Page 46 of Starfall

Ari

I t was three in the morning when Elias decided the time had come to go home.

I’d wanted to stay, regardless of the late hour, but he’d grumbled something about needing sleep. I’d gladly give up sleep for another few hours of exploring. The artists’ tents alone had been divine. I could’ve spoken with them until dawn.

He’d been extra grumpy since Liv and I explored the last artist’s tent, the smile he’d worn—one that had made my foolish heart flutter—had vanished as if I had imagined it.

Avoiding the drunken revelers, Elias and I walked Liv back to her flat in the Ivy Quarter. She’d cupped my face and kissed each cheek before slipping inside her building, promising that tomorrow night of the festival would be even better.

My heart swelled. I could almost imagine us being true friends. She’d taken me under her wing, knowing little to nothing about me. Well, the me that wasn’t a divine being. But it didn’t feel like she was being kind simply because I was a star maiden.

“You’re being awfully quiet,” I said to Elias as we navigated the back roads leading to his home. He made a deep sound in his chest, his shoulders hunched as he stormed down the lane. “You seemed so excited when we first got there,” I pressed. “Did something happen?”

Elias slowed enough for me to see his profile. It was twisted with an unreadable expression. He probably missed Grace. Which made sense. The festival was a reminder of our mission, but I’d been too distracted to think of the bigger picture.

I tended not to think about Grace. And lately, Elias hadn’t mentioned her…

“I’m fine. Just tired,” he mumbled, motioning toward an alley tucked between a bakery and a florist. From what I recalled, this alley would connect us to his street.

Rolling my eyes at his deflective response, I took off first, leading the way.

His mood wouldn’t bring me down. I was thrilled to be alive tonight, and even the guilt I’d experienced at the beginning of the festival had fallen into the background.

I supposed that should’ve made me feel even more guilty, but as monstrous as it sounded, I wanted an evening of adventure all to myself. Something to remember.

The narrow alley before me was piled with bags of rubbish stacked haphazardly against the sides. I grunted as I hopped over what I hoped was only a human- shaped trash bag. I didn’t look back to check.

My boots pounded the stones with confidence until a splash sounded, and something vile splashed onto my pants.

“I swear, if I’ve already ruined her clothing, Liv is going to kill me?—”

Silver flashed in the moonlight a second before a body lurched from the cover of the shadows. A strangled scream surged up my throat as someone grabbed me around the waist and forcefully tugged my body against a hard chest. All the air evaporated from my lungs.

I went to scream again, but a callused hand covered my mouth, and the icy touch of a blade pressed against my throat. My chest heaved as warm breath tickled my hair, my attacker smelling of tobacco and liquor.

In front of me, five masked men surrounded Elias, the attackers carrying blades that they pointed at his chest. Elias stood stock-still, though his hands curled into fists, his nostrils flaring as he scanned the scene.

The men shifted uncomfortably, their beady eyes narrowed on him, watching his every frantic breath.

When Elias’s attention landed on me, he growled, baring his teeth like a wild animal.

“It’s all right, Ari,” he whispered, his voice rougher than gravel. “Just don’t move.”

I couldn’t use my power and demand these cretins release us.

Not with the hand over my mouth. And every time I so much as flinched, the knife dug deeper into my throat.

I could’ve easily outmatched the assailant in a fight, but not with the knife so close to my artery.

I feared even my healing powers would take longer than we required to get away should I attempt a reckless escape.

Elias would have to be the one to get us out of this—or distract them so I could act—but to take on six men alone was rash in the narrow space.

“Whatever this is, leave her out of it,” Elias demanded, his deceptively calm voice raising the hair on my arms. It was deadly, that tone; poisonous.

The man holding me laughed, his rumbling chest prodding the blade in a little deeper. I scented copper. My blood.

Elias’s eyes darkened as he homed in on my neck, the warmth of my blood trickling down my skin.

“What. Do. You. Want?” Each punctuated word acted as an assault. The promise of violence. I’d never seen him this furious. It made his assault on the man who pushed me to the ground days ago look like a friendly interaction.

“We want your death, Bloody Fist. Charlie should’ve killed you three years ago.” Another assailant stepped around the man imprisoning me, his dark mask covering the entirety of his face except for his bearded jaw. I could barely make out his eyes through the tiny slits.

Elias shrugged. Shrugged .

“You have me. Let her go.” He spoke the words so easily, almost bored. I struggled in my captor’s arms, ignoring the sting of the blade when it pierced my skin. I could easily heal those scrapes later. But I couldn’t watch Elias die.

Why was he giving up so easily?

“Why would we do that?” the clear leader of this group asked, his meaty hands on my body making me nauseous.

He jostled in place, and the grip around my waist constricted painfully.

A yelp escaped my throat, and something shifted in Elias’s eyes.

His heated stare turned to ice, which was somehow more terrifying.

Elias stared directly at me as he said, “I will kill every last one of you if you don’t release her in the next five seconds.”

Again, they laughed. “Six against one. We like those odds.” My captor chuckled in wicked delight. “Charlie did say we could have a little fun with you. Make your death last longer.”

Rage unfurled in my chest at the threat. Elias wouldn’t play hero tonight. I would, and he’d be sorely disappointed if he believed I would allow him to be beaten and killed in the streets.

I was preparing to take my chances and stomp on my abductor’s boot, risking his very, very sharp knife, when a stinging sensation worked up from my hand.

It radiated to my right arm, gradually lessening into an oddly pleasant buzzing.

Elias spoke, but his voice grew muffled.

All I could hear was a gentle humming of power. Magic .

The ring. Xavier’s ring .

My thumb rubbed against the stone’s facets, a shudder working through me at the surge of unexpected power.

It felt like ice and frost and all things winter, but raw energy moved effortlessly through the stone.

Desperate, I shut my eyes, focusing on the song its magic sang.

The violent lullaby that whispered into my ears.

I’d always loved music; how it could make you feel so much with a simple change of tune. This was a melody I ached to learn.

I twisted the ring around my finger. Once. Twice. A third time. Each rotation made the music in my head swell, and on the fourth spin, the world erupted.

Light flashed behind my closed eyes, so bright and vibrant that the arms holding me dropped.

I collapsed to the ground, my knees scraping the stones, my trembling hands seeking purchase.

I pictured the men who’d attacked us, hoping they, too, were incapacitated, blinded by the same eerie light.

Maybe it would give Elias a chance to gain the upper hand.

Screams pierced the air, but I kept my eyes shut, my nails digging into the cobblestones until a few of them splintered and broke. All the while, Xavier’s ring pulsed against my finger like a living thing .

Please don’t let that scream belong to Elias , I silently begged. If he was hurt, it would be my fault. I’d touched magic I had no right to know, and I could have made the situation that much worse.

The light flickered out, and the ring on my hand turned to ice.

Shit . I should never have worn it. Should never have trusted?—

Powerful hands grasped my shoulders, and I flailed, punching the air in front of me. My fist collided with a rock-hard stomach. There was a low grunt, but the hands on me didn’t slip. I wouldn’t be slayed in a grimy alley away from home. Away from Lily. I fought harder until a raspy voice spoke.

“It’s me! Open your eyes, Ari.”

The fiery rage that fueled me gradually simmered. Suddenly, I was a mess of shaking limbs, my body quivering uncontrollably. With Elias holding me, his familiar scent engulfing my senses, the struggle left me exhausted.

With every ounce of energy I possessed, I slowly peeled open my eyes.

Elias towered above me, his yellow-green eyes frantic, wide with panic.

“Ari, are you all right?” he asked, scanning me from head to toe. He couldn’t see much in the dimness of the alley, but the only blood he’d find would be the drying stream of red on my neck. The wound itself was already stitching back together.

“What-what happened?” I rasped, my throat like sandpaper. Eternal above, I could hardly move, but it didn’t matter—he was alive.

“Shh,” Elias murmured, bending down to scoop me into his arms. He lifted me from the filth of the alley and cradled me against his chest. I inhaled the woodsy scent of him, trying to purge the stench of the alley and those men from my memory.

Before he turned and carried me away, I peeked over his shoulder, counting six piles of ash. A subtle breeze blew the smell of burnt hair to my nose, and I nearly gagged.

Had I done that? Had the ring ?

“Don’t worry. I got you,” Elias promised, and I held on to his pacifying tone like a lifeline. “But we have to get out of here before people see.” Fingers slipped through my hair, gentle, coaxing. I pressed my head into his chest, counting the steady beat of his heart as the darkness stole me away.