STARLIGHT UNBOUND by Deus Ex Machina - HTML preview

Chapter 16

Lucien stirred on the mattress, his eyes fluttering open to the muted light. He didn't move, his mind still caught in the haze of sleep, hovering somewhere between dreams and reality.

His arm rested over Lyra’s waist, her presence warm and solid beside him. The rhythmic rise and fall of her breathing was a quiet contrast to the chaos that had consumed them at the spire. Here, in this stillness, their actions felt distant—like the city outside couldn't reach them.

Lyra shifted, her body stirring beneath his touch, and then her eyes opened. She didn ’t speak at first, just looked at him with a softness that caught him off guard, a quiet understanding.

“You’re awake,” she murmured.

Lucien nodded, his voice rough with sleep. “Barely. I feel like I didn’t sleep at all, but at the same time... I don ’t feel tired.”

A small smirk tugged at the corner of her lips, a flicker of something playful but knowing in her expression. “That’s adrenaline. Don’t let it fool you. Once this is over, you ’re going to crash hard.”

He sighed, staring up at the ceiling, the faded cracks forming constellations he couldn't quite name. But deep down, he knew it wasn ’t only the adrenaline. It was something deeper, something buzzing beneath his skin, like all his cells were connected to a thread stretching beyond himself—reaching to the stars.

Lyra pushed back the blanket and sat up. She ran a hand through her tousled hair, her fingers catching briefly in the strands before she let them fall around her shoulders. “Time to get up.”

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