom.

“You did not talk in your sleep,” he replied. I was dressed and halfway through scrubbing my teeth when he tapped on the bathroom door. “I invite you to tell me more about the scorching sex dreams, though.”

I did laugh that time, and rising up on my toes, I pecked a kiss on his chin. “I made that up. Truth, I slept like the dead. You are a super comfortable bed.”

“Good to know.”

“So where’s breakfast?” I braced for whatever aroma-less kibble was available. Interstellar travel had taught me to choke down anything that was minimally nutritious. Besides, I could hunt down yummy stuff later.

“Astor’s lab,” Nox said, and I kissed him again, this time pulling his head down so I could meet his mouth.

“Excellent. And then reading lessons?”

He kissed me back, angling our bodies so that my back was against the bathroom wall. It reminded me of the shower wall last night. Hot water. Hotter Nox. And suddenly, I wasn’t hungry for food at all.

“Why is the thought of you being a very strict instructress so compelling?”

“Sexy?”

“Gods, yes.”

For a few long moments, with his mouth on my throat, hands twined with mine and holding them fast against the wall, it really felt like this day was heading right back to bed. But then Nox