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“It’s okay,” he said, squeezing her harder. “Natural, I think, considering these outlandish circumstances. I’m not feeling so confident either.”
She leaned back to look at him, and he smiled. This smile reached his eyes, and she realized he didn’t smile that completely very often, with his golden eyes sparkling that way. Her gaze dropped to his lips, and she remembered kissing him and imagined doing it again. With a quick rush of breath, she put some distance between them, rattled by her desire.
“You brought us to Sol,” she said.
Lucian turned and looked around, then hummed a sound. “I guess I did.”
“Home.” She smiled, then thought it strange that he seemed slightly stunned.
“Yes.” He crossed the skybridge and walked through the hallway into the great room.
Brinna followed and surveyed the room. The couches, the tables, the kitchen, the wall of windows, the plants, the fireplace—everything as she remembered. “I’ve never been out of Sevens. Goodness. Dreaming with you, I’ve already seen several wondrous places.” She named them using her fingers as she did and turned to find staring out the windows at the sky beyond. She wondered what he was thinking but couldn’t even begin to guess.
Instead, she walked to the counter and leaned over, facing his back. “Why do you think we’re dream-sharing?” It seemed the most obvious question. “Do you think it’s because of your god powers?”
“Except I don’t have them.” He remained at the windows, his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t have them the first time either,” he pointed out. “If it was just about godblood, why aren’t you sharing with Nix?”
She hadn’t thought of that, and started to say, “I don’t like–” but clamped her jaw shut at what she’d almost admitted, confused by it. Had she been about to admit she liked Lucian differently than Nix, after everything they’d been through? After hearing him admit he didn’t like her in that way? (Even if it was a fact he’d refuted in their dream?)
Lucian, turned to face her, and with uncharacteristic grace, didn’t push her to finish the thought. Instead, he said, “I think this is your doing, somehow.”
“But your godlight would exist without your powers, right? It’s a part of you since you’re born with it.”
“Yes. That is true.”
Brinna pushed away from the counter, unnerved by Lucian’s unwavering observation, and started to pace. “That explains why you might be able to connect in a dream, though? You’re a god. But I can’t fathom how I could.”
Lucian crossed the room, and she ignored how close he got, skirting him as she paced. But as she turned to retrace her path, Lucian stood in her way. He gently grabbed her shoulders to stop her nervous movement, and anxiety burst inside her chest, fluttering like a sparkle of fireflies.
“Except,” he said, “your sister.”
Her gaze met his, that sparkle of fireflies bursting with light inside her. “Auri?” They’d spoken of Auri, of the spell and enchantment, of her saving Nix before. “Because she saved you?”
“I haven’t told you the rest.” He dropped his hands to his sides, and Brinna missed the warmth of his touch.
“There’s more?”
He nodded and turned to sit on one of the stools at the counter. “There’s this rare bonding that happens between some gods. But for some reason, your sister and Nix, they share it. It’s called a god-yoke.”
“But how? Does that mean—” Brinna’s mind raced, trying to put the pieces together.
Lucian was nodding. “Her having godblood—you having godblood—that would be the only way it would make sense.”
She wanted to voicehow, but she realized she knew. “Our mother.” Brinna stood thinking about all her mother’s secrets, walked a few paces then spun back. “But why hide that?”
“Why would you hide something like that?”
Brinna worked through it. “Anger. Shame, maybe?”
“Fear,” Lucian added.
“Danger.”
“Those are some strong motives.” Lucian swiped his hands over his thighs, then stood once more.
“You’re right. I need to figure out if I can get into her dreams. Maybe I can figure out how to fix this.”
At the sound of a slamming door, she jumped, her heart lurching. She knew what that meant.
