Page 63 of Above (Darkness Reigns #1)

Talon kissed me then, his lips fierce, demanding, and angry.

I understood why. He wasn’t wrong. I had promised him so many things knowing it wasn’t right to do, and I still did it anyways.

While it was fair that he was angry, I was angry too, and so I pulled away, looking down to the side so he couldn’t try and kiss me again.

He let out a guttural growl, and I knew that if I was a beast, so were they.

“Fine, be that way.” He released me, but his hand automatically found mine, tugging me out of the bathroom and into our room, where he swiped both of our masks up—not bothering to let me grab my own—and then he pulled us through the door.

And who was there but none other than fucking Altair.

“Lover’s quarrel?” he snarked, looking between us as he fixed his collar.

Talon pulled me behind him, squaring his shoulders as he looked at Altair. “You better stay the fuck away from us. I’m not kidding.”

“Why? Someone upset?” he queried, raising a brow as he let his back lean against the wall near his door.

Talon’s rage skyrocketed, his hand shoving into Altair’s chest. “You tried to kill her!”

Altair didn’t flinch, didn’t so much as push Talon back. “Yeah, well, I always promised I would.”

“Is that supposed to make it better or okay?” Talon boomed in question.

“I think so,” Altair teased, leaning and winking at me. What game was he playing now? Talon took another step toward Altair, shoving him back into the wall again. But Altair only let out a low chuckle, unphased by his former best friend’s fury.

“I said leave her alone! I don’t want to see you going anywhere near her. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever. She hates you and she wants nothing to do with you!”

Altair looked at me, a sort of sad, knowing smile lowering the snarky smirk. “Do you want me to leave you alone, Tershetta?”

I looked at him from behind Talon, feeling so overwhelmed—so utterly broken—and for some reason, I wanted to say no.

Maybe because he was the only one willing to be honest with me.

Or perhaps it was because a part of me felt like he paused on that battlefield, and now I was questioning what was real.

“Nova?” Talon asked, the question coming out as a demand.

“Yes, that’s what I want,” I finally said.

Altair gave a sharp nod. “Anything for you, Little Void.”

Then he disappeared in a puff of darkness, leaving Talon and I alone. Talon sighed, pulling me back in front of him and hugging me.

“I’m sorry for our fight. I should have been calmer. I shouldn’t have taken my anger out on you. I love you, Supernova. It won’t happen again.”

I said nothing. I didn’t return his embrace as he squeezed tighter, putting one hand on my lower back and the other on the back of my head. I didn’t hold him or speak to him or even relax in his arms.

Then he shadow walked us to graduation.

The graduation was a far simpler affair than I would’ve guessed.

The cores had always seemed to be so flamboyant.

So frivolous and bold. But walking into the training center, I was met with the sight of a simple, tall, black platform big enough for our entire class.

Chairs had been lined up in rows for the audience made up of our families.

The training center looked larger for some reason, as if it suddenly had the capacity to hold everyone important to the world. Fitting seeing as, today, we were the world. We were becoming the protectors of Dajahim. Conquerors of planets. Destroyers of life. And didn’t that make us oh-so special?

We were all instructed to stand on the platform, placing our masks securely over our faces and tugging our hoods over our heads. The ceremony was filled with grandeur. Speeches of our exceptionalism, bravery, and strength. Of the bright future that lay ahead of us as elites.

General Altair made a nauseating speech about the age of renewed perfection and making Dajahim pure again.

He spoke with extra fervor this time around, probably because he was needing to make up for the future announcement that I have been given the stars.

An of eadi General in the making. What a tragedy for him and his ridiculous, disgusting plight.

When the ceremony was over, we were given nothing special. Nothing to mark us true elites other than an acknowledging nod from Captain Zade and General Altair.

It felt surreal.

It felt wrong.

Maybe it was normally done differently, but because we sped it up, it had to be shortened? I wasn’t sure, but after nearly three months of suffering, I hadn’t expected them to just look at us and nod.

We all dispersed, each of us making our way to our families.

I saw a clear distinction in the way the cores interacted versus everyone else.

Other shaytan seemed to be loved and cherished, their families celebrating openly.

Hugs, kisses, tears, and laughter surrounded me.

But in the far right corner, I could see the five core families, and I realized how little love there seemed to be in that area.

In particular, my heart broke for Priya Otarn—a surprise to myself, because I generally hated her—who stood there, her head down as who I guessed to be her mother seemingly berated her. Her daughter had successfully completed Elite Academy, what did she have to be mad about?

I watched as Mrs. Otarn snatched up Priya’s left hand, taking the ring finger and making Priya look at it. That was when I realized it was bare.

When Priya said nothing, her mother took the digit and snapped it backwards. I gasped, looking around to see if anybody else was as appalled as I was that Otarn’s mother had just broken her finger. No one did so much as pause other than me.

Each of the six core trainees looked miserable, the five unbroken ones staring at the floor with dejected expressions. I looked away, trying to find my family in the madness, uninterested in making myself feel sorry for any of those heinous people.

It was quite easy to spot my family once I focused.

No one was around them, talking to them, or doing anything but randomly staring and probably judging.

Still, I couldn’t be happier to see them.

Father had on his nicest button up, the black looking sleek against his deep skin and curly hair.

Bright golden eyes were on me, his smile so broad I could’ve sworn he was the sun itself.

He looked a bit healthier than normal, as if he were recovering from whatever new sickness plagued him.

Mama was next to him, her hand on his shoulder, her own smile larger than life.

All of her long blonde hair was twisted in a bun on top of her head, a simple black dress covering her, though she swam in the fabric.

Celeste was behind them, her face grim. I could tell she was uncomfortable.

She had once more chopped at her hair, the dark brown curls not even touching her shoulders anymore.

Those grey eyes were flitting across the area, her body tense and stiff.

She wore a baby pink dress, which she must’ve been sweating in seeing as it was long sleeved in the spring, which on the island was hot enough to make my headaches worse.

Next to them, Elite Bargain smiled at me and waved before disappearing beneath her own shadows.

I knew then that she must’ve been the one who went to fetch them, and I was glad, because anyone else would’ve been rude.

Elite Bargain, for all her fierceness, had never been hateful toward me.

In fact, she was a rare case of someone who believed in me, even if she still likely held prejudices against of eadi. She reminded me of Talon in that way.

I dashed over to them, waving and smiling as I wove through the crowd.

I knew that they couldn’t see my face with my mask on and my hair was tame for once, but the curls were still big enough to stick out of my hood, making me obvious as I approached.

I ripped off my mask, jumping into the arms of my mother.

She giggled, holding me tight, her body smaller than before I had left.

In my head, I couldn’t help but feel glee at the idea of her no longer having to take haya.

I was finally going to save them.

“Congratulations, Starlight!” Mama exclaimed, her voice betraying the terror that lay beneath her pride. Because she knew this was not the end. I would still be in constant danger. At least, that’s what they must’ve thought. Then again, they didn’t know that I had the stars.

I pulled away from her, smiling at the thought of our long future. She noticed immediately.

“Nova, what’s wrong with your eyes?” she asked, but she knew. They all knew immediately.

“How?” Father pressed, grabbing my arm and pulling me down low so that he could look into my eyes. “How did that happen?”

“It’s a long story. It happened during our tactical mission.”

“They chose you?” Celeste gawked, her eyes bulging for some reason, as if it felt monumental to her in a different way than it did to me.

There was something there, some revelation that I could see occurring.

Her breath sped, her eyes darting across mine, and I worried that something was brewing within Celeste.

“It’s a long story. Like I said, I’ll explain it.”

“Yes, you will,” Mama ordered, her face stern as she pulled me in again. Then Dad was tugging at both of us and Celeste was reluctantly leaning over him. All of us embracing.

I couldn’t help but let myself tear up, because, no matter what, life was going to be okay now. I had them. I would always have them. Such a thing was too special to be ruined by fear, disagreement, or anything else.

“And where is that handsome boy?” Mama asked in my ear, causing me to stand and scoff, rolling my eyes.

“I am not dating him, Mama.”

“Sure you aren’t,” she said. “Where is he? I wanted to say hi.”

“I’m sure he’s with his family.”

“Oh, we should meet his family then too!”