STARLIGHT UNBOUND by Deus Ex Machina - HTML preview

STARLIGHT UNBOUND

minimalist design accented with streaks of gold at the collar and cuffs, like whispers of her painting made tangible. Her dark hair was tied into a clean knot at the base of her neck, and a subtle sheen of makeup gave her sharp features an almost ethereal feel.

She looked every bit the AstroSYS-approved artist, polished and professional, the perfect representation of harmony and alignment. But her eyes, dark and piercing, held a rawness that the rest of her appearance couldn’t quite conceal.

She was standing a bit too close —close enough that Lucien caught the scent of cigarette smoke on her breath, sharp and lingering. A trace of solvent and paint thinner clung to her clothes, raw and unrefined. The unexpected mix hit him —real, messy, and human—and he felt a strange, unfamiliar shiver run through him.

Something stirred low in his stomach —a flutter of arousal, sudden and unwanted.

He stiffened, trying to ignore it, but his pulse betrayed him, quickening. Too close. I should move.

But he didn ’t.

Her voice pulled him back. “Cat got your tongue? Well… do you like it?”

Lucien blinked, startled out of his thoughts. He glanced at her, then back at the painting, struggling to find the words. “It’s... different.”

Her dark eyes scanned his face with quiet intensity. “Not many people stop to really see it. Most of them just move on.” She paused. “You feel it, don’t you?”

“It’s... hard to look away.”

“That’s because you’re looking for something.”

Before he could respond, she stepped away, her movements fluid and deliberate. Lucien watched her disappear into the crowd —tugging at him like an invisible thread.

The starburst in the painting seemed to grow brighter, its light cutting through the chaos like a beacon, everything else a blur.

***

Lucien found Darius and the others near one of the side exhibits, where a small crowd had gathered around a holographic installation depicting shifting planetary alignments. The glowing orbits spun and pulsed in perfect harmony, each movement calculated, each trajectory precise. Voices of approval rippled

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