Page 15 of A Legacy of Stars (The Lost God Legacies)

15

STELLA

T he moment Stella stepped out of the bar and into the bustling street, she felt uncertain about her choice to follow Teddy. She’d left Rosie inside with Alexandra and Leo. While she was sure that they could handle fending off Nathan, she didn’t like that she wasn’t there to deflect his sudden and inexplicable interest in her sister.

It had to be a bet. She’d known Nathan Aiger since they were teenagers and Teddy started bringing him to Olney for the Solstice Festival. Nathan didn’t do genuine interest.

It was part of the reason Stella had always tolerated him, despite his lousy choice of best friend. Nathan was harmless and he would be sure that Leo got Rosie home safe. That was all Stella cared about.

Stella turned to her right and hesitated, straining to hear footsteps over the muffled music from the bar behind her. She should just go back inside and let the prince brood. But Teddy had been a little unsteady on his feet. Perhaps no one else would notice. He held it together so well, but she sensed the fuzziness in their bond.

She looked both ways, scanning the damp cobblestones of the street. The rain had stopped, but the humidity was just as wretched as it had been all day .

“Where did he disappear to so quickly?” she grumbled.

A thread of panic shot through her. Perhaps someone else had noticed and already made off with him. She drew up the memory of watching him leave the bar and scanned it for anyone suspicious. There were a few people who bowed or curtseyed when he walked by, despite his waving hand dismissing the gesture as unnecessary. No one had seemed especially interested, but that didn’t mean someone hadn’t been waiting for him outside.

She closed her eyes and pressed her palm to her chest the way she’d seen her mother do when they were at the market and she was searching for Rainer. Cecilia had described it as tugging on a rope and waiting for a tug on the other side, or feeling a slight buzz across the bond whenever she got close.

Stella imagined it like a rope disappearing into oblivion. She tugged on it, but nothing happened. With a sigh, she started down the street until she felt a sudden pleasant hum in her chest. Torchlights reflected off the puddles between the cobbled ground, making the night feel more magical and sparkling, though Stella wasn’t usually allowed out so late in the evenings, so perhaps Olney City always looked so whimsical when the evening torches were lit.

The large flames had sparkling crystal clusters at their center and were spelled to ensure that the city stayed well-lit through the night and no loose embers would escape the magical fire, even on the windiest nights. In the morning, the flames died, and the crystal center charged all day in the glow of the sun, so they were ready to burn through the night again. On cloudy days, the torches sometimes needed to be recharged by fire witches. Since fire was her strongest affinity, Stella was well-read on the spellwork and ingredients used to make the torches work.

Last year’s Gauntlet Games had been plagued by rain and Stella had gone through town each day refilling the torches with her magic. Normally, it wouldn’t be a big deal for a few parts of the city to be darker. But during the Games, when so many people were in town just looking for a fight, the huntmaster felt it was best to ensure there were no dark corners for anyone to sneak off to fight in .

Stella paused in front of a bakery, took a few more steps, and the hum came again, stronger. She kept going a few tentative steps at a time until the buzz was so strong it sent a shiver through her body.

Teddy’s voice cut through the humid night. “Godsdamnit.”

She followed the sound to the alley beside the bakery and paused. Teddy was speaking emphatically to someone she couldn’t see. She was torn between stepping closer to hear what he was saying and running before he saw her.

Torchlights from the street at the other end of the alley wreathed him in a golden glow.

“Get it the fuck together,” he whispered, his voice low and vicious.

Stella was eternally a victim of her curiosity. She edged closer, straining to see who he was speaking to, but when she cleared the corner, there was no one else in the alley.

He was talking to himself.

She stifled a laugh at the drunk prince giving himself a pep talk to walk home. “Teddy?”

He whipped his head around, his expression morphing from confusion to annoyance. “Of course you’re here. You’re everywhere. No escaping you—like a fucking haunting.” He waved his arms in a wide, graceless circle.

“Are you drunk, Your Grace ?”

It was a cruel jab to use his title like that when he was clearly drunk, but she was as angry at him for not holding on to Grace as she was at Grace for finally realizing Arden’s potential when Stella had loved him for so long.

Teddy stared at her for a long moment and a strange grief slid into her chest. It took her a moment to realize it was his.

“Do you think they’ll be happy together?” he asked.

The vulnerability on his face unnerved her. Stella had no right to it. Whatever their bond did that made them both feel this way was uncomfortable, and he was drunk on top of it. Sober Teddy would never ask her something like that.

She licked her lips, uncertain why her mouth was suddenly so dry. “I think it’s easier to be idealistic about a possibility. Grace and Arden will have to see if they can reckon with the reality of a long-term commitment. I think it’s natural to stare down your future and feel like running. Haven’t we all felt the tug of oblivion from time to time?”

When she met Teddy’s gaze, she only found confusion. “No, Stella. Can’t say I have.”

She cocked her head. “You’ve never stood at the top of a cliff and thought for just a second about jumping into the sea? You’ve never wanted to take a swing at someone bigger just to see what would happen? You’ve never been close to someone and thought about kissing them?”

He stared at her, and then his gaze almost imperceptibly dropped to her lips before he looked away. “I guess I know what you mean. I’ve just never been able to indulge that.”

They began to walk, and Teddy stumbled. Stella caught his arm, but he had already righted himself.

“Why?” she asked.

“Because the heir to the throne must be impeccable all the time. Never reckless. Never temperamental. And never drunk in public.”

“I suppose two out of three isn’t bad,” Stella teased. “Care to share why you’re breaking your sacred, boring rules?”

“I don’t want her to feel stuck with me. But what if it’s easier to be with him? Arden has always been so easy-going. What if she likes him better? I can’t bear to say no to her, but I also hate feeling like I’m losing the only woman I’d ever loved. Worse, I feel like I’ve done an awful job loving her. How can I be surrounded by people so wonderful and supportive and yet I have missed the mark with the one person I most wanted to please? I…” He trailed off, staring down at his boots.

Stella was torn between shock and relief. He had always been stoic, but this version of him was disarming. He had never seemed capable of any type of softness, but perhaps this was the version of him that had captured Grace.

The tension released from her shoulders. It was nice to talk to someone who understood her plight, even if Teddy was a spoiled, uptight prince.

Stella didn’t want Grace and Arden to spend time together, but since they’d been bonded, Stella couldn’t get over the persistent fear that, if they didn’t see this through, she would always worry that Arden was secretly pining for Grace. As painful as the thought of them spending time together was, she knew her parents’ story, how they’d needed the clarity of distance. Perhaps that was exactly what Arden needed, too.

“Let’s get you safely back to the castle,” Stella said. She wrapped an arm around Teddy’s waist, trying to ignore the citrus and cedar scent of him. “At least she spoke to you about it,” she whispered bitterly. “At least she checked on you after the challenge. Gods, at least she checked on me .”

Teddy drew away. “Your injury. I forgot.” He narrowed his eyes at her stomach as if the healed wound would start bleeding again at his remembrance.

“I’m fine,” she said. “Just sore.”

He nodded, holding her gaze longer than he ever did sober. “Alex said you were good. She said you shoot from the heart, so your aim is always true.” He shook his head. “Arden didn’t check on you? At all?”

Stella shrugged casually. “He’s been taking over a lot of new responsibilities. He sent flowers.”

“Your favorite flowers?” Teddy asked.

Stella stared at him. “What?”

“Did he send your favorite flowers? Does he even know what your favorite flowers are?”

The cruel jab was a relief. This was the Teddy she knew, and it was better to be back in familiar territory. She’d had all she could take for one day.

“Why do you care what flowers he sent me?”

“I care because if you’re risking your life for someone’s affection, I think you deserve for them to at least know you,” Teddy said.

“Don’t pretend to care and don’t judge him. You don’t know what we have. ”

Teddy smirked in an annoying, self-satisfied way. “But I know he should have sent you daisies.”

Stella almost stumbled. “How do you know that?”

He didn’t meet her eye as he spoke. “Your father used to bring you bunches of them from the royal gardens when you were homesick over the winter holidays.”

“That’s quite a memory you have.”

“A prince and warrior must be observant.”

Stella struggled to swallow the lump in her throat. Not all princes, it seemed.

Teddy finally looked at her and arched a brow.

She didn’t like his prodding. Didn’t like that it felt as if he could see how she’d waited in front of the garden windows, certain Arden would appear at any moment.

“He will come,” she’d said to Rosie. And Rosie had smiled because she was patient and kind and thought the best of everyone.

Though her sister’s optimism often drove Stella mad, she was grateful for it then.

Stella shoved the memory out of her head and glared at Teddy. “He will show up. He always does, in time.”

“But should you have to wait?”

“Does Grace wait for you?” She wanted so badly to deflect away from this. She hadn’t had much to drink because of the blood loss and because she was already feeling bad enough about herself without adding alcohol. Now she wished for the oblivion of a tall glass of whiskey.

Teddy smirked. “Not anymore, but she did. And I waited for her. She takes forever to get ready.”

Stella laughed. That was the truth. She’d never met anyone as meticulous about her appearance as Grace.

“It should be that way. Compromise means you both have to wait sometimes,” Teddy said.

Stella tried to think of a time when Arden had waited for her, but he had so many more demands on his time than she did. It never felt fair to waste his time. It wasn’t difficult to make herself available when she had so little else going on.

Her anger flared at Teddy’s scrutiny. “You don’t know what Arden is to me. I may tease you, but I would never doubt your devotion to Grace. I’ve seen it enough.”

His face fell. “But I guess you’d doubt her devotion to me.”

Stella sighed. “I wouldn’t have before today. She came to speak with me.”

Teddy whipped his head around to look at her and nearly fell over. Stella pulled his arm over her shoulder and wrapped hers around his waist.

“What did she say to you?” he asked.

“I imagine about the same thing she said to you that has you this drunk.”

“I’m not drunk. I’m just not sober, strictly speaking.”

Stella laughed. “Honestly, this version of you is preferable. Perhaps we should make this your new baseline.”

He yanked out of her grip. “This is none of your business. How did you even find me?”

Stella held her hands up. “I’m sorry. For what it’s worth, I was as shocked as you seem to be. I didn’t have the heart to say no to her either.”

Teddy looked away and ran a hand through his hair, leaving the dark strands sticking out in all directions.

“I wish I’d never gone to the temple that night,” Stella said. “Regardless of what happens with them. We need this heart bond severed before the next challenge.”

Teddy nodded. “Finally, we agree on something. I know this preliminary bond will wear off in a few weeks if we don’t fortify it, but I don’t think I can handle another challenge with it. It almost cost me the match.”

“And you almost cost me the same,” she said. “It’s settled. The second challenge is in four days, and we need to go see Desiree and get her to stop messing with us.” She nodded toward Olney Castle in the distance. “Shall we? ”

“I can see myself home,” he said.

“I’m sure you can, but I’ll feel better if I see you get there safely myself.” She glanced down a nearby alley. She’d been ignoring the creeping feeling of being watched, but now the small hairs on the back of her neck lifted.

Teddy gave a petulant roll of his eyes, but he held out his arm, and she threaded her hand through.

She pushed the pace as they walked in silence, the eerie feeling chasing her even as they approached the main street leading down to Olney Castle’s courtyard. A soft rush of spirit whispers filled the air.

It took Stella a moment to realize what they were. She’d only heard them a few times when helping in the healing clinic with patients who were close to passing.

“Death whispers.” She met Teddy’s wide eyes. “Teddy, I?—”

A voice like a knife scraped across a whetstone came from the dark alley several paces ahead of them. “Well, if it isn’t the goddess-blessed children of our fearless king and the great Rainer McKay. You really struggled today, Your Grace .”

Rett Roachelle stepped from the shadows into the torchlight with a smug grin on his face. This was the man Teddy had called “The Roach,” and with the way he skittered from a dark alley, the nickname felt appropriate. His lackeys, Dixon, Christophe, and Drew, appeared in formation behind him.

Stella felt a strange protectiveness. She was the only one who could use Teddy’s title as a barb. Their history dictated that. The Roach using it felt wrong and entirely unearned.

Teddy straightened and leveled a glare at Rett. “Looking to go a round on even footing instead of when you have high ground and a long-range weapon?”

The Roach scoffed. “I imagine it wouldn’t go so well for you right now.”

“Oh, I don’t know. I think I’d put my money on His Grace even a few drinks in,” Stella said.

“Your father may be a legend, Savero, but you are not him. Not by a long shot,” Rett said .

Stella watched Teddy’s jaw twitch out of the corner of her eye. She’d always noticed how he looked up to his father. Much as he hated her, Stella imagined she was the only person who could understand what it felt like to try to follow in some very large footsteps. King Xander was as charming and at ease in public as Teddy was stiff and broody. If anyone knew what it was like to fall short of their family’s folklore, it was Stella.

“And you, Lady McKay? Going to defend his honor?” Rett taunted. “Wouldn’t mind getting down and dirty with you. It would be an honor. Or is that a privilege only reserved for princes? I hear you aim high.”

Stella was not an especially violent person—she’d never even seriously injured someone—but the entitled, menacing look in Rett Roachelle’s eyes made her feel violent. She imagined grabbing the dagger on her thigh and jamming it into his groin. She imagined how easy it would be to rip the air from his lungs and leave him gasping on the ground. She wouldn’t do it because it would disqualify her from the competition, but it was satisfying to think about what kind of sound he would make.

It wasn’t a good sign that he knew about her involvement with Arden. Only her mother, her siblings, Kate, and she supposed Teddy and Grace knew. But if people realized that they could hurt her to get to Arden, he’d be in danger.

The death whispers swelled louder and more threatening. The sound of them set Stella’s teeth on edge. She’d never heard them like this. Despite the fear that was slowly turning her insides cold, she forced herself to focus on one specific spirit.

Stella couldn’t see them the way her mother could, but she could hear them and sometimes she caught flickers of them out of the corner of her eye. She narrowed her gaze on one and smiled.

“What are you smirking at?” Christophe asked.

“Just a ghost over your right shoulder,” Stella said, winking at him.

Teddy went rigid beside her, but Christophe and the other men all twisted as if they’d be able to see it .

“Can she even see them?” Rett asked, a hint of panic in his previously confident gaze.

Dixon shrugged. “Kingdom lore says that her mother could. I don’t know.”

Stella gave them her fakest smile. “Can we pass now, gentlemen? Teddy and I have a few more bars to hit before closing time.”

Rett wrinkled his nose. “A lady should be home at this hour.”

“The lady would be if you would get out of her way,” Stella countered.

Christophe sneered at her. “If she was my woman, I’d slap some sense into her.”

Stella cocked her head. “If I was your woman, I’d slap some sense into myself. Can’t imagine the sheer amount of brain damage that would be required for me to end up in such a dire circumstance.”

Dixon chuckled, ignoring the loathing glare Christophe sent his way.

The louder and more urgent the death whispers became, the more Stella’s magic reared up, itching for something to burn.

“You’re pathetic and not even that pretty for someone with so much magic in her blood,” Christophe grumbled.

Stella pressed a hand to her heart in faux pain. “I’ll try to come to terms with the disappointment that you thought I was the type to care what you think. Now move or I will move you. If you get hurt doing something dumb out here, the healers won’t heal you from non-tournament-related injuries.”

A creepy smirk played over Rett’s rat-like face. “Don’t you want to play, Lady McKay?” He nodded to Drew. “Grab her. I want to have a private chat with her down that alley.”

Drew stayed put. “Isn’t she—you know—a goddess? What if she curses me or something?”

Christophe started toward her.

Rage warmed Stella’s chest and she could feel Teddy’s as well, its distinct signature mixing with hers.

Stella waved her fingers at Christophe as if casting a spell, and he flinched. “What’s the matter, Christophe? Afraid of a woman who can hit back?”

Stella was going to light the night on fire, but she didn’t want to hurt Teddy. She leaned close enough that only Teddy would hear her. “Can you wield fire?”

Teddy gave her an indignant side-eye. “Of course.”

“Good. Do it now.”

Teddy snapped and, mercifully, fire sparked at his fingertips. Summoning fire would make him temporarily immune to burns.

She let her magic rise beneath her skin. The fever spread through her blood. Sweat beaded on her forehead and lower back.

“Going to burn us up, prince?” Christophe taunted as he stepped closer.

“I know you’ve committed, but I hope you’ll reconsider. It would be very unwise to continue with this plan. Don’t touch me or you’ll be very sorry,” Stella said.

Drew charged at them and grabbed Stella’s arm. She tried to wrench away, so he’d have to use both hands and grip her tighter. Once he had a firm grip with both hands, she crossed her arms and fastened her hands around his. Then, she summoned as much heat as she could.

Drew frowned. “What is she do?—”

She watched the realization dawn on him and he felt the unnatural warmth of her skin. It only took a split second before he started trying to pull his hands away. She let them burn, ignoring the smell of burning flesh until she saw the panic in his eyes and felt his palms blister.

Drew bellowed a pained, inhuman sound. Finally, Stella let him go.

He stumbled back, waving his blistering palms. “You can’t do that?”

“Do what? I was just standing there when you grabbed me without permission. If you were burned by my fever, that’s hardly my fault. I did warn you not to touch me,” Stella said.

Rett glared at her. “We’ll tell the Games officials. ”

“Please do. I’d love to hear what they have to say about your activities away from the arena,” Stella said. “Have a nice evening, boys.”

She wove her arm through Teddy’s like he was walking her home and not the other way around.

Dixon stepped out of her way as she walked by. Stella paused and listened to the soft hum of spirits. She locked eyes with Dixon.

“Your Grandma Nina is so disappointed at the lot you’ve fallen in with. Says she wouldn’t be making you any cherry tartlets with this kind of behavior.”

Dixon’s mouth fell open.

Something like respect hit her in the chest. Teddy’s respect. It was thrilling.

They continued down the street and it took every bit of Stella’s will not to turn back and make sure the Roach wasn’t following them. Her adrenaline was so high that she couldn’t hear anything but the wild beat of her heart in her ears as her skin cooled.

After walking a few blocks in silence, Teddy leaned in close. “We’re alone. Wouldn’t want to run into you on a dark street corner.”

Stella laughed. “Thank you, Your Grace. Wouldn’t want to try to go shot for shot with you at a bar.”

He laughed, and it softened his whole face. She couldn’t ever remember seeing him laugh so genuinely at something, and the effect was mesmerizing. He looked so handsome when he smiled like that.

Stella cleared her throat, searching her mind for anything to distract from unwelcome thoughts about how good-looking her nemesis was. “So tomorrow afternoon? The Temple of Desiree?” she said. “I know Desiree is usually only in residence in the evenings other than on moon ritual nights, so it’s probably best that we plan to get there after dark. We can have her break the bond. We’ll stay the night in the guest suites, and it will give us time to get back before the next challenge.”

They approached the castle gates and the hunters outside the courtyard straightened from where they leaned against the wall, talking to each other .

“Good evening, gentlemen,” Stella said. “I hope you don’t mind, but I insisted Prince Teddy celebrate our victories today, and being the honorable man that he is, he drank both our servings of bubble wine to keep me from being hungover tomorrow. That said, he’s a bit in his cups right now, so if one of you would be so kind as to see him to his room.”

She savored Teddy’s glare, thrilled for their relationship to return to its baseline of mild contempt.

The guards dropped into panicked, exaggerated bows.

“Your Grace,” they said in solemn chorus.

“Up you go,” Stella said, patting Teddy’s ass as he took the first step.

He scowled at her over his shoulder. “Enjoy your vigil.”

It took her a moment to realize what he meant, but when she did, all her previous loathing returned. She spun, ready to stalk away, praying that Arden would be waiting for her when she got home so she could shove that satisfaction in Teddy’s face when she saw him in the morning.

A shrill scream sliced through the night. Stella froze. Another scream rang out.

Stella didn’t think; she just ran toward the sound.

“Stella, don’t run toward the fucking danger!” Teddy shouted, lumbering after her with an unsteady gait.

Stella had assumed the death whispers had faded because she’d put Rett and his friends in their place, but now she wondered if she’d been hearing them for a different reason entirely.

She sprinted toward the frenzied screaming, keeping the castle courtyard walls to her right, her injured side protesting the exertion the whole way. She finally reached the end of the wall, turned, and saw a crowd gathered near the western courtyard gates. The screaming had stopped, transformed into muffled sobbing.

Stella slowed her pace as several hunters shepherded the crowd away from someone slumped against the outer courtyard wall. She pushed her way to the front of the group. A panting Teddy came to a stop next to her .

“Are you out of your mind? You could have—” Teddy stopped talking when he saw the reason for the commotion.

One of their fellow competitors, Victor Schwoebleman, was propped against the castle wall, his throat slit from ear to ear. His elegantly embroidered yellow tunic was drenched in blood that looked almost black in the dim light. Little rivers of red flowed between the cobblestones. It had happened right there outside the palace walls.

Several hunters circled the body, looking at the bloody mess. Several more were searching nearby alleyways and one stood holding a weeping woman. The rest were gathered around a hunter holding a torch, staring up at a still-dripping bloody painting above the body. A ring of fire around the open jaws of a viper—the symbol of the Sons of Endros.

Beneath it were the words “ Strength Above All. ” Their nonsensical motto was sprinkled in propaganda all over town, but it was different to see the words in blood.

Stella shoved the hunter aside and stepped closer, squatting so she could see better.

A dagger was jammed into Victor’s chest. It had been used to pin a piece of parchment there, but the shadow of the hunter’s body made it too dark to read it.

Stella snapped her fingers and summoned fire. The hunters halted their movements as if expecting her to light the body, but they stilled when they saw the note.

Recognize the Sons of Endros as a part of the ruling body of Olney and Argaria immediately. Give us a seat at the royal table of advisory. Our demands will no longer be ignored. You have until sundown the night before the next challenge to meet our demands or we’ll kill the Gauntlet Games competitors one by one, until there’s no one left to play in your petty war games.

– SOE

The words chilled Stella. Victor Schwoebleman was a talented Olney hunter. He’d survived the brutal first challenge only to be made a macabre centerpiece in a threat from the Sons of Endros .

She’d been afraid earlier today, fighting for her life in that pit. But at least in the pit, she could see the threat.

“Stella.” Teddy’s voice broke her trance.

She rose to her feet and met his eyes. He looked almost concerned. But then she remembered what he’d said before they’d found the body, and she didn’t want his pity.

“Yes, Your Grace?” she asked, intentionally loud.

The closest hunter captain took notice and immediately stepped up to Teddy’s side. “Your Grace, you should really be inside at this hour. It’s clearly not safe in the streets this evening, especially for you.”

“I can handle myself,” Teddy grumbled.

Stella could tell he was trying to keep it together, but the hunter was close enough to smell the booze on him, so it wouldn’t be terribly convincing for someone with enhanced senses.

Teddy grabbed Stella’s arm as she made to push by him. “Where are you going? You’re in shock.”

“I’m fine, and like you said, I’m off to begin my vigil,” she snapped.

She took off at a brisk walk, but by the time she rounded the bend in the courtyard wall, she began to run again.

Stella prayed that Leo and Nathan had taken Rosie home before the commotion broke out. The whole sprint home, her mind bounced between the message from the Sons of Endros and Teddy’s words. She should not have felt shocked by his cruelty after she’d been so kind to him in the face of his vulnerability.

As the businesses and apartment houses of the city gave way to larger sprawling estates, Stella slowed to a brisk walk. She labored to catch her breath, wanting to blame the stitch in her side on the cramp and not the fact that she felt abandoned by one prince and wounded by another.

As soon as she reached her family’s estate, she dashed through the front door and up the stairs. Her pain faded when she saw Rosie, already sprawled out asleep in her bed .

A creak in the hallway startled her, and she paused. She turned to see Leo leaning against the doorframe of his room.

“What’s wrong?” he whispered.

“Is everyone asleep?” she asked.

“I think so. Mama might still be up reading.”

She nodded. “Everything’s fine. I’ll tell you about it tomorrow.”

He hesitated a moment, then nodded. “You did well today, but you could tell me if something was wrong.”

“Just a long day.”

The lie came with alarming ease. The harder lie would be the one she had to tell herself in order to get to sleep: Everything will be less scary in the light of day.