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He studied my hand a beat longer.

“What are we looking for?” I asked, trying to bring his attention back to the telescope and away from my fingers, which worked, thankfully.

“There,” he said, pointing at the sky. “Two degrees west of Rosa’s red star. Do you see it?”

I followed his finger and lifted the scope, not really understanding what I was supposed to be looking for. “See what?” I asked.

“Maris’s star, of course!” he said. Pride filled his voice. “Both goddess stars went dark a thousand years ago. Rosa’s reappeared two weeks ago. And I rediscovered Maris’s the night of the festival.” He glanced at me sideways. “The night Papa found you.”

I lowered the scope. “Who are Rosa and Maris?”

His mouth opened in shock. “You don’t know who the little goddesses are?”

“All I know is that Maris is the lost Goddess of the Tide, but nothing more,” I admitted. “We don’t have much ocean where I come from.”

He sat down on the ground, pulling his knees to his chest. I sat beside him. Above us, the blue star burned on.

“Maris and Rosa are Diana and Damien’s children,” he explained. “They’re sisters.”

I wrinkled my nose at that. Diana and Damien? Had daughters? This was quite the tale. But I didn’t interrupt him.

“A thousand years ago they disappeared after their witches fought in a great battle. And so did their stars.” He glanced back up at the sky. “No one knows what happened to them, but…”

He took the scope from me and began extending it and closing it distractedly.

“But what?” I asked.

After a moment, he said, “Do girls need to hear that you want them to stay? Is that how it works?”

I eyed him carefully. I had a hunch I knew where this was going. “Why do you ask?”

He shrugged, then looked back up at the stars. “Maybe Maris and Rosa didn’t think anyone wanted them around, and that’s why they ran away. All everyone ever did was fight. But now, they feel like someone wants them back.”

Tears formed in the corners of my eyes, and I looked at the pale blue star, willing my damn emotions to settle because his words had hit me straight in the heart. I knew he was talking about this lost goddess, but for whatever reason, it felt like he was talking about me. About what happened with my family.

The garden continued to chirp and croak and babble around us.

“I’m glad you’re here,” he said quietly, as if reading my thoughts. “And even if Papa thinks it won’t help, you should know I want you to stay.”

The Duke’s offer for me to stay right here rang in my ears.

They wanted me here. If only for a while.

I couldn’t deny that Château du Mer provided me with something I didn’t have: a place to store the relics safely. Which I desperately needed.

I nearly asked Adrien if this was what it would be like to be his blood nanny, but I couldn’t make the question leave my mouth. I wasn’t sure if my heart could survive becoming part of another family, even a paid member, only to feel the sharp sting of losing it again.

As I stared at Adrien’s little face, at his piercing green eyes and wild, wavy hair, I realized leaving would be hard whether it happened in seven days or seven years.

“Thank you,” I managed around the tightness in my throat.

Adrien quirked a grin. “I knew it worked,” he whispered.

I couldn’t help but smile too.

Above us, Maris’s star burned in the dark. I made a silent wish, a prayer to a goddess I didn’t know if I believed in, for a little help. If she could inspire so much hope in this boy, then perhaps she could heal the hole in my heart.

Chapter 16