“I read. I run. I train. Among other… physical things.”
I tried my best to disregard the low rasp present in his voice as he spoke, causing visions of suchother physical thingsto swim through my mind.
“Though I’ll admit, you don’t strike me as the type who drinks often, either.”
“No, not particularly,” I mused. “Mostly in social situations. Also, Laurel is a bad influence.”
Kieran gave me a doubtful look.
“Something tells me you’re not so easily influenced, Miss Asher,” he said dryly. “I’d wager you can be bad enough all by yourself.”
“Perhaps,” I said with a grin.
As the sky darkened, I found myself distracted by the twinkling constellations as they peeked through the clouds. For a moment, I forgot that Kieran was at my side as I paused, sighing wistfully and staring up at the sky.
“There’s that look again,” Kieran chuckled.
“What look?” I asked.
“The same look you had the entire time we were at the museum yesterday. The fascination. Thewonder.You see beauty in everything, don’t you?”
Gooseflesh raised on my forearms, and I wasn’t sure if it was due to the chill of the breeze, or the fact that his words left me so exposed.
“Doesn’t everybody admire the night sky?”
“No. Not like you do.”
Gods.I almost wanted to press him for details, demanding to know what he meant by that… But I also wasn’t about to fish for compliments from Kieran. The man made me blush enough as is.
“It’s hard not to be fascinated,” I murmured, eyes still affixed to the heavens. “Especially considering what you told me yesterday. I keep thinking about it.”
“About which part?” Kieran asked, perfectly patient. As if my distraction didn’t bother him in the slightest.
“About the Aetherborne and how they mapped out the constellations in the names of the fallen. That whole concept of the Fates existing among the stars, guiding our paths… I don’t know. It stuck with me.”
I glanced over at him just in time to catch a quick grimace.
“What?”
“It’s nothing, Little Conduit. Go back to your star gazing.”
I huffed out a sigh, pouting in his direction. “Tell me.”
Kieran’s gaze shifted from me, back up towards the skies I had been admiring.
“I’m not sure if I believe in the Fates. Or in fate, in general.”
“At all?”
He shook his head, exhaling slowly.
“Why not?” I asked, legitimately curious.
“For starters, I’m not particularly religious,” Kieran said, still staring at the sky. “I’m actually more of an anti-theist, truth betold.” His expression had gone blank. Distant and unreadable. “And to me, the concept of fate and faith tend to go hand in hand. Both require you to believe in some unseen, all-powerful force at play, with very little evidence to prove its existence.”
We were aligned in that respect, but I let him continue.
“Don’t get me wrong, I think the Elders’ story of creation is profound. But I’m also dead set on carving my own path. Fuck the Fates.”