Page 13 of Starfall

Elias jumped over a tattered piece of luggage that had fallen from above, practically hauling me into the air.

I landed awkwardly on my ankle, and a burst of pain radiated up my calf.

It would heal soon. Ignoring the sting, I mirrored Elias’s movements, ducking a swinging guitar held in the hands of a lowly train performer.

My shoulder connected with the satin hat holding the man’s coins, and they fell to the train’s floor, silver scattering across the aisle.

The performer cast a crude gesture my way, followed by a colorful insult, but Elias and I were already moving on, the end of the car rapidly approaching.

Another quick glance, and I spotted Alecks no more than twenty feet away.

He was hot on our trail with but a few patrons blocking his path. I saw a flash of silver; a blade.

“Now what?” I panted, knowing hiding out in the toilets would be out of the question. The men would knock down the door, and then we’d be sitting ducks. Now would have been a perfect time for me to have my rose gold blade. A present from Lily last year for my birthday.

Elias gripped my arm hard enough to bruise as he unlocked the car door. It slid open, revealing? —

Open air.

The cars were separated by rusted metal and three feet of empty air that appeared to be a greater distance than should’ve been possible.

“Hell no!” I shouted above the whooshing winds, my silver hair breaking free from the loose updo I’d wrangled it in earlier. It fell to my shoulders and whipped at my face.

“Hell yes ,” Elias responded, his booted foot tentatively stepping on the metal coupling.

It jerked and shifted as he rested his weight on it, his hold on my hand loosening.

He reached for the next train car, latching his fingers on the door’s brass handle.

His grunts rose above the raucous machinery working beneath his feet, and my stomach churned viciously as I took in the sight of the tracks rushing by in a frightening blur.

I’d believed myself brave. Clever. Cunning. But that was back home on a secluded island hidden in the clouds. This was a whole new story, and I found I wasn’t as fearless as I thought when standing on the precipice of certain death. How naive I truly was.

“It’s locked!” Elias roared, whipping his head back to face me. Panic twisted his lips, the desperation surging in his veins all but seeping from his pores.

The train rushed down the tracks, never slowing, not allowing me a moment to catch my breath. I looked behind me one final time. Alecks and his men passed the woman, advancing on their prey like the hunters they were.

“Shit!” Elias’s hand slipped from the other car, his long limbs teetering on the coupling.

I tightened my weak hold on the side of the train and met his wide eyes.

Time froze as he silently pleaded for help, for my help.

Leaning forward, I seized his arm, gripping it in a bruising hold.

Elias teetered before he steadied himself, the threat of his imminent demise at his feet.

A second too late, and he would’ve become a mangled mess beneath the wheels.

Elias swayed and cursed again, using me to right himself. The moment he stood balanced and in control, he shot me a quick “Thanks.” With one hand in mine and the other reaching around the train car, he angled his head around the side. His eyes squinted against the unforgiving wind .

I groaned. I’d just saved him, and he was already trying to kill himself again. “What could you possibly be searching for?” Deep down I knew, and if he thought I’d climb onto the side of a moving train, then he’d be sorely disappointed.

Elias bit into his bottom lip. “That,” he replied a second later, prompting me to crane my neck and track where his gaze landed.

Coming up— fast— was a narrow bridge, a wide river stretching beneath it.

My mouth gaped. There was absolutely no way I would do what he silently suggested. I’d rather climb the side of the train.

“When I say jump, you don’t hesitate.”

I shook my head wildly, words impossible to shape.

“Yes, Ari. If we don’t do this, then we’re both dead and so are your sisters.” My mind flashed to Lily’s wan face beneath the pond, begging me for help, that haunting expression distorting her exquisite features. “You have to trust me. I need you alive just as much as you need me breathing.”

Trust. He wished for me to trust him.I didn’t even like him. But he was right—we both needed each other to accomplish our own goals. This was a…partnership.

“ Please ,” he added, hastily glancing over my shoulder. I knew without turning that the men who gave chase neared. A woman’s scream sounded at my back, followed by a rustling of feet and the scraping of boots.

Any second and they’d be upon us.

“When I say jump, you do it.” Elias pleaded with his eyes, his hand loose around mine. He waited for me to grasp him tighter, to show my trust in the only way that I could.

The tracks changed, and the wheel’s incessant clanging turned deafening.

We were on the bridge.

“Get ready…” Elias tensed, his knees bending slightly.

I had a few seconds to decide. Either I put my life in the hands of this near stranger, or I let go of him, effectively abandoning my sisters. Leaving them to wither away in the realm between worlds.

There was no decision to make .

Stepping onto the coupling, I squeezed Elias, suffocating his fingers with my grip. His wild hair danced around his chiseled face as he lifted his head, a subtle smile quirking his lips. He nodded.

Adopting a similar crouching position, I held my breath and waited, eyes shut?—

“Now, Ari! Now!”

The train lurched, and the metal beneath my borrowed boots shifted, and then I was airborne, flying, horrifyingly weightless.

Elias never released my hand.

Not even when the air left my lungs, and we struck the icy waters.