Page 54 of Chasing Eternity (Stealing Infinity #3)

Elodie looks surprisingly disheveled. Her hair is mussed, her cheeks flushed, eyes red and swollen with tears.

“What are you doing?” Her gaze darts from Arthur, to me, then to Killian, and finally rests on Braxton’s father, who lies motionless on the ground. “What’s this about you being my father?”

Arthur faces her, his complexion ashen, his expression one of distress. “It was meant to be a surprise,” he says, directing a sharp, accusing glance my way. “My plan was to tell you once we were all together again, reunited as a family.”

“I—I’m lost.” Elodie’s gaze shifts between her father and me, seeking clarity amid all the chaos.

Before Arthur can explain, I seize the opportunity to unfold the entire tale. To my surprise, Arthur does not interfere.

As the truth settles, Elodie reels on Arthur, her voice loaded with accusation. “So, you never really ‘rescued’ me from that dreadful children’s home, did you? It’s your fault I ended up there in the first place. Did you ever, just once, consider what that was like for me? I was practically still a baby, and you left me alone to helplessly watch as my own mother withered and died, only to be sent to that horrible place where they—” She stops, a visible shiver coursing through her as she staggers beneath the enormity of memories too heavy to voice, the unspeakable horrors she faced in the wake of Arthur’s abandonment.

“And who is this?” She turns her attention to the young boy, truly noticing him for the very first time. When a wave of recognition washes over her, she slaps a hand to her mouth. “My God!” Her eyes, wide and frantic, dart between her father and me. “He’s just a child!” she cries, desperation threading through her voice when she zeroes in on the blade Arthur still holds to his throat. “This has to stop, you must—”

“I intend to,” Arthur responds, his tone eerily calm. “As soon as your friend Natasha here hands over the Star, everything will be set right once more.”

Elodie’s gaze snaps back to me. “So do it already!” she shouts, not fully grasping the implications of her request. “To think I ended things with Nash, who was willing to leave his fiancée for me, all because I couldn’t stand the thought of leaving Gray Wolf—because I was foolish enough to believe I had some kind of misguided loyalty to you.” She levels a trembling finger at Arthur, the realization of her misplaced trust painfully dawning. “When all along, you—”

Arthur, losing patience, presses the edge of his blade into the delicate skin of young Braxton’s neck.

“Stop!” Elodie’s scream shatters the air, mirroring young Braxton’s cry of distress.

Knowing I can’t delay any longer, I twist the golden bracelet around my wrist, sending a silent plea to the adult Braxton who gave it to me.

Wherever he is on his journey, whatever fate awaits this younger version of him now softly whimpering before me, I silently implore that he hears this plea.

But already my desire and my will were being turned like a wheel, all at one speed, by the Love which moves the sun and other stars .

This divine love—the fabric that bonds every being, the intricate web of interconnectedness surrounding us all—is the true ruler of eternity.

Not Arthur Blackstone, regardless of his beliefs.

Reaching into my pocket, I retrieve the Star and extend it toward Arthur. “Now, leave the boy alone,” I command.

With a dismissive shove, Arthur roughly pushes the child aside, causing the young boy to stumble, fall, landing harshly on his face.

Elodie is by his side in a flash, helping him to stand. It’s only then that I see the damage Arthur has done.

Young Braxton’s nose is bleeding, but Arthur is oblivious to everything but the gleaming gem in my palm.

“I always knew you’d come through,” Arthur says, the golden ring he always wears, that once belonged to Edward the Black Prince, glinting beneath the moon’s glow.

“What will become of Gray Wolf?” I ask. “All those people who depend on you, who’ve remained loyal to you?”

Arthur merely shakes his head, offering an indifferent shrug. In his mind, they’re already relics of the past. His aspirations for himself and the new world he dreams of do not include them.

As he steps closer, our gazes momentarily lock. His eyes, once mysterious obsidian fragments I believed concealed untold depths, now reveal an unmistakable shallowness. And while I have no way of knowing what he finds in mine, I hope he understands just how gravely he’s underestimated me. Underestimated us all.

“The only thing more dangerous than ignorance is the illusion of knowledge,” I whisper. It’s a quote from Stephen Hawking, but Arthur is too focused on the promise of this gleaming gem to heed the warning.

With Killian and Elodie looking on, Arthur plucks the Star from my palm.

Killian inhales a sharp breath.

Elodie gasps.

As I hold my breath, hoping with everything I have that Braxton was able to make the switch.