Page 33 of Starfall

Ari

I ’d been visited by…

What? A demon? A ghost?

Or I was losing my mind and hallucinating.

If that was how Elias felt the night of the Great Fall, I had a sudden abundance of sympathy for the man.

“You alive in there?” Liv prodded at the curtains before whipping them back in a flourish.

I stared at the mirror, the onyx ring clutched in my fist. Liv’s eyes landed on mine, deep lines wrinkling her brow.

“What the hell happened? You’re pale as a ghost. Well, paler than before, which says a lot.”

I might be able to trust Liv, but actually telling her about the divine? I couldn’t force out the truth. Not when I didn’t have all the answers. And the prick in the mirror had still not given me his damned name.

“N-nothing happened,” I stammered, quickly snatching a black tailored suit with satin lapels and a plunging neckline, a pair of charcoal trousers, a white blouse, and the one dress Liv chose that would cover most of my body. “I’m all set.”

Liv didn’t say a word as I slipped by her, hugging the clothing to my chest. The ring practically burned my skin, but I didn’t relax my grip. Whatever it actually was, it hummed with a magic I recognized. It was no mere piece of jewelry.

In Maldia, every item held enchantment, down to the crystal glasses we drank from. Perhaps such power explained why Maldia had been graced with a constant song, one that was gentle and coaxing. Dreamlike.

“You sure you don’t want to change into something before we head out?” Liv hurried to keep up, her long, lean legs no match for my adrenaline. Her voice dripped with confusion and a hint of suspicion.

I paused, peering down at the woolen dress from Clarine. It was painfully out of date. Eternal knew, I already stood out enough. “Uh, yes, please,” I whispered, hating that I sounded all breathless.

“Good choice, Silver.” Liv selected the plain charcoal trousers and the white blouse.

“We’ll save that dress for the festival,” she said, lifting her brow like we shared some secret.

Carefully, she undid the price tag pinned to the material and returned them to me while snagging the other folded items. “Go ahead, then. I’ll ring us up. ”

I didn’t think as I bolted to the dressing room, the small shop and its many overflowing racks closing in on all sides. I shouldn’t have wanted to go back into that room with the mirror, but when the curtain fell in place behind me, I relished the privacy.

I reached around the back of Elias’s mother’s dress and began undoing the buttons as quickly as I could. The time it took to undo each one enticed me to just rip the whole thing off, but I reminded myself it wasn’t mine to destroy. When the material slipped to the floor in a tangled heap, I sighed.

Instantly, my breathing calmed. Good riddance.

Mechanically, I pulled on the trousers—which were a tad tight in the hips—and buttoned the blouse, which thankfully had enough room to fit my chest comfortably. When I finished, I backed against the wall and slid to the floor.

I unfurled my palm. The ring.

Somehow, I’d held onto the cursed thing while dressing, like I couldn’t part ways with it for a single second.

I gazed at the mirror, half expecting the man to appear, to smile that wry grin and speak into my mind. But he never showed himself, and the gas lamp above my head hissed and sputtered as the minutes passed, the light casting shadows beneath my eyes.

I wasn’t made for this kind of fear. The unknown .

In Maldia, I had one mission, and my devotion carried me through any trial I faced. The Eternal was always with me, Mistress Lina vowed, and if despair struck, I simply hadn’t prayed hard enough.

Somehow, I sensed this situation couldn’t be solved with prayer.

I’m the end of all things. The beginning of death. A shadow that guides mortals to their final resting place.

The stranger’s words rang in my mind. If another entity as powerful as the Eternal existed, it had been hidden from us all?—

That implied we’d been lied to. That the Eternal lied to us. Just as the man claimed.

But that couldn’t possibly be right.

I hated myself when I stood and slipped the ring into the pocket of my trousers. I wished I had the strength to toss it aside, to forget this entire day, but my sisters were still out there, and collecting the missing piece of this puzzle might be what saved them.

Nothing was right anymore. Not predetermined. Not safe . I had to do this on my own, whether I liked it or not.

I exited the dressing room as Liv appeared, a brown satchel in one hand and a pair of new boots in the other.

“I got these for you, too. They don’t look like they were crafted a hundred years ago,” she said with a strained smile.

Her lips twitched as she glanced at the lace-up boots I’d borrowed from Elias.

I should consider how he fared. If he hid behind his self-built walls to conceal his pain.

His mother had just passed, and he remained adamant about not bringing up the subject.

People like him would hold on to their pain until they broke…

and I didn’t wish to see him break. The thought made my stomach sink.

I’d been too self-absorbed with my own worries to put forth an effort.

“Oh, I forgot a belt!” Liv cursed and ran toward the back before I could bother saying I didn’t need one. I just wanted out of this store .

A minute later, I heard her scream.

Years of training with Lina set my senses on fire, my chest tightening.

The sense of alarm didn’t leave until I spotted Liv huddled in the corner, two men pressing her up against the wall.

Not one customer made to intervene. They ducked their heads like cowards and scrambled for the door. The shop was empty when I reached them.

I didn’t hesitate when I yanked one of the goons away from a trembling Liv. My divine strength flared to life like a match being struck, my skin buzzing with the Eternal’s sacred magic.

The man yelped, and a smile stretched my lips at how easily I’d manipulated his body, one no doubt used for intimidation.

Still in my hold, he tried to smile, his thin mustache quivering on his upper lip. “You never told us you had such a pretty friend, Liv,” he remarked, his gaze unapologetically lowering to my chest.

Even dangling by his feet, he remained a prick.

Liv let out a sound halfway between a snarl and a hiss, fighting the second man who blocked her path.

He held firm, his arm banding around her waist. “I’ll have your money by the end of the festival,” Liv promised, the fierceness in her eyes turning to defeat.

I could see how her hands trembled at her sides.

The second man tsk ed, and I smelled stale liquor on his breath. “Not good enough, sweetheart. You know how Charlie gets when he’s stiffed.”

Charlie. Charlie St. Claire.

These men had to belong to the infamous Black Lungs.

“Please,” Liv begged, desperation heavy in her tone. “Give me some more time. Rent went up last month, and I didn’t get a warning.”

Again, the man shook his head and smiled. He enjoyed this game far too much.

The pure rage that coiled inside of me demanded to burn .

To raze everything in my path. The sensation might’ve frightened me once, but I welcomed its heady poison with open arms. These men would hurt Liv—do worse than hurt.

I’d seen the beauty of the world from dreams, but I also glimpsed its nightmares.

The warmth within me sparked, and I reached out, grasping the arm belonging to the man closest to me. Again, he startled, but when he met my searing gaze, his sharp features went lax.

“You’re going to leave my friend here alone,” I began, my voice taking on a deep, unnatural timbre.

It was like an enchanted song, like the winds of Maldia on a quiet evening.

The fire I crafted flared within my chest, and I held onto it, channeling its energy into my every word, using them as weapons in my arsenal.

My prisoner shifted on his feet, but he listened intently. Trapped. Frozen. Helpless.

Just as Liv had been.

“Liv doesn’t owe any money. Your boss was mistaken.”

“Now hold on?—”

I silenced the other man with a glare, and he, too, fell prey to my divine magic. A power that appeared to work just fine.

I’d have to yell at Elias later. We could’ve easily avoided the whole train fiasco.

“Both of you will leave now and not bother Liv again. Understood?” I squeezed both their arms until they hissed in pain. The smell of burnt flesh greeted my nostrils, and I spared a quick glance down, slowly peeling back my fingers?—

I’d…marked them. Branded them with my fingers like an iron left in the flames of my soul.

But it wasn’t angry red skin I beheld, but a black symbol I’d never seen.

The flayed edges of skin curled at the sides, yet the lines were sharp and clear, producing what appeared to be three triangles, their tips meeting at a single point.

My grip wavered slightly, and I tore my eyes from the brand. I couldn’t explain it; nothing like it had ever happened. It…it spoke of magic I didn’t recognize, and a lump bulged in my throat, my breaths coming out in short bursts.

The younger of the two—the one imprisoning Liv with his filthy hold—slowly inched away before nodding his head frantically.

“It w-was a mistake,” he stammered. “We-we’re sorry.”

His cohort nodded animatedly, quick to agree. I suspected they’d say and do just about anything to get out of my clutches. I inhaled their air, both loathing and craving their terror.

“I’m so glad we understand one another,” I murmured, high off the adrenaline and the magic running through my veins. It was akin to plummeting into a bath of ice, every nerve electrified at once, my muscles locking into place as if for battle.

I’d never been this strong, not even on Maldia.

Forcing myself to drop my hand, I avoided the fresh brand scorched on his arm. Its existence didn’t matter now.

I was such a grand liar when I desired to be.

The moment I released them, the lackeys bolted from the store like frightened children, knocking into racks of clothing and cursing as they fled.

Not once did they look back. I straightened my shoulders and closed my eyes, allowing the adrenaline to settle.

It slithered from my chest to my belly, where it simmered and cooled, turning to frost. I almost missed its punishing touch.

When I opened my eyes, Liv stood in front of me, mouth gaping and eyes wide with terror. She gawked at me like I was a predator. A nightmare come true. And then she asked the very same question I’d posed to the dark-eyed stranger who haunted my dreams…and my reality.

“What are you?”