Page 38 of Starfall

Elias

A ri stepped into Darren’s office with a calmness that frightened me. The gas lamp’s flames danced across her pale skin, illuminating the sharp planes of her face.

Enraged.

Enraged would be the word I’d use to describe her as she took in the sight of Liv, her ruddy cheek pressed against Darren’s desk, one eye nearly swollen shut.

Thankfully, the truth about Ari’s power hadn’t reached Charlie St. Claire’s ears. His men stumbled back to their headquarters in a daze, claiming Liv didn’t owe them. Of course, that hadn’t sat well with the boss, who proceeded to slit their throats.

The fresh batch of soldiers Charlie sent came directly to Darren’s office. Liv had no chance of avoiding his wrath.

Three of Darren’s goons held me back, preventing me from rushing to Liv’s side.

Their fingers painfully dug into my arms, adding more bruises that would decorate my skin.

Not that I cared. All that mattered was making sure Liv made it out of this room alive.

Her terrified face sickened me, and bile rose in my throat as I struggled to get to her.

I wanted to wrap my arms around her and protect her from this vicious world.

She’d done the same for me years ago when I’d first come to the city, and I owed her more than my life.

I hadn’t seen Darren this furious in quite some time. The feud between him and Charlie’s Black Lungs had worsened, and Liv’s infraction sent him into a feral rage. A rage that might end with spilled blood.

I had come into the office just as my boss swung, my friend writhing in pain on the floor as she clutched her jaw. I’d let out an animalistic roar before taking off in a run for Darren, but thick arms banded around my torso, hauling me back and keeping me locked in place.

I had planned on murdering Darren. Right then and there.

Being the sadistic bastard that he was, Darren forced me to watch as he struck Liv again, this time splitting her lip. She took it without an ounce of emotion, doing her best not to whimper in pain. But I knew how hard those hits were—I’d been on the receiving end one too many times.

Now, Ari had thrown herself into this mess.

I glared at the star maiden, willing her to run with my eyes. It shouldn’t have been a surprise that she did no such thing.

“Let her go!” I screamed, turning back to Darren. “I’ll pay whatever is owed!” I gave a fruitless yank against the goons’ hold. All three of them stumbled as they fought to hold me still. I wanted the attention on me, not Liv, and not Ari, whose silver eyes narrowed with bloodlust.

“She owes me a debt, boy,” Darren snarled, shoving Liv’s cheek harder into the wood of his desk. She winced. “I had to pay Charlie’s boys what she owed them to keep the peace. And what a sum it was. Besides, if I just take your money, Liv here won’t learn her lesson.”

Darren pulled Liv up by the hair, and she yelped, struggling as he hauled her to her feet. Reaching into his pocket, he retrieved an opulent golden dagger, a red ruby glinting on the hilt. He let the sharpened tip graze the hollow of Liv’s throat.

Every muscle tensed as my gaze homed in on the weapon. One slip, and she’d be gone. My chest squeezed, cold sweat dampening my brow.

“I got you,” she’d whispered into my ear three years ago when Darren brought me to be patched up, half-conscious and bleeding out.

When I’d swayed on the bench—the doctor hard at work stitching my brow—she slipped her arm around my waist and kept me tethered to this world.

“Don’t let go of me. Hold on as tight as ya want. I’m not easy to break, big man.”

But she was easy to break. The proof lay in front of me now.

“Don’t. You. Dare.”

I whirled to Ari as she spoke, her imperious tone one belonging to a queen. She didn’t walk; she practically floated farther into the room, her skin shimmering, that ethereal glow of hers surfacing. I hadn’t seen her otherworldly starlight since the day she nearly drowned.

Darren paused, the dagger dropping to his side. A haughty grin stretched across his face.

My heart roared in my ears as I glanced from my boss to Ari. She might not be a creature born of this world, but Darren was an entirely different beast.

“Ari, please go back outside,” I begged. I couldn’t sit there and watch another person get hurt. If I freed myself of the bastards holding me down, I swore I’d run Darren’s blade through his chest myself.

If Darren took Ari by surprise, and he’d try, she would get hurt, and it would be my fault. I didn’t know if that was something I could live with. Her lifeless body on the floor, that spark in her eyes extinguished forever…

All it would take was one well-thrown dagger.

The air left my lungs when Ari passed me. She didn’t spare me a glance, all of her attention aimed at Darren and the thick arm trapping Liv.

“I told you to let her go,” she repeated, this time so quietly I had to strain to make out the words. Her rage spoke louder than anything.

I elbowed the man to my left, and he stumbled, but the other two pricks rushed to tighten their grips. The man I’d struck punched me in the jaw, sending my head flying to the left. I spat out a mouthful of blood on Darren’s fine carpet.

Darren laughed at Ari’s command, his belly shaking as he aimed his eyes upon his newest victim.

“How about you listen to the man and go back outside? You don’t want to get mixed up in this, darlin’.

” His tone dripped with acidic sweetness, but his smile was downright wicked.

He wanted her to retaliate. It would give him an excuse to send her to her knees .

Ari cocked her head, her chin dipping as she drank Darren in from his polished black boots to his ridiculously extravagant top hat that covered his graying brown hair.

She smiled at whatever she saw.

A chill raced up my spine as Ari’s entire demeanor shifted, her body loosening, growing languid, predatory in its ease.

As she glided forward, a burst of wind lifted her silver hair, the invisible breeze tossing papers off Darren’s desk and onto the floor.

My boss stopped in his tracks, his thick eyebrows knitted together.

He had no clue what the hell was about to occur.

I should have had greater faith in Ari.

In Clarine, I’d been too distracted to appreciate how her brilliance could light up a room. I gawked at the magnificent sight of her now, briefly shutting my eyes as a wave of energy flooded the room. Without a doubt, it was her doing.

She came to a stop ten feet from where Darren stood, my boss’s eyes comically wide with newfound fear. A fear I relished.

“Look at me.” Ari’s tone deepened. The pure authority ringing each syllable shook my bones. My boss’s eyes immediately glazed over as he met her stare, his shoulders slumping in defeat.

The thugs cursed, their hold on me loosening as the glowing goddess commanded the room. I attempted to break free once more, but they stubbornly held on.

Forced to stand still, I studied the star maiden, bewitched by her ethereal light. She was the fiercest thing I’d ever seen, and something deep, deep inside of me, responded. Awakened.

“Darren, you’re going to release Liv now,” she said.

Her voice sounded like it came from far away, from another realm, a place where she ruled and men bowed at her feet.

Darren’s mouth parted, and then he dropped the arm imprisoning Liv.

She caught herself before she fell to the wooden planks and scrambled to the side, out of Ari’s way.

“Now that you’re paying attention…” Ari lifted a hand to gently stroke the side of Darren’s blotchy cheeks. His glassy eyes grew hooded, and his stout frame swayed as he reacted to her sweet caress .

“I see you like to hurt people, Darren,” she said, and my boss shook his head. “Ah ah,” she tutted. “I don’t like liars.”

“I-I just help them. Teach them. That’s all.” Darren swallowed hard, sweat beginning to pour down the sides of his face. “I protect them. Persh is an unforgiving place. I’m doing them a favor.”

“ Mmm ,” Ari mused, dropping her hand to circle my boss like the predator she’d become. “Liar.”

No one else in the room moved.

Briefly, she turned to meet my eyes, and in that split heartbeat, I saw so much. Much more than I believed possible.

Darren flinched when Ari grasped his chin, tilting his face so he met her eye. “Since we still need you, unfortunately ,” she spat out the last word, “I won’t force you to run from Persh before I hunt you down and kill you myself.”

The threat unsettled me; Ari never spoke of violence. She literally berated me half an hour ago for using it against the man who’d shoved her.

An odd golden sheen sparked in her gaze, gone in a blink. “You will treat Liv, and the other workers, with the respect they deserve, won’t you?” she asked, and Darren nodded fervently. “Good. And as for Elias, you will never touch him again. Do you hear me? Not. One. Single. Finger.”

The intensity of her words stunned me. How she fought for me, for Liv, a practical stranger.

“Now. I think I’m going to repay you for your kindness.” Ari took one step back, her glow brightening, filling the room with an eerie white light that stung . I didn’t even realize Darren’s men had released me, and I stumbled a step in her direction, not to stop her…but to watch .

I heard the cracking of bones before I saw her hand move.

Blood flew from Darren’s nose as he soared back, his massive body flying through the air.

He landed with a resounding thud in front of his desk, dropping like a new fighter in the ring.

When he sluggishly lifted his head to face Ari—who hovered above like a vengeful wraith—I saw horror mar his arrogant features for the first time.

The sight of Darren’s blood spilled upon the same floor where he’d beaten me to a pulp should’ve made me happy, but it wasn’t happiness I felt. It was much, much more potent of an emotion.

How many times had Darren abused his fighters? The women and men he employed? He deserved this, deserved Ari’s wrath, her… justice. She wasn’t a coward like me, not when it mattered. Ari was a fighter, a warrior with a tender heart.

Ari was ten times the person I was.

“Now I feel better,” Ari said, her voice still coming out all twisted and strange.

Dropping into a crouch, she took Darren’s chin between her thumb and forefinger and held him steady.

“Men like you, who use fear and intimidation to gain power, are weak . Hitting a woman doesn’t make you strong.

Having three of your men pin down your best fighter as you pummel him doesn’t make you formidable.

No . You’re a spineless rat, and I hope you get everything you deserve.

” She gave him a rough shake. “You will not remember today or Liv’s payment.

You will not remember how you received the bruises that will surely paint your face.

But you will remember to never raise your hands in anger ever again. ”

“I won’t r-remember today. I won’t h-hurt anyone again,” Darren stuttered, the dazed look back in his eyes as he repeated her wishes.

Ari shoved him away, her nose wrinkling in disgust. Standing tall, she glowered at the bloodied boss on his knees.

“You’re lucky today isn’t your reckoning. But it’ll happen one day, and I regret I won’t be there to witness it.”

Ari abandoned Darren and held my gaze. I lost myself in her silver pools, swimming amidst the flecks of light and power and rage. I glimpsed my reflection, and while that should’ve frightened me, an all-encompassing strength wrapped around my heart and squeezed.

No one had fought for me, not like this. The sensation wormed its way into my belly, spreading until I could scarcely take in a breath.

Ari broke contact first, and the spell shattered like glass.

Slowly, she approached the remaining men in the room, their eyes widened with terror.

She snatched the arms of the first two and leaned on her tiptoes to whisper into their ears.

She did the same to the third and final man, his stare going all glassy and unfocused.

I swore I smelled smoke in the air. Almost like burning skin.

I lurched to where Liv shook on the floor and gently tugged her closer to the door, away from Darren, whose mouth gaped as Ari spun around and began for the exit.

No one made to stop us, and not a voice rose in protest.

I didn’t look back at my boss. I didn’t glance over my shoulder and devour the sight of him on his knees one last time.

A cord had been cut, snapped, severed .

I felt lighter with every step I took.

Free.