Page 369 of Black Reign

I stare at him.

Xavier Blackwell.

The man who would dismantle a government network at three in the morning because a checksum looked wrong.

Putting the answer away.

For me.

“Come back outside,” he says.

“To the field?”

“Yes.”

“What about the key?”

“Secured.”

“What if someone comes?”

“No one gets within a kilometer without me knowing.”

“That sounds more like the Xavier I know.”

“Good.”

He reaches for my hand.

I take it.

Before leaving, I look once more at Papa's telescope.

At the tiny crooked star.

“When the stars stop being safe,” I whisper.

Xavier squeezes my hand.

“Are they?”

I look through the window.

At the field.

At our blanket beneath them.

At the man beside me.

For the first time since Papa died, the answer isn't immediate.

I lean my head against Xavier's shoulder.

“Tonight they are.”

He kisses my hair.

Then my husband takes me back beneath them.